Setting Limits: The Hard No
Tuesday, April 9 2019
You know about setting warm limits: Moving in calmly when you need to stop a behavior, but what happens when it feels like there is no chance to keep calm? Like, your child is about
Tag: Setting limits with children
Parenting Consistently: A New Approach That Actually Works
Tuesday, April 24 2018
Have you ever felt bound by the need to be consistent in your parenting, and then felt the failure when you couldn’t be? We’re often told that when we are consistent around schedules, eating, playing,
Are You Missing This Vital Ingredient to Stop Dinner Time Battles?
Tuesday, June 27 2017
We’ve all read the stats. Eating dinner together with our children helps with everything from language skills and emotional resilience, to avoiding drink, drugs and obesity, and scoring better grades in school later on. So
17 Kind Ways To Say No To Your Child
Monday, March 6 2017
No doesn’t have to be yelled or sound mean to be effective. Try these 17 kind ways to say no that kids do actually listen to.
How One Mom Kept Her Limit (and Her Calm) After a Playdate
Monday, November 14 2016
By Andrea McCracken As the school year has got started my daughter has gotten more and more social, and wants to play with her friends often after school. One day at a friend’s house they
Take a Time Out from Time Outs
Wednesday, September 21 2016
Your son has been acting out all day. First he grabbed his friend’s toy truck at a playdate and refused to play nicely. He threw it across the room when you asked him to
Handling Sibling Sibling Battles with Empathy
Monday, August 22 2016
“This afternoon I could tell that my four-year-old was going off track. His behavior was erratic, and he couldn’t seem to settle. I didn’t exactly see what happened, but I heard my seventeen-month-old daughter crying.
I Want Another Cookie and I Will Not Buckle My Car Seat
Monday, May 23 2016
We were at an impasse for at least 10 minutes. We tried to wait patiently for her to be ready to leave, but she refused to buckle her car seat and physically prevented us from helping her. Finally, after at least 10 minutes, she allowed me to help her. She was tired and angry and the look in her eyes said, “Help me. I’m in here somewhere and I can’t find myself.”
Setting Playful Limits On Cartoons And Screen Time
Tuesday, March 8 2016
We started setting limits with cartoons about two years ago. My son would ask for just one more cartoon, and I would stand my ground and simply tell him, “Not now,” or, “You can watch some more tomorrow—but not now.”
Loving the Candy (Setting Limits at Halloween)
Saturday, October 26 2013
My 7-year-old daughter, M, returned home from trick-or-treating this Halloween with a bag of candy that weighed at least 5 pounds. In past years, she would eat a few pieces of candy Halloween night, we would put the bag up away from the dogs, and then she could choose a piece each night after dinner. She would forget it was there after a couple of nights, and then we’d bring the rest into work for the office candy bowl. It didn’t quite work that way this year though.
Listening Time Helped Me Set Limits on Screen Time
Friday, September 27 2013
I was feeling tight and cranky in my parenting. I knew I needed to think about setting limits on screen time, and my impulse was to grab the iPad out of my son’s hands and stomp on it. I was not thinking well!!