Peace and Parenting: How to Parent without Punishments

Michelle Kenney, M. Ed
  • 4.9 (350)
  • Parenting
  • Updated Weekly

Are you sick of parenting with the ideas of yelling and shame and looking for something that feels better, is different, but still has a sense of boundaries and limits? Welcome to Peace and Parenting! Michelle is a former teacher, counselor, certified parenting coach, mom of two teens, recovering yeller, and perfectionist who parents without using punishments altogether. And guess what? It works! On this show, you’ll learn the how behind having kids who are entirely UNPUNISHED but who are also successful, kind, loving, and know how to follow directions.  Once a week, Michelle shares her insights and expertise on connective parenting through solo episodes and interviews with experts and other struggling parents. If you have exhausted all other options and don't know what to do next, this could be the parenting strategy you've been searching for.

  1. Aug 11

    Your Kid Doesn't Need Two Houses That Agree, They Need One That's Safe

    We've all been told the same thing. Kids need consistency above everything else. The same rules, the same bedtime, the same consequences in every home they live in. So when the other parent won't get on the same page, we panic. We send the articles. We lecture. We build the case. We pour ourselves into a fight we were never going to win, and we call it love. But here is the truth. Your child is not destabilized by two different sets of rules. They already know the rules at school are not the rules at Grandma's. They code-switch all day long, and it does not break them. What actually costs them is the whiplash of two adults at war. You do not have to parent the same. You just have to build one safe home, and that is entirely yours to do. Join us on our Weekly Training every Thursday at 9:30 am PT live on Zoom Interested in coaching? Let's have a conversation Check out my book UNPUNISHED Join us inside Skool Follow Peace and Parenting: Instagram: @peaceandparenting Facebook: @peaceandparentingla YouTube: @peaceandparentingla 💌 Enjoy today’s episode? Please share it with a fellow parent or leave a rating and a review. Feeling called to bring this work to other parents? Our Coaching Certification Program trains you to do exactly that. DM me CERTIFICATION on Instagram for details. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

    Your Kid Doesn't Need Two Houses That Agree, They Need One That's Safe

  2. Aug 4

    Rewards Are Punishments in Disguise

    For years, I thought I was doing everything right. I had left the yelling behind. I praised my girls constantly; I made star charts. I was a trained teacher and a school counselor, and I believed with my whole heart that catching kids being good was the kind, positive way to parent. I thought I was building my daughters up. What I could not see was that I was quietly teaching them that my warmth was something they had to earn. The thing that cracked it open for me was watching my sensitive oldest, Esme. She had decided her teacher loved her or hated her depending on how many stars she got that day, and she was holding it together at school and falling apart the second she got home to me. That was when I realized the reward system I was fighting at her school was the same one I had been running at home. In this episode, I share what I learned: why praise and punishment are not opposites, why the carrot stops working, and what to say to your child instead so they grow up knowing who they are rather than watching you to find out who to be. Join us on our Weekly Training every Thursday at 9:30 am PT live on Zoom Interested in coaching? Let's have a conversation Check out my book UNPUNISHED Join us inside Skool Follow Peace and Parenting: Instagram: @peaceandparenting Facebook: @peaceandparentingla YouTube: @peaceandparentingla 💌 Enjoy today’s episode? Please share it with a fellow parent or leave a rating and a review. Feeling called to bring this work to other parents? Our Coaching Certification Program trains you to do exactly that. DM me CERTIFICATION on Instagram for details. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

