Effective Parenting is learning to parent the child you have, not the child you wish you had. It's not about being a perfect parent—it's about being a “good enough” parent.
Effective parenting techniques focus on holding your child accountable for misbehavior and on developing better problem solving skills.
Parents who don’t have good parenting skills use aggression. Men who don’t have good relationship skills (like the father mentioned in the last post) use aggression to compensate for a whole range of things—and usually it’s their own inadequacies and fears. I think that when you use aggression as a parenting style, it solves your short... Read more »
Here’s a piece of parenting advice I often find myself giving to the parents I coach: Explain yourself once to your child and then move on. You usually can’t end an argument—or make a child do something—by trying to make them understand and agree with you. The fact is, they don’t understand you. They’re going to see... Read more »
Most couples have experienced this situation at one time or another—you think you should discipline your child a certain way, and your spouse wants to handle it differently. You each become entrenched in your position, and that’s when the fighting starts. At some point, most couples will argue over how to discipline their children. After all,... Read more »
“It’s not fair! You’re always yelling at me, even when it’s not my fault!” Sound familiar? The minute you say no, or set limits, or try to enforce the rules, your child immediately says that you’re not being fair and that you always pick on him. He overreacts constantly to routine requests and takes no responsibility... Read more »
Feeling underappreciated goes with the territory of parenting. As a mom, how many times have you wished for more acknowledgement for all you do—from your children, your mate or society? And how many times have you been disappointed when you didn’t see or feel that acknowledgement and encouragement coming back to you? It might be a... Read more »
On the Empowering Parents Facebook page we asked parents to share the one day-to-day thing they find most frustrating about their kids. The overwhelming answer? “I have to tell my kid five times to do the simplest thing! Every single day, it’s a battle. I want to tell him once and have him march off... Read more »
Even before you become a parent, you start forming ideas about how you’ll raise your child. You get advice about it from all sides—your own parents and family, your friends, and books by so-called experts tell you "the rules" of good parenting. But most people soon find out that some of these techniques are simply... Read more »
No one starts out wanting to be a nag -- it just seems to happen. If you're the parent of an ADD or ADHD child, it can even become second nature, since these kids get distracted easily and are often forgetful. It may seem like reminding your child to do his homework is a good... Read more »
When families call parent coaching, just about every call we get involves a question about consequences. Many parents struggle to find effective consequences while overlooking the importance of using rewards. We recommend establishing rewards or "incentive systems" for kids, which can be done easily using a behavior chart. Behavior charts are important to consider for several... Read more »
When my son received his GED this year, I put together a small scrapbook for him with photos, quotes, and cards from his friends. I also considered the life skills he’s already mastered and thought about the ones he’s still working on. The big "a-ha moment" for me? Realizing that everything else in life builds... Read more »
