Head & Heart Parents

I recently received an email from a dad who has taken one of my early childhood parenting classes. He asked if I had a list of things that parents of younger children should know “not to get hung up on.” I surveyed a number of my friends with older kids and got so much great [...]

How often do you hear this? And how often are your kids happy with the suggestions you make? Typical parents say, “I hear it often, and the kids are never excited with my suggestions.” I know a man who says that he once made the mistake of telling his parents that he was bored. For [...]

If your kids are old enough to talk, you’ve probably heard things like: “Jackie’s parents let her watch anything on TV she wants to.” “Mandy gets to have her computer in her room. Like…this is the 21st century.” Some of us have even heard horrifying things like: “Robert’s parents buy him beer for his parties. [...]

Rex had been terrorizing the other 5th graders at school. The other kids were beginning to refuse to play anywhere near him during recess. Rex’s teacher was often convinced that he was behind most problems that happened when her back was turned. She explained it to his mother one day with, “I never see him [...]

It might be comforting to know that you don’t have to be able to provide a good reason for saying no to your kids. Our kids are not our supervisors. If something doesn’t feel right to you, that’s a good enough reason to say no. The best parents have the courage to say no when [...]

One mom was at the park with her 2.5 year-old son named Foster.  He was heading down to the lake to play and Mom said, “Come and eat lunch or we’ll have to go home.”  He ignored Mom and walked towards the water. So Mom said, “So sad, looks like we have to go home [...]

It’s scary when toddlers run away. Dad decided to take baby, new puppy and a 4 year old boy for a walk. The boy ran away from the Dad.  Once the boy returned, dad said with empathy, “This is so sad, we have to go home now since I can’t be sure you’ll stay with [...]

Interrupting can be a common problem with children.  This is a story from a mom talking on the phone in the car whose children kept interrupting.  She said, “I listen to little boys & girls who don’t interrupt their mommies on the phone.” Of course, they kept interrupting.  She pulled over, got out of the [...]