Parents With Confidence

Raising emotionally healthy children that will change the world.

  • Start here
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
  • Work With Me
    • Parent Coaching/Mentoring
    • Special Needs Parent Coaching
    • Schedule a Session
  • Shop
    • My account
    • Cart
    • Checkout
  • Child Development
  • Childhood Mental Health
  • Parenting

This Powerful Positive Parenting Tip is Gold (to promote better behavior)

December 20, 2018 by Angela Pruess

Inside: Learn the most important positive parenting tip for promoting positive behaviors in a child, and what common daily barriers get in the way of this.

My eyelids are heavy from a late night of decorating heart cookies for my seven-year old’s classroom, only to be followed by an early morning of packing lunches and finishing up homework and signing what seem to be hundreds of school forms (and where are all the dang pens anyway!?).

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Parenting Tagged With: connecting with your child, Connection

Positive Parenting Techniques that Raise Emotionally Healthy Kids

December 20, 2018 by Angela Pruess

Inside: Experts share their top positive parenting techniques for raising emotionally healthy and well-adjusted children.

Parenting often feels like a fifty sided Rubik’s cube, deceivingly simple before you really get into it, but seemingly impossible to figure out when you’re in the thick of things.

Instead of contending with brightly colored toys, parents find themselves sorting out variables such as their own upbringing, expectations of others and wading through the massive amount of parenting information at our fingertips.

Oh, and then there’s the small task of taking into account each child’s individual needs and challenges.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Parenting Tagged With: Emotionally healthy children, parenting

50 Family Bonding Activities for the Best Christmas Ever

December 5, 2018 by Angela Pruess

Inside: These fun and easy family bonding activities will set the stage for strong family relationships and lifelong memories at Christmas.

If there’s one time of year perfect for family bonding activities, it’s Christmas. 

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Parenting, Uncategorized Tagged With: family bonding, family Christmas activities

10 Strong Willed Child Characteristics and How They’ll Pay off in Adulthood

November 21, 2018 by Angela Pruess

Inside: Learn strong-willed child characteristics, what they really mean for a child’s future and when to support and encourage them. 

Have you ever taken the time to really think and reflect on what qualities you’d most like to see in the little human being you’re raising? Of course, I’m not talking about the qualities you’d like to see now, those are fairly easy for most of us to tick off.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Parenting Tagged With: characteristics of a strong-willed child, strong-willed child

10 Secrets of Effective Discipline with the Strong Willed Child

November 14, 2018 by Angela Pruess

Inside: Discover how to handle discipline with a strong-willed child in a way that capitalizes on their strengths and leads to better listening and cooperation.

I’d say it was around my daughter’s third birthday when it became clear we were in over our heads.

Between unmet expectations that a child will always listen to their parents and the harsh reactions and discipline that flowed from our frustration, we felt like we were hitting our heads against a brick wall with our fierce pig-tailed little lady.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Parenting, Uncategorized Tagged With: discipline, strong-willed child

Parenting a Strong-Willed Child: The Ultimate Guide

November 9, 2018 by Angela Pruess

Inside: A collection of the best resources on parenting a strong-willed child and helping them reach their full potential from a child therapist. 

Tornadoes. Pre-natal hormones. A strong willed child.

Some things in nature are a force to be reckoned with.

Want to see a confident, experienced parent drop to their knees in desperation? Look for someone parenting a strong willed child. The strong willed child is excellent at launching great parents into full-on emotional breakdown mode with behaviors such as defiance, oppositionality and intense emotions.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Parenting Tagged With: strong-willed child

Help Your Child Navigate Friendship Problems with these 6 Tips

September 27, 2018 by Angela Pruess

Inside: An easy 5-step plan to help your child solve friendship problems and also prepare them for successfully dealing with relationship conflict in the future. 

“I didn’t have fun at recess today mom, Annie said we weren’t friends anymore this year, so now we’re not friends anymore”.

