Effective Parenting is learning to parent the child you have, not the child you wish you had. It's not about being a perfect parent—it's about being a “good enough” parent.
Effective parenting techniques focus on holding your child accountable for misbehavior and on developing better problem solving skills.
Parents who don’t have effective parenting skills will often use aggression as a substitute. This is especially common with parents who don’t have good relationships or effective coping skills and use aggression to compensate for a whole range of things. Ultimately, it can lead to aggression with their kids. When you use aggression as a parenting... Read more »
Most couples have experienced this situation at one time or another—you think you should discipline your child a certain way, and your spouse or co-parent wants to handle it differently. You each become entrenched in your position. And what started as a problem between you and your child quickly evolves into a problem between you... Read more »
Do you find yourself saying things to your child during an argument without even thinking about it? Let’s face it, it’s almost impossible to be detached or objective when your child is in your face fighting with you. And naturally, it feels like a personal attack when he’s saying rude things or calling you names.... Read more »
Here’s a piece of parenting advice I often find myself giving to the parents I coach: "Explain yourself once to your child and then move on." You usually can’t end an argument—or make a child do something—by trying to make them understand and agree with you. The fact is, they don’t understand you. They’re going to see... Read more »
What causes bad child behavior? James Lehman says it happens because children don’t yet know how to solve problems effectively. To put it another way, they act out as an attempt to handle life's problems. And they continue to act out, frankly, because it's working for them. But here's the truth: If you don't help... Read more »
On the Empowering Parents Facebook page we asked parents to share the one day-to-day thing they find most frustrating about their kids. The overwhelming answer? “I have to tell my kid five times to do the simplest thing! Every single day, it’s a battle. I want to tell him once and have him march off... Read more »
Feeling underappreciated goes with the territory of parenting. As a mom, how many times have you wished for more acknowledgement for all you do—from your children, your mate or society? And how many times have you been disappointed when you didn’t see or feel that acknowledgement and encouragement coming back to you? It might be a... Read more »
Even before you become a parent, you start forming ideas about how you’ll raise your child. You get advice about it from all sides—your own parents and family, your friends, and books by so-called experts tell you "the rules" of good parenting. But most people soon find out that some of these techniques are simply... Read more »
No one starts out wanting to be a nag -- it just seems to happen. If you're the parent of an ADD or ADHD child, it can even become second nature, since these kids get distracted easily and are often forgetful. It may seem like reminding your child to do his homework is a good... Read more »
When my son received his GED this year, I put together a small scrapbook for him with photos, quotes, and cards from his friends. I also considered the life skills he’s already mastered and thought about the ones he’s still working on. The big "a-ha moment" for me? Realizing that everything else in life builds upon... Read more »
