Connected Parenting

Today I want to talk about what to do when our child's best friend moves, or goes to another school. Or worse yet, when there is a friendship breakup. This is a really hard situation to process because as parents we want to step in and keep our children from feeling heartbreak. But one of the things to remember is all of these things that happen, specifically when it comes to changes and transitio...

What's really happening when kids don't want to get into bed at bedtime? Are they just being difficult; intent on ruining our night, time and time again? The truth is that for many kids, especially gladiator kids, bedtime is usually a time where they lie in bed and think about all the things they did that day that weren't so great. All the things they said that might have hurt your feelings or whe...

Today I want to talk about connecting with your kids even if you are busy parents. This is a topic that comes up a lot; you have a very busy job, a huge project you're working on, or maybe you travel a lot for work, whatever it is parents often feel a lot of guilt and worry around whether or not they are connecting enough to their kids. I would suggest that the amount of time spent does not matter...

I hear this so often from parents that I work with regarding their kids; often gladiator and ADHD kids who fixate on something that they just have to have. They will beg and badger until the adult is completely worn down, exhausted and gives in. Over time, the rewarding of that pattern is actually laying down neural pathways in the brain that cause that brain to know “Oh, I have to escalate, I hav...

Today I am joined again by Natalie and we are talking about the continuum between love and fear. Human beings really only have two emotions, love and fear. Although we don't always know in our bodies when it's fear because at some point, they blend together and it can get really confusing. Many parents think they are parenting from a place of love but when they dig through the layers, they're actu...

As a child and family therapist, I'm becoming increasingly concerned with children's irritability. They're almost living in addictive behavior with a; "Get out of my way I need this" mentality where they are sacrificing, playing outside, being creative, or working on homework so they can get back to their games or onto their favourite social platform. They are getting hysterically upset when the g...

If you are the parent of a child that is struggling it can be devastating and traumatic. Join me as to hear my tips for managing hard days.

Today, Blake Schofield welcomes me to her show "The Bridge to Fulfillment" where I share powerful insights and real-life examples of challenges that every parent is struggling with.

On today’s episode I am joined by my daughter Zoe who does pediatric creative, fun, playful work with children teaching them how to control their emotions so they don’t control them.

Today I am on "What The Parent" podcast with PJ and Cara - Listen in to hear me share how to approach prickly teens with love, intention, and most importantly ruthless compassion. 

We love our kids like crazy, but sometimes we don't like them. In fact, a lot of the time we don't like them, if they're a gladiator and being really difficult, challenging and aggressive and we're not supposed to talk about that.

Join me for this week's episode to hear the facts about anger and what we as parents can do to help ourselves while also teaching our children what it looks like to manage anger when it rears its ugly head.

There are four different types of lying that we, parents need to be aware of. Join me on this week’s episode to learn why teens lie and what we can do should it come up in our household.

join me and my guest Natalie in our get real conversation on what it means to parent even in hard times, especially when parenting our gladiator child who tend to be the more sassy, spicy, feisty kind of kids.

Today I want to talk about the difficult events that are happening in the world right now and how we can talk to our children about it.

Parents report that their kids are dealing with eco-anxiety, and having trouble sleeping at night because of the stress that comes with it. Consumed by the fear that the world is not going to be a place they can live, work and or raise a family in. So what exactly is eco-anxiety, what causes it and how can we as parents help our kids manage it?

What is happening in the brain when a child steals and how can we as parents can best love them into overcoming those strong impulses that often feel so overwhelming they take them over?

Don’t panic, lying is a normal developmental stage that children go through. How we respond or react to it can determine whether the behavior of lying is reduced or if our kids just become better liars. The key here is to remain calm, always listen to what our kids have to say and root ourselves in love not fear when it comes to addressing the lie.

In this episode, Jennifer explores temper tantrums, meltdowns, hissy fits, and other emotional outbursts. Tantrums are a normal part of child development but they are challenging to deal with and can be exhausting for parents. Children have big feelings that don’t always fit in their little bodies. In this episode, we explore the purpose and function of tantrums and how to deescalate or even at ti...

Yelling is a very popular parenting technique, but not a very effective one. If it was, there would be a lot of very well-behaved children in this world! Yelling doesn’t work.  At best, your kids tune you out and roll their eyes or worse they are terrified.  In this episode, Jennifer explores why we yell, how it impacts our kids and ourselves, and what we can do instead.

I once had a little girl in my office, in tears, calling herself “the ruiner”. She confessed that she ruins everything she is excited about... birthdays, holidays, vacations. Everything! This stuck with me and I have heard it over and over again, over the years, both from kids and parents. Why do some kids ruin things and sabotage things? In this episode I break down why this happens and its effec...

In this podcast, Jennifer discusses the importance of emotional literacy and emotional processing. Feelings are meant to be felt… They are essential in helping us navigate relationships, stay safe, make good choices, and to be at peace in our world. Feelings are information. If we ignore that information - if we don’t listen - feelings don’t go away.  They build in intensity and find creative ways...

Do you notice the judgmental glances from other parents when you drop your child off at school or birthday parties? Can you sense the teacher is frustrated and fed up with your child? Do you hold your breath as you approach the playground crossing your fingers hoping that your child behaves? Does your heart skip a beat when the phone rings for fear it is the school? In this episode, Jennifer talks...

The morning routines that looked so promising at the beginning of the school year may be starting to fall apart right about now. Mornings can be very challenging and an absolute nightmare for some families. Mornings set the tone for the day and a bad morning can throw everyone off. In this episode, Jennifer covers a powerful technique called Morning Windows to make mornings go smoothly and set eve...

In this episode Jennifer talks about the teenage years. They can be difficult years but they don’t have to be. Understanding that the teenage brain is under construction and is not fully developed until well into the 20’s can help parents understand, predict, manage and most importantly enjoy their teen.