Freaking Out and Making Threats Freaking out and making threats… two integrity busters that we have all participated in. Freaking out is NOT helpful, EVER! Yes, of course this makes sense, however in the heat of the moment, when little Susie has just colored all over the walls with her new set of markers, or [...]

Those Pesky Consequences! Back in 1968, at a very young age, I had a terrific learning experience based squarely on consequences. The shear fact that I still remember this after almost five decades makes it even more salient. The musical "Oliver!" had recently been released at the movie theaters, and a promise had been made by [...]

Let's Put Away Our Crystal Balls Because it is one of my favorite chapters in ScreamFree Parenting by Hal Runkel, I would like to begin with the title of chapter seven, You Are Not a Prophet (And Neither is Grandma). Yes, that is correct, neither you nor I (nor grandma) are prophets… we do not [...]

BOSS OR LEADER? When I began this blog, I went to a few of my trusted websites for quotes, entering "leadership" in the search, not realizing that I would be offered more quotes than I could possibly get through in the limited amount of time that I had. Choosing from what I thought to be [...]

Calming Down and Growing Up In the previous blog, we addressed the idea that parenting is about parents, not children. In keeping with this idea, and now that we all have employed our metaphorical remote control, we have had the opportunity to calm our parenting anxiety and ourselves. Moving on… When we are calm, we [...]

PARENTING IS ABOUT PARENTS, NOT KIDS Much of what I write about today, and in the following blogs, comes from the work of Hal Runkel, PhD, author of ScreamFree Parenting. I have had the great pleasure to spend a weekend training with Hal and his team in Atlanta, transforming not only how I view parenting [...]

THE CIRCLE OF SECURITY Ahhhh, parenting… wonderful, exciting, terrifying, confusing, and at times, difficult. Who among us has not struggled with decisions that we have made as parents, unruly toddlers, unpredictable tweens, rebellious teens, and the list goes on. Aptly put by John Wilmot when he declares “Before I got married I had six theories [...]