When your child is struggling with homework, it’s hard to know how much you should get involved.

If you step in, are you helping or taking over?

If you back off, are you teaching responsibility or letting your child fall behind?

The answer isn’t always obvious, especially when missing assignments and low grades start making you anxious.

This week, I’m bringing back an older episode called "Homework Help."

If homework and grades are already creating tension in your home, this episode will help you think differently about what may be going on and what your role should be.

For full show notes and information, visit https://lessdramamoremama.com/420

The post Homework Help (replay) – 420 appeared first on Less Drama More Mama.

My daughter thanked me at dinner the other night for "not letting" her drop out of college.

For full show notes and information, visit https://lessdramamoremama.com/419

The post Take Back Your Parental Authority – 419 appeared first on Less Drama More Mama.

Your child finds out they aren’t in class with any of their friends. They say their teacher is too strict. They come home crying and tell you they have no one to sit with at lunch.

Your mind immediately jumps to:

“This shouldn't be happening.”

“They're going to be miserable.”

“I need to do something.”

While some situations require you to step in, a difficult first day or week of school doesn’t always mean something has gone wrong.

A new school year is a transition, and kids need time to adjust to unfamiliar teachers, classmates, expectations, and routines.

Today, I’m bringing back an earlier episode about how you can support your child through that adjustment without allowing your own worries to take over.

For full show notes and information, visit https://lessdramamoremama.com/418

The post Adjusting to a New School Year (replay) – 418 appeared first on Less Drama More Mama.

You’ve been looking forward to having your child home from sleepaway camp.

Then they walk through the door exhausted, disappear into their room, complain that there’s nothing to do, or get annoyed the first time you remind them to put something away.

It’s easy to wonder: Did they miss me? Are they happy to be home? Did camp change them in ways I don’t like?

The transition from camp to home is bigger than it may appear. Your child is returning from a completely different world, and they may need time to figure out how the person they became at camp fits back into family life.

In this episode, I’m sharing three adjustments kids make after sleepaway camp and how you can give your child room to bring their growing confidence, competence, and independence home with them.

For full show notes and information, visit https://lessdramamoremama.com/417

The post Helping Your Child Adjust to Being Home After Sleepaway Camp – 417 appeared first on Less Drama More Mama.

I’m currently in Georgia for my eighth summer as a grief specialist at Experience Camps, a nonprofit that provides free, one-week camps for kids who have experienced the death of a parent, sibling, or primary caregiver.

While I’m there, I’m replaying Episode 158, “Lessons from Grief Camp,” which first aired on August 17, 2021.

Even if your family isn't dealing with grief, the lessons in this episode apply to every parent. They're about what makes kids more likely to talk about their difficult emotions with you and how you can create the conditions that help them open up.

For full show notes and information, visit https://lessdramamoremama.com/416

The post Lessons from Grief Camp (replay) – 416 appeared first on Less Drama More Mama.

Your child is in a bad mood.

You offer suggestions, make a joke, or point out what’s going well.

Nothing seems to help, and before long, you’re in a bad mood, too.

It’s easy to feel responsible for turning their mood around.

But what if supporting them doesn’t require changing how they feel?

In this episode, I talk about why some kids seem moodier than others, why their moods can affect you so quickly, and how to support them without needing to cheer them up or taking their behavior personally, so their bad mood doesn’t have to become yours.

For full show notes and information, visit https://lessdramamoremama.com/415

The post When Your Child Is Moody: What Helps and What Doesn’t – 415 appeared first on Less Drama More Mama.

Everyone gets angry. But not everyone recognizes it, lets themselves feel it, or knows what to do with it when it shows up.

Sometimes anger is obvious. Other times, it looks more like irritation, resentment, anxiety, tension, or the need to control everything around you.

You may not think of yourself as an angry person at all, but that doesn’t mean the anger isn’t there.

In today's podcast episode, I’m talking about what happens when you suppress or repress anger, how it can affect your parenting, and what your body needs when anger shows up.

You don’t have to choose between giving yourself permission to feel angry and helping your child feel safe.

For full show notes and information, visit https://lessdramamoremama.com/414

The post How to Release Anger Without Taking It Out on Your Kids – 414 appeared first on Less Drama More Mama.

Have you ever looked at your child and thought, “Wow. You're so much like me”?

At first, that recognition can feel sweet. You understand them in a way other people might not.

But it can also create some blind spots.

You may think you know what they’re feeling, what they need, or why something matters so much to them, when part of what you’re seeing is your own history.

In this week’s episode, I’m talking about **three common traps of parenting a child who reminds you of yourself**, and what helps you notice when the similarities are helping you understand them versus keeping you from seeing them clearly.

For full show notes and information, visit https://lessdramamoremama.com/413

The post When Your Child Reminds You of Yourself – 413 appeared first on Less Drama More Mama.

Have you ever reacted to your child and wondered afterward, “Why did that feel so big?”

The thing they did was small. Your reaction was not.

This week, I share the story of a mom in my program who had a huge reaction over a tray of sliders.

She came to coaching convinced she knew exactly why she’d reacted.

Minutes into our session, we weren’t talking about sandwiches anymore.

We weren’t even talking about her son.

We were talking about a pattern that began decades earlier.

In this episode, I’ll show you how we got there and why it matters if you’ve ever had an overreaction you couldn’t explain.

If your reactions have ever left you feeling confused or ashamed, I hope this episode helps you understand yourself with a little more compassion.

For full show notes and information, visit https://lessdramamoremama.com/412

The post Why You Overreact as a Mom – 412 appeared first on Less Drama More Mama.

For years on this podcast, when I've talked about my dad, it's been in the context of understanding myself, my patterns, and some of my struggles.

Most of us carry complicated feelings about our parents. We can wish some things had been different and still be grateful for what they gave us. Both can be true.

This week, in honor of Father’s Day, I’m sharing the parts of my dad and our relationship that I haven’t talked about enough, and that I’m especially grateful for.

You'll also discover a hidden talent of mine you've never heard on the podcast before.🤔

For full show notes and information, visit https://lessdramamoremama.com/411

The post This One’s for My Dad: A Father’s Day Tribute – 411 appeared first on Less Drama More Mama.