Parenting Decoded

What do you with kids who are wired differently?   Who might be on the spectrum (ADHD, Asperger's, OCD, etc.)?  Maybe they've had a diagnosis, maybe you just can see they are off the charts brilliant and some things but a total failure at socializing with kids their age. 

If you have such challenges with your kids,  take a listen to Sam Young of Young Scholars Academy in this episode as he explains how his onlin...

Some kids seem to be born not caring where stuff is.  They rely on us to find things and if we can't find them they blame US!  Yikes! 

This episode gives you ideas about how to let go of the responsibility for items in our kids lives that should be THEIRS but seem to have become OURS.  

Learn how to keep a calm head as we turn over the job of owning "stuff" back to our kids in loving ways.  

Email me...

Most parents seem to get hit with this at some point in our parenting journey.  It can start at around 6-7 months and usually goes away gradually throughout early childhood.  But… sometimes we’re just put to the test with separation issues and we wish someone would let us know what’s normal, what’s extreme and give us some ideas about what to do.

In this podcast we have Jessica O’Connor, LMFT, a licensed marriage and fami...

Listen to Heath Wilson, co-founder of Aro, talk about their innovative technology that helps families develop good screen habits in a positive and fun way. 

There's a smart tech "box" to hold your devices when families decide to have non-tech time and an app that will track how long technology has been in the box.  It's the complete opposite of our normal "get off your device" that many famil...

There are so many pressures we face as parents but one of the most challenging can be managing our own parents when it comes to gifting to their grandkids.  It's enough to drive some of us crazy!

In this episode we'll talk about the types of interference we might be dealing from our family values being over run to dealing with huge amounts of clutter that we have to organize not to how too many toys can interfere...

When you have a child who refuses to read or is delayed in their reading compared to their peers it can be a very stressful time for parents as we try to navigate the what-to-dos and the why-is this-happening-to-my-child thoughts that constantly run through our minds.  The same stress can hit us when our kids don’t want to write and then again if they start falling into the “I hate school” mode which really tears us up. 

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In this third installment of my manners series we discuss how to train your kids to chew their food with their mouths closed.  It can be a challenge but with some consistency, love and a bit of fun and games it's possible to move your kids into the social graces. 

There are two books for younger kids that might come in handy:
“How Dinosaurs Eat Their Food” by Jane Yolen
“Dinner with Olivia” by Emily Sollinger...

When kids drain our energy by doing things that drive us crazy we need to respond in a loving and empathetic manner.  However,  when we're so tired of them doing things that drain us -- like whining, talking back, fighting with their siblings, or ignoring screen time limits -- we just don't know what to do. 

In this podcast you'll learn not only how to recognize things that drain your energy but how to let ...

What was Mary like as a parent?  In this special episode hear from Mary's two grown sons on what it was like growing up with Mary as a parent.  They talk about how natural consequences shaped them and how energy drains encouraged them to make better decisions among other topics.

This episode was created at the request of Mary's Facebook Group, Parenting Decoded, who were curious about the long term impact of good...

In this episode we learn how to get our kids to say “thank you” and how to help develop a general sense of appreciation for not only “things” but also training them in thankfulness which will help to promote an “attitude of gratitude”. 

• Start Early 
• Be Consistent
• Give Praise for using Thank You 
• Use Family Meetings to Set Expectations
• Set up Family Thanking Events
  • Dinner time thank you routines
  • Bedtime blessings routine
  • T...

We all want our kids to grow up being kind and courteous.  In this episode I talk with Teresa Ramirez, a motivational speaker and Kindness Koach.  Listen to lots of fun ideas on how to promote kindness inside and outside your home.  

Here's some of the ideas we talk about!

- Model it INSIDE your home

•  Use Family Meetings to talk about how to be kind to each other 
• Come up with a list of ideas from putting s...

This is the first podcast in a series relating to getting our kids to learn manners which are fundamental to their becoming responsible, respectful adults.  Starting with Life Lessons early has the biggest impact but in this series of podcasts, whether you have a toddler or a teen, it's worth investing in their future through manners.

Here are the basics of what's covered in this podcast:
1 - Start young!  Th...

In this episode I interview Liz Bayardelle author of Clean Your Plate! 13 Things that Good Parents Say that Ruin Kids’ Lives.   This book covers all sorts of unintended consequences that good parents say regularly like Get Straight As, Don’t Hit, Sit Still, Don’t Be a Quitter and many more.   She goes into detail in all these areas and has wonderful ideas about how to combat our natural tendencies to push our kids in ways that migh...

Some of us struggle with trying to figure out if our kids are addicted to screens.  In this episode Emily Cherkin, The Screentime Consultant, and I discuss what causes screen addictions and what resources might help to determine if our kids are addicted.  We also go over different levels of intervention in overcoming screen issues in our homes. 

Emily is launching a new course for parents that will help train parents week...

In this episode enjoy hearing from Emily Cherkin, The Screentime Consultant, as we talk about strategies to deal with kids and screen time use in our homes.  Emily works with families all the time to help put "tech intentional" ideas into homes.  Listen for ideas on how to set clear and reasonable limits in a way that can be integrated into your home, one step at a time.

Emily can be found at:  https://thescreen...

Siblings who hate each other is unfortunately all too common an issue for parents to ignore.  In this podcast we explore what a parent can do with their kids who aren't getting along, who are unbearably mean to each other. 

Our kids fighting all the time can be:
1 - draining for the ENTIRE family
2 - full of opportunities to learn some life lessons about getting along

In order to help stop the energy...

Setting limits for our kids can be such a challenge.  We set them, they ignore or break them.  Ugh!  In this episode learn how to set better boundaries that we can stick by so that our kids know that we mean what we say.

Learn to say:
1 - "AND WHAT DID I SAY"
Using this phrase helps stop the whining and begging that gets so annoying that we often times give in just to quiet our kids down.
2 - Set cons...

In this podcast learn how to deal with disrespect in your home by teaching and modeling respect while keeping calm. 

The truth is, disrespectful behavior is one of the inappropriate ways kids, especially teenagers but not limited to teens, try to solve their problems. Kids can feel powerless in the face of rules and expectations and talking back and showing disrespect is one way they try to take some power back. If they c...

Life isn’t fair it never has been.  How we deal with life is what matters.  In this episode learn how you can nurture an understanding of fairness in your child's life as well as ideas on how you can respond to unfairness.

We want our kids to be able to:

• Let them know it's ok to express their emotions when life is unfair
• Encourage them to give praise to others when things aren't fair
• Help them continue with...