Your Parenting Long Game Rachel Bailey

Kids know that they have to do things they don’t want to do: brush their teeth, put their stuff away, do their homework -- and yet, they still complain day after day. Even when we ask them to stop complaining or whining, it doesn’t stop for long. In this episode, you’ll learn why whining and complaining is a symptom of something deeper for kids, how to avoid being sucked into their Yuck (and save our energy), and what to teach them to help them stop complaining in the future. 

It’s very common for parents not to be on the same page when it comes to parenting. After all, parents come from different backgrounds and often have different perspectives about what will “work.” Often when this happens, each parent will spend a lot of energy trying to convince the other that they need to change -- a strategy that is rarely effective. In this episode, you’ll learn why it’s important to stop trying to convince your spouse or co-parent to change, and what you can do instead if you want to be closer to being on the same page.

Now that birthday parties and bigger gatherings are happening again, there’s a lot of excitement. But with children with big emotions, there can be struggle as well. Often big-feeling children are hesitant to join big events, and when they do, they often come to us, full of frustration, upset, or other Yuck. In this episode, you’ll learn what children actually need in these situations in order to be more resilient so they (and we) can enjoy these gatherings more.

We all want to know what to say to put an end to a situation that is going downhill. When our children have big reactions, or when they’re being disrespectful because they’re upset… we want to know how to make them stop. The problem is, most of what we try makes the situation worse, not better. In this episode, we’ll talk about why trying to find the “right thing” to say can backfire and what action to take instead to improve a situation more quickly.

Many parents say that one of the worst parts of the day happens right after school. Often when they get home from school, children are often disrespectful (to you and to their siblings), demanding, or just plain irritable! In this episode, you’ll learn why the after-school hours are particularly difficult for children with big emotions and what you can do to make this time of day less miserable for everyone. 

We are all very familiar with the whines and complaints of “it’s not fair!” And some of our kids may be melting down or getting incredibly angry when they perceive an injustice. But when we try to explain to our children why things really ARE fair (or why they have to accept that things aren’t fair!), the situation gets worse. In this episode, you’ll learn what’s really causing the “it’s not fair!” lament and what children really need in those moments in order to feel and act better.