    Rewards Are Punishments in Disguise

  3. Jul 28

    Play Instead of Punishment

    When your child is being hard, what is the first tool you reach for? A countdown. A consequence. A lecture. A raised voice. Almost every one of those is a version of the same instinct: when my child gets hard, I get harder. It makes complete sense, because that is exactly what we were taught to do. In this episode, I am making the case for the opposite. The single most powerful thing you can do in your hardest parenting moments is not bring more pressure. It is to bring more play. I know exactly what some of you are thinking: play rewards bad behavior. Actually, it does the opposite. A hard behavior is a child who is stuck, and play dissolves the stuckness. Hard moments call for seriousness. Actually, a serious face reads as more of a threat to your child's nervous system, and threat escalates behavior. Play is for little kids. Your teenager did not stop playing. You did. This episode dismantles the three biggest myths that keep parents stuck, then hands you the tools to try tonight. Download the Play Guide Join us on our Weekly Training every Thursday at 9:30 am PT live on Zoom Interested in coaching? Let's have a conversation Check out my book UNPUNISHED Follow Peace and Parenting: Instagram: @peaceandparenting Facebook: @peaceandparentingla YouTube: @peaceandparentingla 💌 Enjoy today’s episode? Please share it with a fellow parent or leave a rating and a review. Feeling called to bring this work to other parents? Our Coaching Certification Program trains you to do exactly that. DM me CERTIFICATION on Instagram for details. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

    Play Instead of Punishment

  4. Jul 21

    Your Neurodivergent Child Doesn’t Need a Different Parent

    When Cammie's son began struggling with school, anxiety, and sensory challenges, she heard the same message so many parents hear: maybe he needed a different approach. But instead of abandoning connection, she leaned into it, and watched something remarkable happen. In this episode, Coach Cammie shares her family's journey, from heartbreaking school drop-offs to the moment her son was finally ready to walk into school on his own. Together, we explore why neurodivergent children don't need a different kind of parent, they need the same foundation of connection, offered with even more understanding, patience, and trust. Join us on our Weekly Training every Thursday at 9:30 am PT live on Zoom Interested in coaching? Let's have a conversation Check out my book UNPUNISHED Follow Peace and Parenting: Instagram: @peaceandparenting Facebook: @peaceandparentingla YouTube: @peaceandparentingla 💌 Enjoy today’s episode? Please share it with a fellow parent or leave a rating and a review. Feeling called to bring this work to other parents? Our Coaching Certification Program trains you to do exactly that. DM me CERTIFICATION on Instagram for details. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

    Your Neurodivergent Child Doesn’t Need a Different Parent

  5. Jul 14

    Your Child is Not Disrespectful, They Are Dysregulated.

    For years, I believed that when my daughters pushed back, they were being defiant. Then one afternoon at the American Girl store, my youngest daughter had a public meltdown that completely changed the way I understood children's behavior and my role as a parent. In this episode, I'm sharing why behavior is communication, not defiance, and how learning to read the message beneath your child's actions can transform your relationship. I'll walk you through the mindset shifts and practical tools that helped me stop fighting the behavior and start understanding the child underneath it. Join us on our Weekly Training every Thursday at 9:30 am PT live on Zoom Join our Skool Community Check out my book UNPUNISHED Follow Peace and Parenting: Instagram: @peaceandparenting Facebook: @peaceandparentingla YouTube: @peaceandparentingla 💌 Enjoy today’s episode? Please share it with a fellow parent or leave a rating and a review. Feeling called to bring this work to other parents? Our Coaching Certification Program trains you to do exactly that. DM me CERTIFICATION on Instagram for details. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

    Your Child is Not Disrespectful, They Are Dysregulated.

  6. Jul 7

    Breaking the Cycle: How to Parent Differently Than You Were Parented (with Coach Tim)

    If you've ever caught yourself saying the very words you swore you'd never say to your child, you're not alone. I've been there too. In this episode, we’re sharing why breaking generational parenting patterns isn't a matter of trying harder or having more willpower. It's about recognizing the blueprint you inherited and learning how to write a new one. Through personal stories, research, and years of coaching parents, We’ll help you understand why old reactions surface so quickly—and why that doesn't mean you've failed. We'll walk you through the hidden ways inherited patterns show up in everyday parenting, explain why awareness alone isn't enough to create lasting change, and share practical tools you can begin using today. Breaking the cycle doesn't happen through perfection—it happens one small moment at a time, as you learn to pause, repair, and choose a different path for yourself and your children. Join us on our Weekly Training every Thursday at 9:30 am PT live on Zoom Interested in coaching? Let's have a conversation Check out my book UNPUNISHED Follow Peace and Parenting: Instagram: @peaceandparenting Facebook: @peaceandparentingla YouTube: @peaceandparentingla 💌 Enjoy today’s episode? Please share it with a fellow parent or leave a rating and a review. Feeling called to bring this work to other parents? Our Coaching Certification Program trains you to do exactly that. DM me CERTIFICATION on Instagram for details. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

