Dear Kerry: “My 13-year old Can’t Stand Me”
Dear Kerry, I am in a really hard corner of parenting – my 13 year old daughter, who I have loved and adored since the day she was born – cannot stand me. Everything I say is met with eye rolls, every request I make is countered with a snarky “Why don’t you do it?” […]
Dear Kerry: “Toddler Full of Pasta”
Dear Kerry,My daughter is 2.5 years old and refuses to eat anything but the following: cheese, pasta, cheerios, milk, and bread. I have tried everything – being encouraging, being stern, offering “dessert”, talking, early bedtimes – nothing works! When I put something other than pasta in front of her, she screams “I no like it!!” […]
No More Hassles Over Picking Up Dirty Socks
Dirty Sock Dilemma After a long and tedious day I finally started to wind down, hours after I had hoped to. I started to head to bed only to find a heaping pile of filthy clothes, shoes and socks, right in the middle of the family room. I wanted to scream. I wanted to pull […]
Standing Up to Teen Defiance
Siblings and rivalry go hand-in-hand so it’s no surprise that 14 year-old Preston taunts and pesters his younger brother, Kyle. Recently, Preston refused to stop pestering his brother and was provoking him by throwing things, hassling him and doing anything he could to elicit a response from his brother just for entertainment. This was much […]
A Teenage Storm Today Makes Way for a Sunny Tomorrow
There are many versions of a “Teenage Storm” – surly, annoyed, resentful, hurtful – perhaps it includes silence or is filled with an angry outburst claiming that you don’t understand. It could be your teen manipulating your emotions in the storm – looking for an opportunity to take advantage of your weakness. Whatever your particular […]
What To Do If Your Teen is Taking 45 Minute Showers
My teenage daughter was taking 45 minute showers. I’d yell and scream at her that she was wasting water. I’d lecture that her showers were too long but nothing deterred her. Finally, I decided to replace action with threats and said “Sweetie, you get 15 minutes to shower and then I’m turning off the hot water.” […]
How Enforceable Statements Work for Picking Up Toys!
I needed my 2.5 yr old daughter to pick up her toys. She ignored me so I said “I only read stories to girls who pick up their toys.” She still didn’t do it and got distracted putting on dress up gloves. I thought I’d give her another opportunity and said “I have pumpkin bread for […]
How Many Ways I Can Be Naughty at Bedtime?
Three year old Wes used to play his favorite game at bedtime. It was called, “See how many ways I can be naughty.” He was the only one enjoying the game. His single, working dad certainly did not. Wes was very creative in how he played the game: he ran away when it was time […]
Connor Forgets His Snack
We had been struggling to keep second grade Connor focused on his “morning school routine” list as he is a major dawdler, as most are. So one morning I realized both my husband and I were reminding him of checking his list, “Do you have your snack? Have you made your lunch? Where’s your water […]
Mom said, “Come and eat lunch or we’ll have to go home.”
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 […]