Empty Threats Make Weak Parents
A father had no less than a gaggle of children in the grocery store… Granted it was a Saturday, granted they were in the toy isle, and granted he was alone. I watched him try to corral all of his kids for about five solid minutes – he would get two listening and then another […]
“I Want What’s On TV!”
My 4-year-old son wants everything he sees on TV so the other day when he said “Mom, I want that!” I used my “brain dead skills” and replied, “I know.” He finally stopped asking after 4-5 times of me saying “I know.” Then Daddy came home from work and my son looked at his […]
Does That Mean “NO”?
Here is a story of a mom in my class who learned a new skill to not engage in a battle with kids when they’re protesting a limit. That skill is called going “brain dead.” This works with kids of all ages. See what happens when she uses it to neutralize the “buy it for […]
Avoid “If-Thens” With Strong-Willed Kids
It seems that just about every family has at least one child who spends most of his time trying to figure out what others want.. so that he can do exactly the opposite. Frustrated by their testy behavior, it’s pretty darn easy to fall into less than effective parenting practices. I hear some of these […]
Dad and Shopping
Marge’s kids had a history of keeping her upset during shopping trips. They ran all over the store and were frequently lost. They had trained her to keep her eye on them to the expense of her doing her shopping. Contrast that to my own dad, who trained his kids to keep their eyes on […]
Training For Shopping
When Dan was little and went shopping with his mom, the words he heard most were “Don’t touch!” When he became a dad and went shopping with his kids, the words he said most were”Don’t touch!” It was frustrating to shop with his kids. They wanted to touch everything. That’s what they see the big […]