As a therapist and parenting coach for moms of teens and preteens, I often hear parents express their frustrations when it comes to communicating with their children. It can be challenging to navigate this stage of parenting, especially when emotions run high. The good news is, you don't have to do it alone.

One of the most effective tools I recommend to parents is mastering the pause. So often in life, we are hijacked by our emotions. They take over and we react. This is especially true when it comes to parenting. When our teens push our buttons, it's easy to react impulsively, without considering the long-term consequences of our actions.

That's where mastering the pause comes in. When we pause, we take a moment to collect ourselves and think about how we want to respond. We can choose to respond from a place of calm and intention, rather than reacting from a place of anger or frustration.

Taking a breath and pausing allows us to create space for ourselves. It gives us a moment to...

Are you a parent struggling with your teenager? If so, you may feel like it's just a phase, but it's important to take action and use parent coaching to turn things around. Parent coaching is a form of coaching that focuses on the unique challenges of raising children. It can help you develop the skills and strategies needed to strengthen your relationship with your teen and improve family dynamics.

It's essential to understand that struggling with your teen isn't just a phase that they'll grow out of. Unresolved conflicts and communication breakdowns can lead to long-term issues that can impact your relationship with your child and their future success.

What is Parent Coaching?

Parent coaching can provide numerous benefits for both parents and teens. By working with a coach, you can learn how to communicate effectively with your teen, set boundaries, and resolve conflicts in a positive and constructive way. This can help you build a stronger relationship with your teen and create a...

Natural consequences are the things that happen in response to your child's behavior without a parent getting involved. These are imposed by nature, society, or another person.

This is the good news!  You do not actually deliver a natural consequence yourself. Instead, you allow nature or society to impose the consequence on your child by not interfering. So you do not have to fight with your teen or risk their wrath.  You just let it happen! (Yeah right!?)

They are some of the most effective methods of discipline and you don’t have to do the hard work! At least on paper, you don’t. The hard work for you as the parent is NOT INTERFERING. We will talk about that in a bit. 

Let's start with some examples of natural consequences for your teens.

• If your child refuses to put on a coat, your child feels cold.
• If your child won't eat, your child feels hungry.
• If your child doesn't complete their homework, your child fails the assignment.
• If your child breaks a...

Parenting is one of the most challenging and rewarding roles in life. As a mother, it's your responsibility to guide your child through life and help them become respectful and responsible adults. However, it can be difficult to recognize when your teen is being disrespectful, and it's even harder to admit that you may not be parenting them fully.

Here are some tips to help you become a more effective parent:

1. Recognize the signs of disrespect. Disrespectful behavior can take many forms, including talking back, eye-rolling, ignoring you, and disobeying rules. It's important to pay attention to these signs and address them as soon as possible.
2. Set clear boundaries. Your teen needs to know what behavior is acceptable and what is not. Be clear about your expectations and consequences for breaking the rules. Make sure your rules are age-appropriate and reasonable.
3. Follow through on consequences. If your teen breaks a rule, make sure you follow through on the consequences you set. This...

As a parent, watching your child struggle with school avoidance and absenteeism can be frustrating and worrying. You want to see them succeed and thrive, but it can be difficult to know how to help them when they are reluctant to attend school. Fortunately, there are many strategies and tools that you can use to support your teen and help them overcome their school avoidance and absenteeism.

In this article, we will explore some of the common causes of school avoidance and absenteeism, as well as practical tips for parents to help their teens. With the right tools and support, you can help your teen feel motivated and excited to attend school, paving the way for their academic success.

The good news is that there are several ways you can support your teenager in overcoming school avoidance, and one of them is monitoring their screen time and device usage late into the night. It's been scientifically proven that using electronic devices such as phones, tablets, and computers late...