Power Struggles: Why We Get Stuck In Them & How to Move Toward Problem Solving
We’ve written a lot about connection, empathy, playfulness, and choices. These things can all decrease power struggles and grow cooperation. But in this blog post, we’re going to give you a specific tool that Connected Families’ coaching clients have been learning for years, “How to Move From Power Struggles to Problem-Solving.” You can retain your […]
Practical Tips To Turn Uncontrolled Emotional Outbursts Into Big Wins
If your child has overwhelming emotional outbursts, focus on whatever process they used to work through their big emotions, even if it took them a while to get there.
Want Kids to Value Your Advice? Try This.
Caroline was thoughtful as I described how our young adult kids call from time to time and ask us to help them think through a situation. “After they describe their dilemma, we usually ask them thoughtful questions to guide their thinking,” I explained. “Hmm.” Caroline thought for a moment. “Neither my husband or I […]
Whose Problem Is It?
Deep inside most parents is a strong urge to control their children. It may seem beneficial or even “work” for a few years, but there are diminishing returns if the goal of control is not given up significantly by the teen years (probably earlier than that). When we take control of our kids’ lives […]
An Unconventional Solution to a Child’s Resistance
We often see a common parenting cycle when kids are prone to anxiety. In short, it goes like this: Child feels anxious Worried, but well-meaning parent “encourages” the child toward to overcome the anxiety by pushing the child The child gets more anxious and withdraws, or has a meltdown in order to feel in […]
Are You a Charlie Brown Grown-Up?
We’ve all been there. A child sasses, lies, whacks a sibling or shirks a responsibility, and we feel compelled to tell them what they did wrong and why it’s wrong. It’s good to tell kids what’s right and what’s wrong, but at times like this the message just won’t sink in. Kids call these “lectures.” […]
Beat the Monday Blues with Sunday Lavender
In a coaching session, Karen shared that their family’s weekly schedule seemed to take them captive every Sunday night. Lilly, their third-grader, unofficially declared it “Moan and groan about Monday morning” time. The whole family would get drawn into her dramatic, despairing proclamations about the boredom and frustration that awaited her the next day. Parental […]
