The Blog
Our best advice when it’s tough with kids:breathe, laugh, dance, sing, hug, call a friend. Be gentle with yourself, you’re not done growing up yet. This won’t last and you are not alone.
When your child calls you names
Do you have a child who gets frustrated and resorts to name-calling? Maybe you’ve tried everything… telling them “we don’t use those words”, talking about how “those words hurt people's feelings”, practicing calming techniques, ignoring it, taking them for a break,...
3 Steps for Kids to Have Hope in Uncertain Times
If you’re a young person–or trying to raise one–several things about the future could get you worried. Parents have asked me, “With ‘x’ happening in the [government, economy, climate, society], how can I be authentically hopeful for my kids’ future?” I recently...
Teens arguing with parents? Good news!
Our kids turned into “typical teens” sooner than I had expected. I first started noticing a shift when they were 10 or 11 years old. All of a sudden, there were eye rolls and “duh” and “You don’t get it, Mom”. Even though we had a great relationship with our kids and...
Imperfect Parenting is Better for Kids: Here’s What It Teaches About Love
If you’ve been following Happily Family because you thought Jason and I have it “all” figured out, let me be the first person to tell you—we don’t. Even though we’ve read many books, interviewed over 250 parenting experts, and worked professionally with kids and...
The Most Important Parenting Advice
Over the years, Jason and I have done over 250 interviews with top parenting authors, experts, and speakers. When people hear this, their first question tends to be: “What is your BEST piece of parenting advice?” I’m happy to share with you exactly what I tell them,...
Parenting A Child In Tough Times
We can’t prevent our kids from going through tough times, but we can do our best to be the kind of parents that our kids will come to for help when tough things happen. While our relationship with our children is certainly important, there are two other essential...
Why time-outs don’t work – What to do instead
Do you use ‘time-outs’ with your kids when they misbehave? Most of us intend for time-outs to be a gentle strategy that gives our children a break and helps them learn. Or maybe we only use a time-out when we’re at the “end of our rope”–we’ve already tried everything...
Lonely Parenting? It’s not good for anyone
As a parenting coach, I spend all day talking to parents of struggling kids. These parents frequently tell me how alone they feel. In the depths of my own parenting struggles, I too have often said, “I feel so alone.” When we parents feel alone, it’s not good for us...
The Art of Slow Parenting
I’ve been thinking about slowing down, ever since we got back from the Zen Parenting Conference in Chicago put on by our friends, Cathy and Todd Adams. I listened to Michelle Anderson and Lauren Massarella from the Sister Project give a talk about the benefits of...