    Breaking the Cycle: How to Parent Differently Than You Were Parented (with Coach Tim)

  7. Jun 30

    The Quiet Child Nobody Worries About: What's Actually Going On

    Most of us were raised to believe that a "good" child is a calm child, who does not push back, does not melt down, does not make the adults around them uncomfortable. We have spent generations praising children for the absence of need. But the absence of need is not the same as the absence of pain. There is a kind of child (and you may have one in your house right now) who looks easy from the outside. But underneath, she is doing a job. She is scanning the room. She is reading your face when you walk in from work. She is calibrating which version of herself is allowed today. That child is not calm. She is hypervigilant. And the cost of hypervigilance always gets paid somewhere, usually in adulthood, usually in a therapist's office twenty-five years later. In this episode, I'm walking through how people-pleasing actually installs in a child's nervous system, why the loud kid who falls apart with you is often safer than the quiet one who has stopped asking, and the five patterns that quietly turn a child wired toward attunement into a child who is permanently scanning. I'll also share the story of a mom who came to coaching about her eleven-year-old daughter, the easy one, the mature one, and what she discovered about her own childhood along the way. Resource shared in this episode: Download our Shame Free Home Guide Join us on our Weekly Training every Thursday at 9:30 am PT live on Zoom Interested in coaching? Let's have a conversation Check out my book UNPUNISHED Follow Peace and Parenting: Instagram: @peaceandparenting Facebook: @peaceandparentingla YouTube: @peaceandparentingla 💌 Enjoy today’s episode? Please share it with a fellow parent or leave a rating and a review. Feeling called to bring this work to other parents? Our Coaching Certification Program trains you to do exactly that. DM me CERTIFICATION on Instagram for details. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

    The Quiet Child Nobody Worries About: What's Actually Going On

  8. Jun 23

    The Hidden Cost of Emotionally Immature Parents (And How to Stop Passing It On)

    Many of us grew up in homes where emotions were dismissed, mistakes were punished, and children learned to manage the feelings of the adults around them. As parents, we often recognize those patterns intellectually, but recognizing them and changing them are two very different things. In this episode, Michelle explores the long-term effects of growing up with emotionally immature parents and why awareness alone isn't enough to break the cycle. In this episode, we share the practical work of healing childhood wounds while raising children differently. We explain why our biggest parenting reactions are often connected to unresolved experiences from our own childhood, and we show you three powerful practices that help parents interrupt old patterns in real time, repair relationship ruptures, and begin the deeper process of reparenting themselves. Join us on our Weekly Training every Thursday at 9:30 am PT live on Zoom Interested in coaching? Let's have a conversation Check out my book UNPUNISHED Follow Peace and Parenting: Instagram: @peaceandparenting Facebook: @peaceandparentingla YouTube: @peaceandparentingla 💌 Enjoy today’s episode? Please share it with a fellow parent or leave a rating and a review. Feeling called to bring this work to other parents? Our Coaching Certification Program trains you to do exactly that. DM me CERTIFICATION on Instagram for details. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

    The Hidden Cost of Emotionally Immature Parents (And How to Stop Passing It On)
See All (460)

Trailer

Hosts & Guests

4.9
out of 5
350 Ratings

About

Are you sick of parenting with the ideas of yelling and shame and looking for something that feels better, is different, but still has a sense of boundaries and limits? Welcome to Peace and Parenting! Michelle is a former teacher, counselor, certified parenting coach, mom of two teens, recovering yeller, and perfectionist who parents without using punishments altogether. And guess what? It works! On this show, you’ll learn the how behind having kids who are entirely UNPUNISHED but who are also successful, kind, loving, and know how to follow directions.  Once a week, Michelle shares her insights and expertise on connective parenting through solo episodes and interviews with experts and other struggling parents. If you have exhausted all other options and don't know what to do next, this could be the parenting strategy you've been searching for.

Information

You Might Also Like