Dear Katherine, My three children are 16, 13, and 9. They are all very social, but each child has a different curfew and different rules for social time. The 13-year-old is very upset that we won’t let her go to a party that ends at 11 p.m. She says that we would let our 16-year-old […]
Dear Katherine, My 5-year-old daughter has always disliked being told what to do. Now that we’re changing our approach to the parent-child relationship, she’s convinced that she was right all along about being able to do whatever she wants. When we give her even a little bit of freedom, she tries to take as much […]
Dear Katherine, When my two children are home from school, they don’t want to do anything. I try to get them involved in activities or camps (or at the very least encourage them to leave the house with me!) but they outright refuse.Then they complain that they’re bored! My older daughter, who is 13, calls […]
‘Twas the night before Christmas, And all through your home, Your little ones are stirring, They won’t leave each other alone! You went the extra mile To bring holiday joy But it’s not what you pictured …it’s all about toys! If that isn’t how the poem goes…it really should be! A quiet, peaceful Christmas Eve […]
Dear Katherine, My son is very nervous whenever we’re apart. When he’s at school, he wants me to be working from home so he knows that I’m there. Even if I’m just around the block, he stresses out about it. He’s afraid that I won’t come back or that I won’t come to pick him […]
Dear Katherine, Our second baby was born only a few weeks before the pandemic began. I know my older son loves his baby brother, but I’m fearful that in addition to dealing with the huge adjustment of having a baby in the house, he associates his brother’s arrival with the negativity of the pandemic. My […]
Dear Katherine, It’s our first holiday season since joining the Conscious Parenting Revolution, and I’m nervous about how my extended family will react to our new parenting style. We’ll be spending Christmas with a large group, and I’m concerned that other family members’ tendency toward authoritarian discipline will confuse my children or undo some of […]
Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate! Parenthood gives us so much to be grateful for every day—even in its most challenging moments. Feeling gratitude is important, especially at this time of year. But at Thanksgiving, I find myself thinking about another core value that ties into this holiday… Community. Thanksgiving is a celebration of our […]
Do your interactions with your kid feel more like a friendship than a typical parent-child relationship? Being best friends with your child sounds lovely, and it’s certainly born out of good intentions. But believe it or not, crossing this line is never in a child’s best interest. In fact, it signals a fundamental misunderstanding of […]
Parenting a teenager evokes a powerful combination of conflicting emotions: pride and worry, joy and frustration. Indeed, this phase of life can be just as challenging for parents as it is for their kids! The parent-child relationship fundamentally changes as your children turn into young adults. While this transformation is rewarding to witness, it also […]