Modern Parenting Solutions

So last week I gave you strategies to help you create a great summer for your young person...but this week I'm giving you strategies to help YOU have a great summer.

Yes! YOU MATTER TOO!

My goal for this episode is to give you practical strategies to help you stay sane this summer - I don't want you counting down the weeks...days...hours...until it's time to send your young person off to school again. To do that,I go over 6 common misconceptions that I hear from parents every summer, and I address these misconceptions with strategies that will allow you to enjoy every minute of your summer with your family.

I've found that parents experience unwanted frustration when their expectations for summer vacation don't match up with the reality of it. This can lead to disappointment and annoyance - as well as missed opportunities to create lasting memories and strengthen family relationships.

In today's episode, you'll discover:

[0.00] A personal story about how I used the strategies discussed on my podcast to nurture and guide my own son and daughter

[10:47] The main reason behind summer burnout for parents

[15:09] Common Misconception #1: Your young person will independently choose to spend their time on worthwhile activities instead of screens

[19:54] Common misconception #2: Your young person will be so happy and stress-free during the summer that they'll behave and not have any meltdowns, teenage tantrums, or any other annoying moody episodes.

[25:40] Common Misconception #3: Your young person will be so happy that it's summertime that they'll never get bored.

[31:45] Common Misconception #4: You have to spend ALL your free time being with your young person, entertaining them, or ensuring they have the perfect summer

[34:41] Common Misconception #5: Summer is a waste of time for your young person - they become lazy slobs and forget everything they learned over the school year.

[38:53] Common Misconception #6: Your summertime is characterized by stress, tension, and arguments between you and your young person

Want more info on Modern Parent? Check out the great resources below…

PAST PODCAST EPISODES: Episode #15 & Episode #16

BLOG POST: Hip Hip Hooray For Summertime Boredom

FREE RESOURCE: Solve Your Child or Teen's Sleep Problems

FREE RESOURCE: Summer Schedule Planner

FREE RESOURCE: The Summer Sleep and Wake Routine Worksheet

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THE SELF-MOTIVATION SUCCESS ACADEMY: Need more support in helping your child or teen master self-motivation? Then check out our online course for parents – The Self-Motivation Success Academy.

NEWSLETTER: Click HERE to join my email newsletter and be the first to be notified of enrollment for the Self-Motivation Success Academy

ASK ME A QUESTION OR BE ON THE SHOW: Send me an email at [email protected] and tell me about your Modern Parenting challenge. You might be a great fit for me to work with you on a future episode 🙂

ONLINE PARENTING CLASSES: Check out our 100% court-approved classes by clicking HERE.

PARENT COACHING: Want to work with me one-on-one? Click HERE to find out more.

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Why am I talking about Summer Break when it's only May?

Because you've GOT to take advantage of Summer Break to not only fight the traditional summer slump (you know…the sudden yearly disappearance of all that your young person learned over the past school year) but you've also got to address the Pandemic Backslide too.

What is the Pandemic Backslide?

Recent research examining the impact of the pandemic on young people reveals that it has set them back by ALMOST A YEAR!

Through my interactions with parents over the last year, I've discovered that they are primarily concerned about three things:

• First, they worry that their young person's learning and grades may not be up to par, making life after high school very difficult.
• Second, they are concerned about their relationship with their young person, which may not be as strong as they would like it to be.
• Third, they worry that their young person may not have a healthy relationship with themselves, and that's why we're seeing a HUGE increase in low self-esteem, anxiety, and depression in adolescents.

Summer provides a special time when families can slow down and focus on each other; that's why I want to make sure you are planning now to use this summer wisely.

Here is what you'll learn in this episode:

[1:40] Why Summer Break provides the BEST opportunity to address problem behaviors and improve relationships

[4:21] Why it's important to do a Post-Pandemic Summer Re-Set

[10:18] Focus Area #1: How to improve the parent-child relationship

[20:21] Focus Are #2: How to improve your young person's peer relationships

[23:34] Focus Area #3: How to improve your young person's confidence and self-esteem (HINT: it involves their natural passions, talents, and abilities)

[30:31] Focus Area #4: Create smart routines and habits that set your young person up for a lifetime of success.

Want more info on Modern Parent? Check out the great resources below…

THE SUMMER SCHEDULE PLANNER: CLICK HERE to download the free planner.

SOLVE YOUR CHILD OR TEEN'S SLEEP PROBLEM: CLICK HERE to download this free ebook and begin improving your child's sleep today.

THE SUMMER SLEEP AND WAKE ROUTINE WORKSHEET: CLICK HERE to download this easy worksheet.

HOW TO HAVE DIFFICULT CONVERSATIONS WITH YOUR TEEN SO THAT YOU GET YOUR POINT ACROSS AND BUILD A STRONG PARENT-CHILD CONNECTION: CLICK HERE to download this free ebook.

