Making Mistakes and Being Raised with PD

It was my honor and pleasure to be a guest on one of my favorite podcasts–Joyful Courage with friend and colleague Casey O’Roarty. Click here to listen to the episode What you’ll hear in this episode: How positive discipline impacts …

Eye to Eye

Tonight I experienced why it is so important to get Eye to Eye with my child when trying to communicate. The boys and I (6 ½-year-old Greyson and 4 ½-year-old Reid) were enjoying our Friday evening with a Red Box …

Closet Listening

I found Closet Listening be one of the easiest and yet most difficult tools to use. Easy, because all you really need to do is sit with your child and not say anything. I found this difficult, because it’s not …

Decide What You Will Do

Decide what you will do and—follow through! The most important part of this tool is the follow through. Children know when you mean it and when you don’t. After all, isn’t that their job is to test you and their …

Distract & Redirect

In the beginning of this week I thought this tool was used mostly with younger children. I used distract and redirect on a daily basis when my boys were toddlers. However, this week I had several opportunities to practice this …

Winning Cooperation

Before my husband Mark and I got married we came up with the 3 C’s to a successful marriage. Communication, Compromise, and Compassion. Since becoming parents we’ve agreed that there was a ‘C’ that we were missing—Cooperation. We believe that …

Back Talk

I had an “ah ha” moment this week when practicing the Don’t Back Talk Tool Card.  It happened early in the week when, once again, we were rushed to get out the door. I had snapped at my son for …

Silent Signals

A silent signal is one of the most simple and yet rewarding tools. I started this tool when my oldest son was almost 3-years old. It began when I would get frustrated with him and would raise my voice and …

Hugs

This is an article I wrote almost three years ago that shares one of my favorite hugs success stories. Over the last five years I have realized how important and effective giving hugs ALWAYS is. Most often it is one …

Allowances

I can’t remember for sure how old I was when I received my first allowance, but what I do remember is that it was a quarter, dime, nickel, and a penny. My parents would give my brother and me our …