Effective discipline can be confusing! It can feel like we’re working so hard to be caring, empathetic, and patient with our kids—and not lose our temper—yet still, the challenging behaviors keep happening. And then when we try to set boundaries, our child has a meltdown that seems to last forever. What are we doing wrong? … Continued
This week Janet consults with the single mother of a 2.5-year-old who’s concerned about how she’s handling her daughter’s behaviors. She describes her toddler as strong-willed, smart, intuitive, loving, sweet, and caring, but when she doesn’t get what she wants, she loses it, throwing things, hitting, and screaming. This parent realizes that her daughter’s behavior … Continued
Respectful, effective discipline can be challenging for us to learn, and experience is our best teacher! With that in mind, Janet shares several encouraging success stories from parents who faced frustrating or infuriating, sometimes alarming challenges with their kids. Subjects include disobedience, bedtime struggles, tantrums, aggressiveness, hitting, self-care, boundaries, and more. Each parent describes their … Continued
Janet’s guest is Dr. Tina Payne Bryson. Her new book “The Way of Play” (co-authored with play therapist Georgie Wisen-Vincent) illustrates how playing with our kids in a receptive manner for even just a few minutes each day helps us to better understand them, while also encouraging their development of social skills, emotional regulation, resilience, … Continued
Is it ever okay to say no to our child’s requests for closeness or attention, to separate when that makes them upset? What if these requests are frequent, or even seem to evolve into a habit of unreasonable, seemingly over-the-top demands? In this episode Janet responds to two notes from parents who feel they may be in … Continued
Janet is joined by inner child healing expert Lavinia Brown, whose previous appearance on “Unruffled” prompted a listener to write in to describe how she’s struggled to control her angry and physically punitive responses to her three-year-old son’s behavior. Raised in an authoritarian household in which she was spanked whenever she disobeyed, this mom has … Continued
A parent writes to Janet that she’s alarmed and heartbroken about the wedge that’s developed between her and her 4-year-old son, “a very sweet, genuine, kind little person,” due to his increasingly unkind, hurtful behavior. This mom feels she’s tried everything and yet her son continues to hit, kick, pinch, scratch, and run away from … Continued
Parenting and worry seem to go hand-in-hand. Because we care so much, we watch our kids closely and can tend to perceive their traits and behaviors in a needlessly negative, worrisome light. In this episode, Janet explains why traits like sensitivity, bossiness, a toddler’s insistence on doing it himself, and another child’s seemingly constant need … Continued
Janet consults with a distressed parent of two boys who feels stuck in a destructive pattern. She describes how she’s struggling with feeling constantly irritated, overwhelmed, and just angry. “I love my kids more than anything,” she says, “but they’re driving me crazy.” Janet agrees with the mom that boundaries are a big part the … Continued
A parent with 2 children, 4 and 1.5-years-old, writes to Janet feeling disappointed and concerned that he’s letting his children down. This dad admits that he’s very sensitive to both his children’s emotions, especially if they’re upset. In order to deal with their typical, rambunctious behaviors, he’s attempted to set reasonable boundaries with consequences in … Continued
Janet addresses messages from parents who are feeling defeated and helpless in the face of their kids’ persistently uncooperative, annoying and, in one case, hurtful behavior. All of these parents admit they are struggling, and that the approaches they’ve tried just don’t seem to be working. “… I am constantly getting at my child, telling her ‘No, … Continued
Wouldn’t parenting be easier if our kids’ behavior was always stellar? Unfortunately, for most of us that isn’t the case. It is during those difficult times especially, when our child is tired or hungry or angry (or their behavior just seems terrible and we’re mystified as to what’s gotten into them), that they need us … Continued
A mother reaches out to Janet because her 3-year old’s behavior has recently become erratic and unpleasant, and she’s struggling to make sense of it. She writes that her boy is strong-willed, smart, kind, high energy and wonderful to be around. But lately he’s quick to anger, throws things, screams NO to simple requests, is … Continued
