Here’s a great game you can play virtually anytime you’re home and busy with a task. Your kids will love it and feel connected to you, even as you continue to cook dinner. What other ways could you play this game? Can you see how it can help kids learn colors, shapes, locations of things…
Boy, is it exhausting to be a parent or what?! You start off with the nighttime wake ups but at least when they’re that little, they’re not moving around too much. Remember when you’d put them down and they’d just stay put?! It’s like a distant memory, right? And, by the time you’re actually getting…
Siblings. They can play well together, enjoy one another, and be super sweet to each other, and then in an instant the tables can turn. Suddenly you’re rushing to the aid of one child, admonishing the other, and feeling frazzled and confused about what really happened. A LOT can happen in an instant, and it’s…
I’ve been reading a bunch of stuff online lately about nursing and co-sleeping becoming a wedge between parents and negatively affecting their sex lives. Sure, sleeping with a baby causes us to change the timing and sometimes the location of sex, but my husband and I have found a great way to keep romance alive…
The vestibular system is responsible for balance, focus, and even plays a role in emotion regulation. But the best way to activate the vestibular system is by moving through space. So, if your child is having trouble with focus or emotion regulation, try encouraging movements like spinning and swinging and you’ll notice a huge change….
When a toddler wants something, it’s crystal clear. They yell, scream, fuss, throw their bodies around, grab, and then when they get the object of their desire, it’s as if none of that just happened. They’re instantly content, but you know it’s temporary. Soon, they’ll want something else, and eventually it will be something that…
We have work meetings, book club meetings, non-profit organization meetings, and yet very few families have family meetings. However, in my parenting coaching, and especially with families of children ages 3-17, family meetings are one of the best ways I’ve found to help families get on the same page, air their dirty laundry, establish rules…
Some of the most challenging moments with young people have got to be the times when you ask for help with something and then you hear a loud and defiant, “No!” in response. In times like those, you just wish you could force your kids to do your will. Unfortunately, if you do force them…
Have you ever found yourself ruminating about things, going over and over the experiences of your day, beating yourself up about the way you talked to your child, and not able to relax to sleep at night? Well, I occasionally find that relaxing to sleep is difficult for me, but I have found a wonderful…
I recently got an email from a mom who enjoys my newsletter but who sometimes feels left out because her child has special needs. While I do tend to offer guidelines about ages and stages of development I hope that every parent can adjust those guidelines to their particular child. Children learn and develop differently…