The Parenting Mentor

Paul S is the lead dad to his three daughters. What is that exactly, you ask? He's the main parent that takes on most or all of  the daily responsibilities for the kids. He loves his role with his kids but finds that navigating the social dynamics within the mom community as a Dad is complicated. He finds it rather difficult to break through the "playground mom mafia". He's wondering what he can d...

Jes L is a mother to two girls, 11 years old and a 15 months old. While her first daughter was fairly easy as a baby, Jes is finding the experience with her second daughter to be entirely different - she is intense and refuses to listen to the word "NO". Jes and her husband have told her numerous times not to do things like stick her finger in the electric socket yet she is determined to defy them...

Tina V has two boys, 3 years old and 1 year old. She has been struggling with potty training her 3 year old who is resistant to the process. She has tried bribing him with toys and chocolate and although this worked for a bit, he eventually stopped responding to these offers. Tina has even set up a special potty training box for him in the bathroom that includes pull ups, underwear, wipes and book...

Jenn's children are only 380 days apart. However her three-year old son wants to do what his four-year old sister is doing, like go to preschool. And at the same time, her older daughter wants to be treated more like a baby. Jenn is struggling with how to communicate age differences to her children while also giving them what they need.  Today we talk about using specific tactics and tools to teac...

Lindsay is a mother to two boys (3 years old and 5 years old) and they are constantly at each other's throats. The fighting is driving Lindsay nuts. The older one has learned the word "retaliate" and that seems to be his action when frustrated by his brother. And this has started to show itself in school as well. If you're wondering how best to deal with your child's lack of frustration tolerance...

Jen B is a mother to a 16 year old high-performing perfectionist daughter who is completing her junior year of high school. Jen is a self described micromanager who worries that her daughter doesn't have the coping mechanisms and resilience she's going to need for college. Jen knows she needs to back off and trust her daughter but she's finding it so hard to do. When her daughter comes to her for...

Ruthie's 4 year old son is fiercely competitive. He wants to be first at everything. He races his mom and even if he loses he insists that he is the winner. She is not a fan of the "no, you're not" "yes, I am" battle. While Ruthie wants to embrace her son's competitive nature, acknowledging that it will serve him well, she needs some help  handling his need to always win.  If you're struggling wit...

Nicole's 5 year old is heading to kindergarten this fall. She's concerned about her son making this transition from the super nurturing preschool he has been at since he was 1.5 years old. If your child is going to be heading to a new camp this summer or new school in the fall, listen along for some strategies to help your child work through those jitters and to help you be ok with your child's di...

Tahra's 10 year old daughter has what her mom likes to call "selective blindness". She can never seem to find the things her mom asks her for. Tahra finds this so frustrating and is hoping for some guidance on the best way to handle this. We talk about how this is part of the bigger issue of helping out as part of the family unit. If you are struggling to get your children to be more active helper...

Sarah's 2 and a half year old daughter won't stop throwing food at meal time. Sarah is finding that she is escalating the situation because she ends up yelling and then dealing with a crying toddler. If you're struggling with a defiant toddler and you're constantly cleaning up food from the floor, listen in for some strategies to set boundaries while allowing your child some control.    This week...

Nicole's 3 year old son has become so defiant since the birth of his baby brother who is now 10 months old. He says no to almost everything: putting on shoes, taking a bath, eating meals, brushing teeth, the list goes on. If you have a child like this and are tired of the escalations and all the conflict, listen along for some strategies to make this part of parenting so much easier.  This week on...

Hillary is a mom of two daughters and her youngest is starting to complain about her sister's bossyness. As the older child she tends to jump in at every turn to take over. She's there to let her know how to do everything and tends to reinforce what mom said. Hillary would love to learn how to help her younger child have more opportunities to lead and help her first born back off a bit. Listen alo...

Lori's 11 year old son has always been a fun-loving class clown who likes to mess around in class. Now that he is in middle school his teachers find his behavior to be disrespectful. Since this only happens in school, Lori is wondering what strategies she might be able to suggest to her son so he can better judge when his humor and interruptions are okay and when they are not. If you have a child...

