Calm Parenting Podcast

Do you have a child who sometimes feels like the “bad kid” and has even internalized, “I’m dumb” or “No one likes me?” That internal dialogue can sabotage your child’s success and relationships for a lifetime. In this episode, I give parents and teachers specific scripts that will change that NOW and build your child’s confidence. **Tomorrow CAN be different from today, without the guilt and...

What do you do when even a toddler is ruling your home? How do you handle a moody teenage daughter without getting into 10 fights a day? What do you do when your kids are constantly fighting and you feel like a failure? What do you tell your child who doesn’t get along with a teacher? How can you help kids who have a hard time making friends? Do adopted kids have unique struggles? What about that...

Normal parenting strategies don't work with strong-willed kids, no matter how much your family judges you. You can do everything “right” with these kids and things can still go wrong! Whether you have toddlers or teens or in between or even adopted kids, I think you will find this episode extremely helpful and practical. **Make tomorrow different than the chaos, guilt, and power struggles today—ge...

If you misunderstand your child’s motives and need for autonomy, it will provoke fierce defiance, pain, and pushback. I want to show you exactly how to help kids who don’t always want to be helped; help siblings who may not understand why you give your child accommodations; and help a spouse who is reluctant and thinks you’re just letting your child get away with things. Get personal mentorin...

You have an intense, strong-willed child who is frustrating because they are either the complete opposite of you…or just like you, which means they mirror things you want to change about yourself. Do you get triggered when your child says, “Whatever”? Do you take your child’s unhappiness as ingratitude or a reflection of your parenting? You’re not alone! I want to give 10 strategies to stop the po...

Do you have a child who procrastinates, argues like an attorney, picks on siblings, resists doing homework, chews on things, and/or chooses the harder path? A child who talks loudly, provokes and pushes buttons, has to get the last word in, gets bored easily? Of course you do! In this episode, I give you practical action steps to stop the power struggles and turn these into positive qualities. **S...

You have a sensitive child who is moody, mad, and mercurial…and somehow blames you for being disrespectful and losing their privileges. Staying calm feels like walking on eggshells, but you also don’t want to react and escalate. I give you five specific action steps and a script to stop this vicious cycle. **Stop the yelling, power struggles, and daily chaos—get 50% off the Calm Parenting Bun...

Should you give your child rewards or an allowance for good behavior or a good report card? Is there a better alternative to schools using smiley faces and sad faces on behavior charts? Why do I hate the following: “You’re not a bad kid. You just made bad choices?” The final example of how a child applied our discipline tools (in a cheeky way!) is worth the listen! **Stop the yelling, power strugg...

You have a challenging child who says disrespectful things to your face. You would never have even thought such things toward your parents so there’s a war inside you. You would be justified in punishing this child, but that won’t fix the underlying issues or relationship. I want to give you very clear scripts and a step-by-step action plan to handle these situations. **Stop the yelling, powe...

Do you have a child who is great one-on-one, but then disrupts the entire family dynamic when you're all together? Do you have a child who won’t apologize and resists when you try to discipline? You’re not alone. I will give you a script and specific action steps to navigate these situations. **Stop the yelling, power struggles, and daily chaos—get 50% off the Calm Parenting Bundle this Sprin...

Do you have kids who complain, get upset when corrected and revert to negative self-talk? Should you allow a child to quit a sport? How do you help kids with ADHD who are messy or forgetful? How do you handle kids who one-up each other or compete for attention with a younger sibling? What should be your primary priority with teens? Kirk answers these questions and more with candor and practical id...

How can you teach your kids impulse control and delayed gratification with their video games and screens? How can we help kids who blurt out in the classroom? Is it too early when they are toddlers or too late when teens? Buckle up for 10 more creative, important ways to teach your kids self-control. **FINAL 3 DAYS OF OUR BLACK FRIDAY IN MARCH SALE. Visit   https://celebratecalm.com/blac...

