Author: Shelly

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Seven Strategies to Transform Challenging Moments

Sometimes I wish my child wasn’t such a perfect reflection of my emotional state. I was grumpy yesterday and how did my daughter respond? By not listening, not helping, and saying no to everything. I knew that she was just responding to my own “no” energy, yet I somehow couldn’t pull myself out of my funk and become more of a “yes.” Instead, I just simmered in my “everything’s wrong” mentality and watched my child’s behavior become more erratic, clingy, defiant, and reactive as the day wore on. read more

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The Destructive Power of Always and Never

We’ve talked about words and phrases that don’t serve connection before. The word “should” is one to avoid, as are “you” statements and empty praise but what about seemingly innocuous words like “always” and “never”? Sure there are perfectly reasonable uses for these words that don’t cause any trouble. “I will always love you,” for example.

But if we really sit down and analyze our uses of these two words, we are likely to find that they’re often inaccurate and they most certainly invite argument. Let’s take a common example from my own experience, “You never have your shoes on when it’s time to leave the house!” read more

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How Setting Parenting Goals Can Completely Change Your Life

Photo by Suzette Hibble

I’m frustrated with how things are. I know I want a change. I just wish things were different and easier and that I didn’t get a bunch of resistance at every step along the way. I try to talk to my husband about it and we get into a fight. I can’t even seem to figure out exactly what I’m wanting. Sound familiar?

I’ve been a self-professed personal growth junkie for over ten years and if there’s one thing I’ve learned it’s that setting goals is the best way to make a change. Yet somehow when it comes to parenting I seem to forget this important step. read more

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How to Teach Toddlers to Share

This week at our Montessori inspired home based preschool something truly magical happened. Two year olds began sharing easily and generously without being forced, coerced, bribed, or scolded. I’ve never seen anything like it before.

A couple of weeks ago there were a lot of tears as the children grabbed toys from one another, wrenched them out of each other’s grasp, hoarded and hid the coveted toys, and when they were recovered by the other party, a whole new set of tears ensued.

I enjoyed this humorous description I recently read online about how toddlers feel about possessions. This has circulated the internet so I’m not sure who originally wrote it, but here you go: read more

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