These were the words of my 6-year-old daughter on her first day of the First grade. She and Annie had been best friends the year before, but it appeared Annie had grown close with another classmate over the summer.

As I inquired about how school went that first day, my daughter’s exterior appeared tough, but I could tell underneath she was crushed.

Witnessing our child get hurt by a friend or peer is hard to see as a parent. Maybe it’s because, on a certain level, we can feel the pull of that basic human need to be liked and accepted, and want nothing more for our child.

 

solve friendship problems

While witnessing our child having friendship problems isn’t easy, it is a normal and healthy way for your child to learn life-long emotional coping, conflict resolution, and communication skills.

Let’s talk about an easy 6 step plan to not only help your child navigate their friendship problems but also to prepare them to successfully deal with relationship conflict in the future.

A 6-Step Plan to help your Child Navigate Friendship Problems

1. Just Listen.

This step could be the easy one, if it weren’t for all that pesky emotional baggage we carry around as parents. When you see your child experience social pain, it brings back issues and challenges from your own past. When the emotional area of our brain gets activated we are more apt to engage in any number of unhelpful behaviors, including jumping in prematurely, interrupting, offering unsolicited advice and trying to control/fix the outcome of the situation.

Being aware of the emotions popping up for you and holding back when the urge to ‘fix’ sets in, will allow you to keep your lips sealed until your child has had a chance to fully explain. When we are mindful of our emotions we’ll know when the right time to respond comes.

2. Empathize

This piece is utterly important. Why? Not only will empathizing with your child strengthen your relationship, feeling heard and understood is the conduit of moving your child from their emotion brain (amygdala) to their more rational problem-solving brain (pre-frontal cortex). It’s also the key piece that humans need to go from emotionally stuck to feeling heard and understood which allows us to move on and work through the situation.

Dr. Brene Brown defines empathy succinctly and effectively “empathy means to feel with other people”.

When we empathize we can see things from our child’s point of view and provide a safe space free of judgment or criticism.

3. Ask questions. 

Great questions are the beginning of great conversations. When you approach your child’s situation with an open and curious mind you can ask questions that will help you to gain insight to what’s underneath her struggles and how to get to the heart of the situation. Some great open-ended questions to ask are:

What bothered you most about what happened?

How did it feel when that happened? How do you think they may have been feeling?

If you could go back and have a ‘do-over’ what would you do differently?

help daughter with friendship problems

4. Invite problem-solving. 

Far and away the best thing you can do as a parent when helping your child solve friendship problems is to give your child the skills to initiate and engage in active problem-solving. Working through our emotions is key, but we also don’t want to stay stuck in the land of ‘the feels’ forever.

By initiating a conversation on how your child wants to move forward gets them to critically think about what might make things less stressful next time their friend leaves them out or takes something without asking.

5. Offer insights.

Someday, my honest hope is that communication and problem-solving skills are universally taught in schools (shocking coming from a therapist I know). How can we be shocked to see children as young as preschoolers engaging in relational aggression when we don’t give our kids the framework they need to solve friendship problems?

Your kids love hearing stories about you versus getting lectured. Discuss a time you had to work something out with a co-worker or sibling and the related challenges/successes that followed. A great mini-framework to offer your child covers basic communication and conflict resolution skills:

  • It’s ok to take time to cool down. It’s not always possible to work through everything in that very moment. Taking a break for emotions to settle can be a wise choice.
  • The power of ‘I statements’. When things get heated with a friend let your child know it will be much more effective to express how he is feeling as opposed to accusatory statements that lead with ‘You’. For example, “I feel left out when you don’t ask me to play tag”.
  • We respect our friends by listening. Ask your child how they feel when they are listened to vs when they are ignored, which will drive home the importance of offering that same respect to their friends.
  • Team up to work it out. Remind your child her and her friend are on the same team. When each is able to listen, empathize and express their emotions working out a comprise will usually follow.

