Three Parenting Secrets

I am really excited to get started with the Parenting with Positive Guidance classes this Wednesday!  I can’t wait to start sharing and discussing some of the best tools for guiding behavior and building internal discipline in our children.  It’s not too late to get signed up.  Slide on over here to get all the details and get your spot. But before you do that, I wanted to share a little bit of what I shared with Kristina at Toddler Approved:

As parents, we all want what’s best for our children.  Desperately. We’re on a constant quest to find the best approach, the ideal experiences, and the perfect things to say.  But the truth of the matter is, life just isn’t perfect. And, incidentally, neither are we.

There is certainly no ONE right way to parent, as the shelves full of parenting books in every book store and library will attest.  If there was one right way, we’d all own that book and have it memorized.  Instead we find that there are millions of parents with just about as many approaches for meeting the needs of their children.

I do believe, however, that there are certain principles of parenting that are consistent and true, although their application will look different in almost every home.  These are the principles and tools that I teach about in my Ecourse, Parenting with Positive Guidance Ecourse.  (There’s still a little time left to get registered!  Find details here.)

Here are three of my favorite tools and perspectives for positive parenting….

…Connection enhances correction. Think of the last time a stranger gave you some advice.  (If this hasn’t happened to you yet, just imagine.)  Did they tap you on the shoulder in line at McDonald’s to let you know you should have ordered a number 4 instead of a number 6?  Did they point out that your hair could use some highlights?  Did they suggest you switch your favorite soda….or give it up all together?  Did you step right up and follow the suggestion, or did you walk away thinking, “Random.  Why were you even talking to me about that?”

Now think of the last time you got some advice from someone you feel really close to.  Did you weigh that advice differently?  Even in trivial examples like the ones above, we’re more likely to consider the suggestions made by someone we have a relationship with.  Someone we love and trust.

Likewise, our children are not wired to accept our correction simply because they share some of our DNA.  They are, however, inclined to consider what we say when they feel a sense of connection.  When they know they are safe, loved, and understood, their attention focuses, and their motivation increases.
These connections are enhanced over the course of a relationship, as well as in critical teaching moments.  (We’ll discuss more of the details to building these connections as part of the course!)

… Head over to Toddler Approved to read more about the other two secrets!

This Ecourse is based on the Ebook I wrote more than a year ago.  It can be hard to take your ideas and beliefs and send them out into the world, but my decision to do so is continually reinforced when I get feedback like I did just this weekend:

“I am half way through reading your fantastic book and I am loving it. It resonates with how I am parenting anyway but has just given me a few more tools to use. I started using some of your ideas in the last couple of days and I have already seen an improvement in the response I get from my son. And we are both happier in our interactions, even when I am saying No – although I have to say I am saying No soooo much less because you have given me so many better options. I’m feeling so much more positive about parenting thanks to your book. Thank you so much.”

I hope to “see” you in class, and to share with you the parenting tools and perspectives that you can start using in your home right away.  If you have any questions, check out the details here and here.  Still stumped?  Feel free to shoot me an email:  amanda {at} notjustcute.com.