Confessions of a Parent Coach

How did your child get their personality? What makes YOU have the personality you do? These questions swirl around the heads of almost every parent. When we see our kids struggle, we wonder if it's because of something we've done. How much of our kids' journey is just who they are? How much of the hardship we experienced in our lives was because of our parents and childhood vs. the sensitivities w...

Good parenting always involves four things! In this week's episode of Confessions Of A Parenting Coach, I'll walk you through the four foundational principles of effective parenting that I teach my clients right away when we begin working together. I'll also show you what skills come from each one. These 4 things are so important that if you can master them, every single parenting moment becomes c...

Do you ever try to parent from the couch? We all do it! Instead of getting up and DOING something about our kids' behavior, we call out half-hearted admonitions or reminders from across the room (or across the house) while our kids' behavior doesn't change even one iota. In this episode, I'll walk you through one surefire way to notice when you're doing this and check yourself. If you're ready to...

How well do you understand your inner workings? In this week's episode of Confessions Of A Parent Coach, I walk you through using Internal Family Systems to familiarize yourself with what happens internally for you in stressful moments and to help yourself improve and relax through those hard times. IFS is just one of the countless coaching and self-growth tools I draw from in supporting my client...

This episode both IS and ISN'T about sleep training. When babies are born, they are the boss. We meet their needs and respond to their cries without question. Then, sometime in the first year of life, a cognitive development happens that requires US to shift into the boss role. This episode is about that development and shift. If you feel that maybe you never made that shift, no matter how old you...

Experts love to discuss empathy in parenting. Many books and classes emphasize empathy as the most important thing we can bring to our parenting. It helps us stay nonpunitive and attuned to our kids; it could even help us stay calm because we get where our kids are coming from, right? Not always. In fact, on this week's episode of Confessions Of A Parent Coach, I share how empathy can be a huge ob...

What does a "good" meltdown look like? It's easy to forget that no matter how well we parent, our kids are still going to be hot messes plenty of times. So if that's true, what does it look like for those meltdowns to go down 'well'? What is the best way for us to navigate those meltdowns? Luckily, for all of us, my youngest son is going through a very meltdown-rich chapter these days, and this we...

I'm scared that my issues have impacted my kids." Practically every parent has felt this way. This week on the Confessions Of A Parent Coach podcast we take a look at one of the most painful truths of parenthood: Having us as parents is one of the biggest things our kids have to get over in their lives. Listen in to hear how to first accept, then communicate to your child:  Part of the challenge o...

Does your kid like to catastrophize? Most kids get kind of dramatic or hyperbolic about something from time to time. School isn't just challenging, it's the WORST. They're not just taking a break from a friend, they're NEVER TALKING TO THEM AGAIN. They didn't just get reprimanded. by the teacher today, the teacher HATES THEM AND IS TOTALLY UNFAIR. Sound familiar? This week on the Confessions Of A...

How do you know if you're doing a good job? Practically every parent wishes we had some gold star, rock-solid proof that we're doing well. And, when I ask parents, the most common answers I get are based on feedback they're looking for from their kids. This week on the Confessions Of A Parent Coach podcast I tell you why your kids are actually the worst place to look to evaluate your parenting! An...

Sometimes, growth is scary. It's not exactly a hot take, right? But if you look around, most of the teachings on parenting and personal growth paint a rosy picture of the beautiful results and incredible transformations that await us on the other side of implementing these tools and gloss over the fact that this sh*t is hard and a little scary. Instead of looking at that pot of gold at the end of...

How well do you LISTEN to your child? You know that moment when you realize your kid is SO not listening to you? In fact, they are actively refusing to absorb a damn thing you say...fidgeting, rolling their eyes, or straight-up fighting you? My husband calls this "losing your audience." You can talk all you want, but your words are falling on deaf ears. In this week's episode, I tell you: ♦ Why li...

When my kids were little, and I started parenting work, this was the basic approach I learned: Parents know best. We run the show using loving discipline. The end. But good parenting is more than just discipline! We are in a relationship, and if we focus on discipline but miss the back-and-forth of a true relationship with our kids, we end up bulldozing them and pushing them away. In this week's e...

Do you have screentime all figured out in your family? Congrats! You're the only parent on the planet who does! For all the rest of us, this week's episode will help you: ♦ Face the hard truth about screens, ♦ Make courageous choices about screens with your family ♦ Tell if your child is struggling with screens ♦ Find the balance between a total screen ban and a total screen invasion! This is just...

Does your kid like one parent more than the other? In two-parent families, it can be really painful when kids prefer one parent. It's hard to be the preferred parent, feeling like you can't delegate as easily to your co-parent, and it's definitely hard to be the least favorite. And how about when our kids TELL us straight to our faces that they like their other parent more? Ouch! In this week's ep...

Do you connect with people by sharing your stories? Unfortunately, this type of connection often backfires with kids. They rarely feel closer to you by listening to you talk about yourself, even if what you're saying is super relatable. And when it comes to parenting, most of the time, our stories are meant more to teach, convince, and persuade (in short, to coerce) than they are just to connect....

Are You a Pick-Me Parent? Every parent goes through times when they are acting what the kids these days call thirsty - desperate for our kids' attention or good graces. We don't want to incur their wrath or ruin the good vibes by disciplining them or raining on their parades. In other words, we are Pick-Me Parents 🤦😬 Unfortunately, Pick-Me parenting is a big mess and totally backfires. In this w...