the Mudroom

The #1 question from parents?  "Is my kid normal?!"    Given my background in early intervention, I have a bit of a unique perspective on normal. It's a perspective that I'd like to share with you- because it's a perspective that is central to why and how I developed Uncommon Sense Parenting and ParentAbility.   In this episode we're going to cover:  - What the difference...

The virtual learning debate continues even with Uncommon Sense Parenting and parenting young children.  Parents have been reaching out panicking about virtual learning.   Who knew virtual daycare was even a thing?!   Scripts: prnt.link/scripts   On this Mudroom episode we will be covering:   - Whether kids under age 6 need virutal learning.  - How to tell if your chil...

Posse members say that their children's misbehavior makes them feel overwhelmed, frustrated, and gives them a sense of vague dread!  Can you relate?    There is a "secret" to teaching your children perfect behavior.  It's not what you think it is. Grab the Scripts to Manage the Top 10 Crazy-Making Behaviours: prnt.link/scripts Watch the video recording here: Join the Parenting...

Feel like you're doing EVERYTHING yourself when it comes to raising your kids and unsure of where to turn for help?  In this episode we're going to cover:  -Why every family needs a pandemic-proof team  -How building your team will help reduce your stress even if they aren't providing physical help. - How you can steal my battle-tested team and apply it to your family.   Grab t...

There has been an unusually large number of requests to help with car seats lately.    While we don't allow car seat questions in the Parenting Posse, I thought it prudent to go over the basics of choosing a car seat so that when you seek professional car seat support you aren't flying blind.   In this episode we'll cover:  - The #1 mistake parents make when choosing a car seat...

You know how some kids laugh when they hit you?    They run up to you and jump on you, push their siblings and laugh about it?    They hit you and then think it's funny when you react?   In this episode we will be talking about:  - Why children are aggressive "for fun".   - Why children laugh after hurting someone, even someone they like!  - How to get them...

If you aren't punishing our kids, how exactly do you deal with "mouthing off", "talking back", and "mean words?"    We want our kids to be respectful and kind, but how can we possibly teach them to be those things when they are hurling insults right left and centre?   In this episode I am going to discuss:  - How our parents dealt with 'back talk' and why that really doesn't wo...

What is UP with two year olds?!    We've been hearing lots of complaints about "terrible twos".  I'll be honest, I take issue with that characterization.   Twos aren't terrible! They're STRESSED!    In this episode I will be discussing my tips to help you out with your two year old. I will be covering:   - The unique developmental stage that twos are in.  -...

It's #orangeshirt day in Canada. We're honouring the victims of the Residential School System.    You can't just slap an orange shirt on your child and go about your day!   In order to not just have this be performative, you need to tell them WHY they're wearing orange. And that can be scary.   In this episode I will be discussing: - Why you shouldn't participate in days like O...

We're always in such a rush for our kids to move on to more advanced skills.  We want them to be reading chapter books or doing advanced math or playing more complex music!  Is this really doing them any favours? In this episode I will be discussing: - The recent change I made to my program which is helping parents get better results. - What the father of the Wayne Gretzky can teach us a...

Why do I recommend only working on your child's skills 10 minutes a day?  I wanted to clear up the two reasons why 10 minutes a day is really the longest you should spend on daily skill development. In this episode I will be going to cover: - The difference between ACTIVE skill development and PASSIVE lifestyle changes and how each play a role in skill development. - Why 10 minutes is the MAX...

If it's the KIDS that have a "listening problem", why is it that children will listen to certain adults easily and almost ALWAYS?  There's a "trick" to getting children to listen quickly and easily, and I'm going to share it with you today. In this episode we'll discuss: - How we're actually making it difficult (if not impossible) for our children to listen to us. - The 4 things we need to ke...

Asking for help is hard! But asking for help and receiving it is an essentail component to our mental well-being. Just like our children, we need to learn to budget our energy output. In this episode I discuss: - Why I've personally been struggling so much lately, and possibly why you are too. - The lies anxiety tells us about parenting. - The benefits of asking for an receiving help, and the effe...

