Peace and Parenting: How to Parent without Punishments

As parents, we all know how tough it can be to deal with tantrums when we're trying to leave the house. It's important to connect with our children in the morning and set a positive tone for the day. In this episode, I will offer you some helpful suggestions for avoiding these challenges and handling difficult situations with understanding and compassion. Enjoy today’s episode? Please shar...

When we ask our kids to do something, like a household chore or lend a hand, it's important to approach it in a way that fosters cooperation rather than just demanding compliance. Nobody likes being forced to do something for someone else. Tune in today for some helpful tips on how to encourage cooperation from your kids. Enjoy today’s episode? Please share it with a fellow parent or leave a r...

In today's episode, I'll be answering a question from an Instagram follower who is seeking advice on how to help their 11-year-old child sleep without their presence. This is a common issue, so today I’ll share some helpful tips to assist in getting children of any age to sleep on their own. However, be prepared you may need to experience some big icky feelings. Enjoy today’s episode? Plea...

I often discuss the importance of allowing children to experience and express their emotions, however, what should we do when our children have these emotional outbursts in public places, like a tantrum at the mall, in line at the supermarket, or even worse, in the middle of a flight? Today, I would like to share how I handle these situations, and spoiler alert… much of it involves releasing any c...

It can be challenging to decide on the best way to approach your child's grades because each child and situation is unique. However, I would like to share some ideas today on how to manage this situation in a way that prioritizes your relationship with your child and lessens the societal expectations that often come with “good grades”. Enjoy today’s episode? Please share it with a fellow paren...

As a fellow parent, I've gathered some quick and useful parenting tips over the years that can help you take a break or handle challenging situations more easily. These hacks are aimed at making your life as a parent a bit smoother. I hope you find them beneficial! Interested in Transcendental Mediation? Check out the link here: https://www.tm.org/ Enjoy today’s episode? Please share it with a...

Many people have contacted me requesting more episodes on teenagers, so I have invited teen whisperer Kirsten Cobabe to join me today. We will be discussing the significant change that occurs when our children transition from wanting to do things with us to desiring independence. Our conversation will include curfews and how, despite appearing more like adults, teenagers still get dysregulated and...

Let's face it, chores can be a real drag for everyone, even you! So don’t expect your kids to jump at the chance to do them whenever you ask. What we’re hoping for really, is just less protesting. In this episode, I’ll give you some tips about dealing with chores and share with you my story of how I used connection consistently, and sure enough over time got the results I was after. Enjoy toda...

Episode Description: Have you received a call from the principal asking you to come into the school because your child has been involved in some sort of incident? If so it may have brought up feelings of concern and shame because we think it's a reflection on us. Today I want to give you some helpful tips on how to handle this situation with calmness and connection both with your child and wit...

If you're worried that connected parenting will never work, or that you might be stuck in these intense emotions forever, don't lose hope. Today, I would like to share with you a few small things to take notice of that can provide you with encouragement that your efforts are paying off. Just keep at it, and things will improve! Enjoy today’s episode? Please share it with a fellow parent or...

Today I want to read to you another excerpt from my new book Unpunished, it’s from the chapter entitled Redefining Parenting Through Connection and I share with you what happened when I shifted away from a desire to control to a desire for relationship with my kids. Enjoy today’s episode? Please share it with a fellow parent or leave a rating and a review. Buy my book UNPUNISHED ! Follow Peace and...

Today I want to give those who have started on this journey of connected parenting some much-needed encouragement. We can often get stuck in the muck what with all the refusals, fighting, poor choices, and big feelings. But bad moments don’t mean you are not progressing, and every day you need to look for those beautiful moments too. Listen in as I give you some indicators that you’re on the right...

Today I want to help parents trying to implement connected parenting with their partners. I’ll talk about the challenges of using different parenting styles and how to avoid shaming your partner. I also have some great tips for getting your partner on board if they haven’t already started the connected parenting journey yet. Because what kids need the most is a consistent and supportive parenting...

If I asked any parent if they love their kid unconditionally they are more than likely going to say yes, but how do we show our kids this? Because it's a very different feeling coming from the child's side of things. We can tell them this over and over with our words but kids make this assessment based on how we act and more importantly react to them. Today I want to help you with some tho...

Today I want to explore how play can be a powerful tool to shift the mood of your family, salvage challenging interactions, and ultimately build connection with your kids. I’ll share with you the importance of timing and give you some practical tips for incorporating play into your parenting toolkit. Enjoy today’s episode? Please share it with a fellow parent or leave a rating and a review. Follow...

Have you at any time thought to yourself what is wrong with my parenting? Why are my kids so good with other people but with me, they throw tantrums, yell, scream, and disobey? It’s not because you’re doing something wrong it’s because you’re doing something right. You are likely their default parent which means you’re their only safe place to go when they need to unload their big feelings, but of...

When I say discipline, most of us immediately go to a vision of punishing our kids when they do something wrong, like confiscating something or time outs. For some, it can even mean physical punishments like spanking. That’s because we have a very traditional sense of the word discipline.  I don’t use any of these traditional forms of discipline on my kids, that's because they are watching ev...

Hey fellow parents, I’m Michelle Kenney, a former yeller, recovering perfectionist, and a reformed control freak. For the last 20 years , I have been helping parents find more calm and peace at home. I do this by helping them move away from yelling, threats, and bribes and into more connection with their kids . Every Tuesday & Thursday I release a new episode with practical tools, and evidence...

Today I want to talk about parenting from fear. As parents, we all want to protect our children from experiencing the hardships and pain we went through as children. However, in doing so, are we unintentionally hindering their growth and development? By examining where we are fearful in our parenting, we can recognize areas where we may need to let go and trust our children to make their own mista...

Society has set us up that a harsh word or a harsh tone is how we fix bad behavior. But if one child is receiving harshness because their behavior is difficult and hard to manage, we have to be mindful that everyone is watching and it is going to affect all of the relationships in the house. Download my FREE guide : Healing Ourselves Through Journaling Enjoy today’s episode? Please share it with a...

From a young age, the education system teaches us (and our kids) that grades are the metrics for assessing if they are doing well but this can put a lot of pressure on them. I have decided instead to give my kids responsibility for their own grades instead of constantly harping on them to get good grades. I want to help them focus on learning the material and understanding why they're struggli...

On the 200th episode, I reflect on a significant lesson I've learned: being my child's best friend doesn't eliminate conflict. I used to put immense pressure on myself to be perfect, but I've since realized that connected parenting is built on unconditional acceptance, not back-and-forth games. It's okay to make mistakes as a parent, and building a strong connection with our ch...

I believe every child needs to be a good decision-maker, but they can't become good decision-makers if they don’t have decisions to make. While giving advice may seem like good parenting, I think it actually hinders children's ability to learn from their mistakes. Instead, I suggest we listen to our little ones first and use some probing questions to help them make their own decisions. Wit...

If you’ve recently started on this connected parenting journey sometimes it's hard to know if you’re getting any results. Many of my clients are concerned that their kids are still misbehaving, and still fighting with each other, and still throwing tantrums. But that’s not how we measure your parenting, we measure by way of how YOU are feeling, whether you are calmer and more in control. Just...

In the early days of my parenting journey, I was all about activities and productivity, I wanted to get things done! I tried to fix my own childhood through my motherhood. I was providing everything for these kids, home-cooked meals, extracurricular activities, play dates, and structure but I was missing one big thing. And when I discovered it, everything changed. Enjoy today’s episode? Please sha...