JOIN US AND OTHER PEACEFUL PARENTS
Welcome! You’ve come to the right place if you want to create a strong, loving relationship with your kids. You don’t have time to read all the books about brain science, child development and psychology. You've heard that studies show punishments and rewards are not effective in the long term. You feel lost when your kids melt down or when they don’t “play nicely”
Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding.
~ Albert Einstein
From The Blog
When parents disagree on parenting styles – Dr. Ann-Louise Lockhart
We often hear from parents that disagree about how to parent. The questions we get asked often sound like this... a mom wants to be understanding and empathic when a child is struggling, but the dad thinks the child needs to “toughen up” or “get over it”. How do you...
7 ways to get kids to talk about their feelings
In our culture, we so often ask each other, “How are you?” And we so often give surface-level answers like, “I’m good” / “I’m fine” / “I’m busy”. As parents, we want to know how our kids are doing and feeling. Their feelings are a window into their soul, their deepest...
Solution for Sadness. Look for Moments.
A few years ago after a tough day in middle school, our daughter boarded the noisy school bus that would take her home. She flopped down in the seat. I imagine she had the facial expression that she so often wore in those days… a thin veneer of teenage nonchalance...
How to tell kids the truth about Santa – 3 Scripts
A few years ago I wrote a blog post that got a bit of attention about WHY to tell kids the truth about Santa. Since then, every year around this time, people continue to find that post on the internet. How we deal with Santa in our family goes against popular opinion...
3 Steps to Find the Good in Any Situation
I’m writing this at 5 in the morning, the house is quiet. I’m sitting on the couch with the cat on my lap… balancing the laptop awkwardly on a pillow next to me. Can I get real with you? I’ve been feeling sad lately. I sometimes tell myself that I don’t "deserve” to...
How to talk to kids about sexual orientation
In many ways, your kids and mine are growing up in a different world than we did. One of the areas that has changed the most dramatically, is how we understand gender and sexuality. In real life, and in social media, books, and movies, kids see others “come out” and...