The Blog
Our best advice when it’s tough with kids:breathe, laugh, dance, sing, hug, call a friend. Be gentle with yourself, you’re not done growing up yet. This won’t last and you are not alone.
Shift from “power over” parenting to “power with”
If you’re reading this, you likely view parenting from a “power with” rather than a “power over” perspective. “Power over” is the domain paradigm and the unfortunate norm in most families, communities, institutions, schools, religions, and governments. You might see...
Resilient Parenting: How to Move From Despair to Hope
My past month has been filled with a full rainbow of emotions. Heartbreak and hope, rage–and its softer cousin–sadness, as well as frustration, pride, grief, confusion, joy, and worry…. because of the fires and also because of what is happening in our family, our...
Ask Your Child Questions to Increase Connection, Build Critical Thinking Skills, and Cope With Feelings
Why asking questions is one of the most important things we can do as parents My favorite way to have a conversation and connect with my kids and family is to ask questions. It may sound simple, but asking children the right questions not only opens up...
When Parents Disagree: The Hidden Benefits of Different Parenting Styles
Do you ever feel like you and your partner (or spouse) have opposite approaches when it comes to the way you parent? Like the way you handle things like schedules, expectations, and kids’ emotions are totally opposite of each other? Let’s say your child comes home...
Best Way to Support a Struggling Child
How Do I Get My Child Back On Track? When kids are struggling with something or acting out, a lot of parents focus on the things that they want to get rid of (the negative influences of screens, peers, sugar, etc). Whether their child is repeatedly getting in trouble...
Secure Attachment: It's Different Than What You Think
When most parents think of “secure attachment”, we focus on the connection between a parent (usually the mother) and a child. We recently had a conversation with Dr. Dan Siegel, and the way he described attachment blew our minds. He explained that, because humans have...
Guilt-Free Parenting: Embracing Mistakes with Grace
Parenting can often feel like uncharted territory, where each day presents new challenges and opportunities for growth. Just like gardening, nurturing our children requires patience, learning, and a generous dose of self-compassion. Introducing Yacón: A Lesson in...
When Your Child Doesn’t Do What You Want
When it comes to growing vegetables, I’m a novice, but I’m enthusiastic, which makes up for something. Today, the tomatoes are teaching me about parenting and how to respond when our child does something that we didn’t plan for, or didn’t even want them to do. In...
My Teen is Struggling But I Can’t Afford Help – Best No-Cost and Low-Cost Ways to Help Teens
Recently I’ve been telling the story about how one of our teens was struggling, then bounced back, and what we did for our teen and for ourselves to find support. Sharing about that difficult period got me thinking about how ridiculously hard it was for us to find...