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.
What To Do When A Child Hits Another Child
I’m wondering if you can relate to this parenting dilemma that my sister had. My sister was with her daughter, who is 15 months old and just learning how to walk. They were at a playground with lots of other moms and kids. One of the older girls got mad and as she...
Should you pay kids an allowance for chores?
We like it when kids--especially our own--do chores around the house. One of our daughters is a master at cleaning the bathroom. The other one takes out the recycling, the trash, and does all the cat care. They both help with the dishes and setting the table. But we...
When Your Child is Angry: What to Do
During a family car ride once when I was little, I got really mad at my big brother. I remember wanting to punch him! I didn’t hit him, but when we were close to home, we pulled into the driveway. I jumped out and, instead of taking my anger out on someone else, I...
Parents Make Mistakes Too – How to Apologize
When I was a kid occasionally my dad would lose his temper. I’m sure he had a decent reason for feeling upset, a long day of work plus maybe I was roller skating through the house, making a lot of noise, or fighting with my brother or sister. I remember seeing his...
Secrets to Taming Tantrums, Part 2
You might say it’s a child having… A tantrum A melt down Big feelings Getting to the end of their rope Flipping their lid. Whatever you call it, we’ve all experienced it. Every parent struggles, at one point or another, with helping their child through an upset. For...
Secrets to Taming Tantrums, Part 1
No matter how old your kids are… 2, 12, or 22 years old, at some point they’ve been overcome with emotions. Even us, mature adults have “grown up tantrums” occasionally. We might call it road rage, over-eating, over-drinking, over-shopping, yelling, door slamming, or...
One-On-One Time With Kids for a Closer Relationship
I’ve been thinking a lot about “rough spots” in families this week. It seems like no matter how healthy our relationships are, at some point in time things will get a little tough--maybe you even have days, weeks or months of a rough spot. In our family we’ve had a...
Math Without Tears: Emotional Support of Kids with Math
In this video from the Happily Family Facebook Page that we talk about how to emotionally support kids with difficult topics (especially math, but also sports, reading, writing, etc.). We talk about the fixed vs. growth mindsets from the book by Carol Dweck...
Compassion or Competition – Which is Stronger?
As a compassionate parent do you feel like you have to justify or defend your parenting practices to others? Do other people, even family members and friends, watch with disapproval while you talk to your kids? Do people think your view of children is “too soft” or...