Search Results for: blog choose your battles

Connecting to Your Preteen

The preteen years can be filled with surprises…some good and some not so good. The way a parent chooses to navigate these years could significantly impact the next stage, as they move into the teen years. One of the most important things you can do during this stage is stay connected with your preteen. This won’t always be easy; depending on how much havoc hormones is having on him or her. And your preteen’s personality will also play a role. All I can tell you is that the struggle with be worth it if you can still maintain a connection. … Continue reading →

Stop Hurting Your Children

Posted on by

Why can’t we all just get along? Words made famous for a different battle but apply just as much to people after a divorce. Divorce is one of the worst things you can go through, for you and your children. Even worse though are the battles that often continue after the divorce is final. Every day I see people who have turned completely against their ex’s and are trying to drag their children with them. How is it fair to a child to talk negatively about their other parent. I’ve heard parents tell their children that their father doesn’t love … Continue reading →

Save Your No’s for the Important Stuff

How often do you find yourself saying no to your children? When they enter the teen years there comes a point in which you should reserve those no’s for the really important stuff. Parenting is not a dictatorship. And when your children enter those teen years, you have to learn to let go of the apron strings a bit. What I always keep in the back of my mind is that once they hit high school it is less about controlling (although, I actually don’t think that should ever be a parent’s goal) and it’s more about steering your children … Continue reading →

Pick Your Battles

I’m a firm believer and I have blogged about picking your battles when it comes to raising teenagers. But I think the same can be said about a marriage. In fact, it seems that we tend to be a bit more nit-picky in our marriages than in any other relationship. Slight irritations can be made into huge deals. Those things we knew about our spouse when we married them suddenly becomes impossible to live with another day. But many of those irritations and frustrations we may experience in a marriage are just not worth the battle. You know the old … Continue reading →

My Best Advice: Choose Your Battles

If I were allowed to give one only bit of advice to parents who have young children or children on the verge of becoming teenagers, I would tell them this…choose your battles. There is honestly no better advice than this. When our children are younger, we tend to have two schools of thought when it comes to how the teen years will play out. Either we dread it and assume it will be nothing but trouble or we believe that we will never have trouble because we are going to be the kind of parents who lay down the law. … Continue reading →

Choose Your Battles

Posted on by

As most mothers, I was having a constant battle about nap time with my then 3-year-old. She didn’t want to nap anymore. I would end up getting very frustrated and threatening her with all kinds of things if she didn’t nap. I was also worried about food battles. Was she eating enough? Was she sleeping enough? We seemed to be constantly having a battle of the wills like we so often do with our preschool aged children. I just wanted her to do what I wanted her to do. So, I called a friend of mine and had to vent. … Continue reading →

What Makes Your Child Amazing?

Any parent of a child more than a week old knows that kids can be challenging. When we turn to our friends and talk about life as a parent, we have a tendency to talk about the horrors and the challenges since we really want some help and support. Add to that the fact that as our kids get older, it becomes less and less acceptable to “brag” about what amazing and fabulous kids they are—especially since they can also be crabby and flawed human beings. I thought it might be fun to take a moment this evening to think … Continue reading →

Family Travel: Taking Your Children To A Strawberry Farm

I was going to title this blog “A Trip To The Strawberry Farm—A Parent’s Survival Guide,” but I didn’t want to send the wrong message. Yesterday my 3-year-old daughter and I finished off the last two pieces of a very tasty strawberry rhubarb pie. It was a pie we made together with the fresh strawberries we picked earlier this summer at our local berry farm. (I froze a few pounds and have been adding them to recipes throughout the summer.) Nothing says summer than fresh strawberries, right? That was my thinking about two months ago when I loaded my daughter … Continue reading →

Confronting Your Child’s Teacher

Posted on by

Teachers are human. They have emotions. They can be happy, sad, mad, and angry. They can also be tired and overworked. Teachers can have bad days and good days. They have lives outside of school. And most importantly, yes, teachers remember incidents that occur. Therefore, it should be desired to have a good relationship with your child’s teacher. However, differences do occur. The way that you confront the difference can be the deciding factor in the whether you receive your desired outcome. Before confronting your child’s teacher, think about the approach you will use. Make sure that you use many … Continue reading →

Disciplining Your Special Needs Child

How do you deal with that temper tantrum your child displays in Wal Mart? Do you want to crawl under the table while your little angel is being obnoxious when the family is dining out? What do you do when he is misbehaving and is oblivious to your threats of punishment? There are tactics you can employ when your child is consistently disobedient. First and foremost, use discipline sensibly. Whatever method of punishment you choose, remember to enforce it firmly and dependably. Consistency is the cornerstone of discipline. Displaying overprotective tendencies by letting bad behavior go unpunished, never helps your … Continue reading →