Some kids refuse to get off screens or go to school. Some refuse to leave their room. I know you never envisioned your home life being this challenging. Maybe you thought you’d have a few power struggles with your kids over the years, but nothing like this. I want you to know you’re not alone and it’s not your fault. I also want to give you practical ideas to make progress so both you and your chi...

Learning impulse control and delayed gratification is more important than almost everything else we teach our kids in school. If I were raising a child today, I would slow my life down, spend way less time on academics and chores, and spend much more time teaching my kids impulse control and delayed gratification. These life skills disproportionately impact your child’s health, wealth and happines...

You are a good parent so you simply remind your child to do something. Do you have a child who then reacts angrily, shuts down, or has a meltdown? Does your child struggle with ADHD, short-term memory or forgetting things? Do you have a child who beats himself up and says things like, “I am so stupid!”? It can be painful to hear the negative self-talk. I want to give...

How do you NOT react and get triggered when your child is in a bad mood or slamming dresser drawers, then acts like nothing happened? I want your kids to feel frustrated…and for you to resist jumping in...so your kids can develop the confidence and resilience to handle stressful situations in life. Super important so please share. This is the FINAL week of our Black Friday in March...

Why can't your kids just come when you ask them? It's like they can't hear you when playing video games. They aren't grateful for extra time with friends--they lash out when you pick them up. And when you call them for dinner, all you hear is, "Just a couple more minutes" and they ignore you. It's frustrating! I want to show you a powerful strategy that melts resistance, gets kids moving, and crea...

You are doing heroic work breaking the generational cycle so you don't unintentionally pass along to your kids the same patterns that have tripped you up. I want to give you three very practical, specific scripts so you can parent without the baggage. For Kirk's Birthday, we are bringing back our Black Friday Sale for one week. Visit  https://celebratecalm.com/black-friday/  to take...

Do you have a relentless arguer at home, who has a strong sense of justice and fairness? A child who can prosecute everyone else, but is immune to rules? Like a little cop, attorney, and judge all in one? I want to give you 5 different scripts and responses, including an emotional one at the end. For Kirk's Birthday, we are bringing back our Black Friday Sale for one week. Visit  https:/...

This was an intense discussion that I jokingly referred to afterwards as an “interrogation” by the amazing hosts of the Bare Naked Moms Podcast, Alanna Leavell and Milano Buckley. These are two bright, insightful Moms asking tough questions and wrestling with their own issues. I think you will find it so helpful I asked if we could share this directly with our audience.  You can find the Bare...

Whether you have a child with ADHD, PDA, Dyslexia, SPD or any other difference, siblings ARE going to feel like they are being treated unfairly. I want to give you very specific scripts and ways to reframe this family dynamic in healthy ways. Be sure to check out https://celebratecalm.com/pda/ to learn more and for additional episodes on PDA. COZY EARTH Head to  https://cozyearth.com  &n...

What do you do when your child steals something and then lies right to your face about it? What about a sensory child who refuses to listen when you tell her repeatedly (like 10 times!) to STOP? Should you punish a toddler for picky eating? How do you handle a teen or tween with a bad attitude, who refuses to turn in their phone at night or breaks curfew? I’ll give you scripts and options for thes...

How can you finally get unstuck from that endless loop of having a child who continually messes up, is given consequences, but keeps failing while everyone grows more frustrated? How can you help kids who have given up even trying? It feels like a whack-a-mole game: address one behavior and a new one pops up! Kirk shows you a different way. This is a great episode to share with your spouse. Get re...

This is what children with PDA often feel: “I already know I am struggling. I don’t want to hear that another person is 100% focused on MY anxiety. I already think I am weak for being afraid when other people aren’t…and now my mom and dad are just reinforcing how weak and scared I am.” I want to share unique strategies to help your PDA kids without the shame, pressure, or accommodations. Lear...

Ever lose it when you feel like your kids are not being held accountable or not listening? Does it feel like you're letting your kids get away with backtalk or misbehavior? Do you ever feel like you're responsible to make your kids successful? That's a lot of pressure. I want to give you practical ways to handle these situations and break these generational patterns. **Our Valentine's Da...