Article #14

Move Your Mornings

The top 3 ways to make your mornings move along

    Ahhhh, yes. Another morning on it’s way. You are out of the door, shirt untucked, papers falling out of your bag. One child is half in a coat, the other is screaming at you, though you are not quite sure what it was that you did NOW. Lunch for child number one (OH NO, DID YOU PACK THE KIDS LUNCH??? Oh, yes, yes, yes, yes.), consists of a squishy PB&J, almond butter of course (gotta be careful about those peanut allergies) and you are so happy that you remembered, THIS time, and some bag of something that you found in some drawer. The other? They got 20 bucks for a school lunch.

    You’re thinking, “How did I do this AGAIN, and why don’t I have smaller bills to give to the kids? Well, that’s $20 I’ll never see again.”

    Swirling around your head are the questions, “Are mornings this crazy for everyone? Does everyone go to work as pissed off as I do? Does anyone really wake up and make their kids pancakes and eggs before school like on T.V.? Am I an awful parent?”

    Banish those negative thoughts and mornings, in a few easy ways. Let’s start with the thoughts.

Yup, mornings are crazy for LOTS of people. You are not alone.

Unfortunately many people go to work as frustrated as you. (Former teacher speaking here..... I have seen many drop offs in my day and loads of parents are as flustered as you are in the morning.)

Surely somewhere, someone is waking up and making pancakes and eggs before school. I have yet to meet them, but it is a big world so it must be happening somewhere.

NO, YOU ARE NOT AN AWEFUL PARENT!!!!!! You just are in need of a few new strategies.

Article #12

Being Stuck

    Do you find yourself yelling at your kids, while your blood pressure rises because they won’t listen? You just want them to clean up their toys, go potty, put dishes in the sink, get dressed... I mean really, put the shoes on, clean your toys, WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL?!?!?!?!?!?!? O.k., here is the quick solution and it only involves one idea Being Stuck. When your child, for example, will not put their shoes on, they are stuck. When your child refuses to clean up, they are stuck. When your child won’t brush their teeth, they are stuck. What that means is that until they can complete the task at hand, they cannot move on to another activity. Your child refuses to take a bath? They are stuck. They cannot move on to another activity until they bathe. There is no need to yell, fight or bribe. You state what’s going on; “Until you take a bath (clean up, put shoes on...), you are stuck. You cannot move on to another activity until you have finished this one. When you have taken your bath and get unstuck you may play with something else (go outside, watch a movie.....), but until then you are stuck. You are in control of your day/evening and you can get yourself UNstuck anytime that you want to.”

Article #20

Positive Parenting Philosophies

    When a person thinks about creating a business they start with an idea such as, what will my business be? Then they may move onto a business plan. How will my business be run? What are my goals? What is the philosophy and feel of my company?

    While, obviously, having children and parenting are not business endeavors, they do deserve and require the same kind of thought and planning that one would put into a business enterprise. Unfortunately when people make the life changing decision to have children they often end up winging it, feeling that they will figure it out along the way; That it just comes naturally. They have not sat down and discussed their parenting philosophies with each other. How will we raise our children, or what does discipline means to us are just two of the many important questions to be explored.

    The family is the most important conglomerate that one will have in their lives. Remember parents, you and your partner are two different people with two different upbringings and possibly two different ideas on how to raise children. Coming up with a parenting philosophy will take time. That being said, how does one come up with a parenting philosophy?You can start by answering some thought provoking questions.

1. ★When you imagined parenthood, what did it look like?
   

2. ★As a parent what is your role?
   

3. ★When your children look back on their childhood what do you want them to think and feel about it?
   

4. ★If you were your child, how would your family feel and look to you?
   

And more........

O.K. I’m A Parent Now What?

Parenting Coach, Brandi Davis unveiled her first parenting book on May 1 2011. Here is a sneak peek of what you will discover when you journey through the pages of  O.K. I’m A Parent Now What?.

Article #21

Logical Consequences; A Parents Best Friend

    There are many discipline and punishment techniques that parents impart on their kids in order to get them to listen, follow directions, or mold them into “good” people. Some popular methods are time out, yelling, taking away toys or T.V., and grounding, just to name a few. An interesting tidbit about all of the aforementioned reactions is that many parents find that they have to implement them over and over again. If you have to implement your punishments or disciplines over and over and over again, then they are not working and it is time to move on. Move on to what??? You might be thinking. Move on to what works best. Logical consequences and taking responsibility for ones actions.

    Finding suitable discipline is all about having children remedy and take care of a situation that they caused or have a consequence that has to do with their negative action. “HUH?”, You are thinking. “Sure it is easy to think about those types of consequences in hindsight.” True, coming up with a logical consequence on the spot can be tough at first, AT FIRST. After a little practice, it becomes a lot easier. Let’s take a closer look at the situations mentioned above.

Learn about:

The Playing Paint Spiller

The Yeller

The Child Who Will Not Eat Their Meal

The Child Who Hits   

And more.....