If I told you I could save you 60+ minutes parenting every day, would you give me 10? Of course, you would! We're all run off the rails busy, especially now with the lack of childcare.    In this episode I will cover:   - How to do an audit to discover how much time you're actually spending on discipline.  - Why you're spending so much time repeating yourself every day.  -...

Free Workshop: allanarobinson.com/freeclass Many parents, when looking for solutions to their parenting woes, try to just...do the opposite of what doesn't make sense/ isn't working. Time-ins appear to be one of those "things" that was born of a desire to do away with the damaging aspects of time-outs...but are they really any better? In this episode I cover: - Why the term "gentle" doesn't really...

Sometimes the things out kids are "scared" of seem so completely ridiculous. It can be infuriating when- if they'd just DO IT- they'd realize there's nothing to be afraid of! In this episode we'll talk about: - Why kids develop these irrational fears. - Two things we do to actually make these fears worse. - The secret to moving them past these fears quickly. Grab the Scripts to Manage the Top 10 C...

Do your kids seem like they're gunning for the Guiness World Record for biggest and most mood swings in an hour? You're not alone! There's a reason young kids are EXTREMELY emotional right now. In this episode we're going to cover: - Why our kids are SO emotional right now. - The 3 things we need to be paying attention to ESPECIALLY as back to school season starts. - A special note about 4 year ol...

Why is it so hard for some kids to calm TF down and be quiet?! Why can some kids happily play quietly with LEGO for hours, while others struggle to simmer down enough to even read a short picture book? In this episode we're going to cover: - The difference between quiet and calm - Why we need to focus on teaching out kids to calm down. - How to find your child's calming "thing." Grab the Scripts t...

How the HECK are we supposed to make a decision about returning to school (or daycare, or preschool, or...whatever care situation you've got)?! There really is no good answer. In this episode we'll be discussing: - The 5 factors I think are most important to consider - Some suggestions on how to weigh those factors for your family. - How to make a decision that- if you aren't thrilled about- you c...

Everybody's waking up to the idea that maybe punishments aren't really working.    Many people are struggling with what to do instead. We're having a reckoning with punishments on a global scale.  As a parent, what does this mean for your kids?   In this episode we're going to discuss:  - Why large swaths of people are terrified of removing "the enforcers" and replacing it...

Society is slowly getting back to normal. Public spaces are slowly opening up again and we are beginning to return back to some resemblance of a "normal routine".   Have you noticed that your child's behavior is getting worse during this transition time?   In this episode we're going to discuss:   - Why ending social isolation is just as stressful as starting it.   - The two re...

It drives parents up the wall when children rigid in their thinking. This is a learned behavior. Parents model this quite a bit.    In this episode we're going to discuss:    - Why we like rules so much.   - How to model discovering nuance in everyday situations.   - The best way to teach your children to seek nuance. Grab the Scripts to Manage the Top 10 Crazy-Making...

Parents have been asking over the last few weeks due to the Black Lives Matter Movement, "how old should we be starting to talk to our child about racism?"   In this episode we will be discussing:    - When to start introducing the topic of racism to young children?  - What should that discussion look like?   - How to keep the conversation going. Grab the Scripts to Manage...

Ever get stuck in your head going round and round on a behaviour problem, only to realize after far too long the answer's been right in front of your face the whole time?    There's a way to avoid these circles we get stuck in our heads and cut straight to the solutions.    In this episode I'm covering:    - What it means to get stuck in your own head.   - Why we...

It's extremely confusing when you start looking for parenting support. Coaches, therapists, doctors, interventionists...we've all got different names, do different things, and have different qualifications. But the most frequent qualification question I get is- why aren't you certified?!   In this episode I'm going to cover:  - What does "certification" mean in the coaching industry.&nbs...