6. Trust your child.

Despite any uncomfortable feelings you may have regarding your child’s peer conflicts, it’s essential you step back and allow your child the time and space to proceed as they wish with their peer relationships.

My daughter continued to talk about Annie and their severed friendship for weeks. I had listened, empathized and offered feedback but my daughter still didn’t have the confidence to approach her old friend.

Then one day after school she got into the van and nonchalantly mentioned, “oh mom I played with Annie in gym, we talked about it and now we’re friends again.” It certainly wasn’t on my timetable (Annie’s family are good family friends of ours), but she did put into place the important concepts we talked about when she was fully ready.

Filed Under: Parenting, Uncategorized Tagged With: communication skills, friendship, peer relationships, social skills conflict resolution

6 Guaranteed Ways To Boost Your Child’s Emotional Regulation Skills

July 11, 2018 by Angela Pruess

Inside: Learn the most common mistake parents make when helping to build their child’s emotional regulation skills and what approach is proven to work. 
emotional regulation skills
*This article may include affiliate links which allow me a small commission to help run the site!

When it comes to teaching our child emotional regulation skills in challenging situations, the majority of parents fall victim to the same oversight- and it’s a biggie.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Childhood Mental Health, Parenting Tagged With: coping skills for kids, emotional intelligence, emotional regulation, emotional regulation skills, resilient kids

Raising an Emotionally Intelligent Child: the one mistake you want to avoid

June 7, 2018 by Angela Pruess


 

Inside: A child therapist explains the most common mistake parents make when it comes to raising an emotionally intelligent child.  

raising an emotionally intelligent child

Just by the dejected look on my three-year-olds face, I can tell what’s to come before the sounds start to come out of his tiny mouth.

We’re at a playdate with friends, and I’m happily nested on the couch chatting with another mom about who’s gotten the least sleep in the past week when I hear the faint sounds of whimpering emerge.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Childhood Mental Health, Parenting Tagged With: raising an emotionally intelligent child

The Ultimate Guide to Raising a Strong Girl who LOVES Who She Is

April 19, 2018 by Angela Pruess

Inside: Learn 5 ways to help your daughter build qualities of confidence, authenticity, and self-love that will positively guide her in relationships and in life.

raising a girl who loves herself

*This article may contain affiliate links for your convenience which allow a small commission to keep the great emotionally healthy content coming!

Many girls coming into my office are high achievers, spreading their time between athletics, community and a bustling social life. For all practical purposes, it would seem their future college résumé will write itself. However, these qualities don’t impress me much.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Parenting Tagged With: raising authentic girls, raising strong girls, self-confidence, self-love

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • …
  • 8
  • Next Page »

Want more from PWC

Give your Child the life-long SUPERPOWER of emotional health by signing up for the Parents with Confidence Newsletter

Sign Up Today!

Angela Pruess

I'm Angela, a licensed child therapist and mom of 3. I'm here to help you raise an emotionally healthy, resilient child who'll change the world through emotional intelligence, positive discipline, growth mindset, mindfulness, art/nature, childhood mental health and the therapeutic power of play. Let's help your child reach their full human potential.

Welcome!

Learn More

Emotions Flashcard Bundle

Popular Posts

raising an emotionally intelligent child

100 Everyday Ways to Strengthen Your Child’s Mental Health

This is Why Positive Parenting Skills WILL Change Your Family Forever

Recent Posts

  • The Cheapest Gifts for Kids (that also Happen to be Priceless)
  • The Secret of Teaching a Child to Live Gratefully
  • Parent, Please be Careful with Your Wild One
  • It’s not ‘Bad Parenting’. You’re Raising a Strong-Willed Child.
  • The Real Reason Kids Whine, Pester and Complain (and how to stop it)

Follow me on Pinterest for more!


  • The Huffington Post
  • Parent.co
  • Psych Central
  • Scary Mommy
  • The Mighty

Copyright © 2019 · Parents With Confidence · All Rights Are Reserved