Three Approaches to Authority Relationships Two Win-Lose approaches that can compromise the emotional safety of the environment: Powering: Adult Wins, Child Loses Strategies: Humiliation, loss of dignity, violation of self-esteem; criticism, shaming, verbal or emotional violence Threat to physical safety, physical violence Conditional approval or love; threat of emotional abandonment Deprivation of meaningful privilege or Read More
Category: Littles
Mommy, I Want That!
Childhood is boot camp for adult living. While in this training period, allow youngsters not only to see a working budget in the home, but also to participate in some of the decisions. A trip to the grocery store to buy orange juice, lettuce, and ice cream was so much more delightful when I heard Read More
Thinking of Consequences as Good Stuff
A very different approach! Here’s a new spin on the notion of “consequences,” a term familiar to every parent. But rather than looking at the negative outcome of behavioral choices your children make, let’s examine a more positive alternative, a shift in focus that is far more effective in generating the kinds of behaviors you want—and Read More
How to Win the Bed Time Battles
The bedtime battles. We’ve all either seen them or experienced them. By the time sleep actually arrives everyone in the household is exhausted. The good news is it doesn’t have to be that way. Setting clear boundaries and nighttime routines may be exactly what is needed to cure the bedtime battles. First, let’s talk about Read More
Butterfly Fight!
“Momma, Help!” cried my frantic four-year old. Stubby little fingers tightly grasped a long twig; hanging mid-way down the branch was a chrysalis. The transparent covering was split and just barely visible were the bright velvet colors of a Viceroy butterfly’s wings. It was easy to see why my son was so distraught; the Read More