Priyanka M is a mother to a 6 year old son who is smart, confident and comfortable taking over most situations. He often acts as a "dictator" when it comes to playing with other kids. Priyanka is wondering how to help her son develop more social and emotional intelligence and learn how to better connect with other kids. She wants to teach him how to be productive and happy working with others but...

Nikki is a mom to three boys, 5, 3 and 2-years old. Not surprisingly, she is struggling with sibling rivalry issues especially when the kids are playing all together.  She is wondering how much of this has to do with their need for 1:1 mom time, and how to help her kids work through their issues by themselves. Listen along if you are tired of being your kid's referee.  This week on The Parenting M...

Jamie M is a mom to her 2 year old son who is coming off of a few weeks of lots of chocolate, tv and mom-ing. Jamie is stressing on how to get back to what she considers normal for her son post holidays. If you have also let your rules go by the wayside this holiday season, listen along for some strategies to smooth this transition and even create new structure in your household in 2023.  This wee...

Paul S is the lead dad to his three daughters. What is that exactly, you ask? He's the main parent that takes on most or all of  the daily responsibilities for the kids. He loves his role with his kids but finds that navigating the social dynamics within the mom community as a Dad is complicated. He finds it rather difficult to break through the "playground mom mafia". He's wondering what he can d...

Lindsay is a mother to two boys (3 years old and 5 years old) and they are constantly at each other's throats. The fighting is driving Lindsay nuts. The older one has learned the word "retaliate" and that seems to be his action when frustrated by his brother. And this has started to show itself in school as well. If you're wondering how best to deal with your child's lack of frustration tolerance...

Nneka is a mom who's finding it challenging to parent an 8 year old after raising two other children who are now 17 and 22 years old. This daughter has a will of her own and like most kids doesn't just do what she's told. She is especially tough with Nneka when it comes to homework as she is homeschooled. Whether or not your kid is homeschooled, if you're tired of being the homework warden, listen...

Jenn's children are only 380 days apart. However her three-year old son wants to do what his four-year old sister is doing, like go to preschool. And at the same time, her older daughter wants to be treated more like a baby. Jenn is struggling with how to communicate age differences to her children while also giving them what they need.  Today we talk about using specific tactics and tools to teac...

Tara is struggling with getting her 5-year old daughter to school on time. Ideally, Tara wants her daughter to be able to settle in before school starts, which means being a few minutes early. However, her daughter prefers to flounder and drag her feet creating stress, frustration and yelling in the home. She isn't focused on all the tasks that Tara thinks need to happen before getting in the car....

Colin H is a father to an energetic 21 month old son who refuses to sit down and eat dinner. Colin and his husband are worried that their child isn't getting enough nutrients and calories. They find themselves resorting to squeezable yogurts and packaged foods. They're concerned that they are creating bad habits that will be hard to fix later in life. If you have a child who can't sit still and fo...

Lauren B is back again this week to chat about how to convince her 11 year old to go back to camp. She's calling in from an airbnb where she's been taking care of her son during a flu outbreak at his 4-week summer camp. Now that his sickness has passed he's refusingo go back. On today's episode we talk about some strategies around turning a negative feeling and experience into a positive one witho...

Lauren B is mother to 11 and 14 year old sons. Recently, the summer camp that the kids are in, faced a flu outbreak. Her older son shared with Lauren how he feels haunted by the pandemic and all of the stresses and fears they went through.  This hit Lauren as she began to question how to give her boys an optimistic outlook on life when there is so much going on in the world that's not positive. Th...

Randi Z is a mother to a 10 and a half year old boy who has been struggling with remembering certain tasks required by his teacher. Randi recently learned that her son's homework hasn't been accounted for over the past few weeks because he has been forgetting to get his homework signed off at home. Randi wonders what are the appropriate expectations around accountability and how best to handle the...