THE SELF-MOTIVATION SUCCESS ACADEMY: Need more support in helping your child or teen master self-motivation? Then check out our online course for parents – The Self-Motivation Success Academy.

NEWSLETTER: Click HERE to join my email newsletter and be the first to be notified of enrollment for the Self-Motivation Success Academy

ASK ME A QUESTION OR BE ON THE SHOW: Send me an email at [email protected] and tell me about your Modern Parenting challenge. You might be a great fit for me to work with you on a future episode 🙂

ONLINE PARENTING CLASSES: Check out our 100% court-approved classes by clicking HERE.

PARENT COACHING: Want to work with me one-on-one? Click HERE to find out more.

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Follow me on social media where you get daily tips, inspiration, and connection.

Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest

Today's Thursday Thoughts episode answers a listener question on negative teens and I also discuss some important new research on teens and social media.

Want more info on Modern Parent? Check out the great resources below…

• THE SELF-MOTIVATION CHEAT SHEET: CLICK HERE to download the free Self-Motivation Cheat Sheet
• THE SELF-MOTIVATION SUCCESS ACADEMY: Need more support in helping your child or teen master self-motivation? Then check out our online course for parents – The Self-Motivation Success Academy.
• NEWSLETTER: Click HERE to join my email newsletter and be the first to be notified of enrollment for the Self-Motivation Success Academy
• ASK ME A QUESTION OR BE ON THE SHOW: Send me an email at [email protected] and tell me about your Modern Parenting challenge. You might be a great fit for me to work with you on a future episode 🙂
• ONLINE PARENTING CLASSES: Check out our 100% court-approved classes by clicking HERE.
• PARENT COACHING: Want to work with me one-on-one? Click HERE to find out more.

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Follow me on social media, where you get daily tips, inspiration, and connection.

Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest

Today's episode title might make your anxiety spike, as I'm sure you're already thinking, "As a parent, I need to ensure my young person is educated, I need to teach them to be kind and moral people, AND I have to help them develop their natural talents and interests...and now I also need to add growing their sense or purpose to the list? I can't do it all!"

But I'm here to tell you that without focusing on your young person's sense of purpose, then everything else you attempt to teach them will all be for nothing.

Why?

Because without a sense of purpose, all the good things you attempt to teach your young person will not get absorbed.

A sense of purpose gives your young person an understanding of how they fit into their family unit, their peer group, and into the larger world around them. Your young person has to know that they play a valuable role in those three areas in order to use their natural talents and abilities successfully AND to build warm and positive relationships with those around them.

This episode is for you if your young person struggles with the following:

• Lack of motivation
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Low self-esteem
• Poor friendships
• Living a "shallow life" (i.e., just interested in social media, Youtube, or video games).

In this episode, you'll learn:

• [5:57] Why a lack of a sense of purpose is so destructive for your young person
• [6:28] How developing a sense of purpose creates a domino effect of other positive changes for your young person
• [8:37] The definition of the domino effect
• [12:02] Why taking the time to develop your young person's sense of purpose is so important
• [17:31] My six tips on how to use daily interactions with your young person to help develop their sense of purpose
• [31:30] Putting it all together with an example.

Free Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

• HELP YOUR CHILD FIND THEIR PASSIONS AND INTERESTS: CLICK HERE to download this free worksheet and begin exploring your young person's natural passions, talents, and interests
• THE SUMMER SCHEDULE PLANNER: CLICK HERE to download this free guide and start planning for a worthwhile summer now.

Want more info on Modern Parent? Check out the great resources below…

• THE SELF-MOTIVATION CHEAT SHEET: CLICK HERE to download the free Self-Motivation Cheat Sheet
• THE SELF-MOTIVATION SUCCESS ACADEMY: Need more support in helping your child or teen master self-motivation? Then check out our online course for parents – The Self-Motivation Success Academy.
• NEWSLETTER: Click HERE to join my email newsletter and be the first to be notified of enrollment for the Self-Motivation Success Academy
• ASK ME A QUESTION OR BE ON THE SHOW: Send me an email at [email protected] and tell me about your Modern Parenting challenge. You might be a great fit for me to work with you on a future episode 🙂
• ONLINE PARENTING CLASSES: Check out our 100% court-approved classes by clicking HERE.
• PARENT COACHING: Want to work with me one-on-one? Click HERE to find out more.

If I could wave a magic wand and improve just ONE thing for many of the young people that I help at my office, I would transform their negative and limiting mindsets into positive and empowering ones.

This episode was inspired by some of the recent work that I've been implementing into the sessions with teens in my office. I can't tell you enough how focusing on changing the mindsets of many of my young patients has really improved their mental health, connections with family and friends, and made their self-esteem skyrocket.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• [8:22] What mindset is and how it relates to your young person
• [9:15] How mindset influences your young person's emotions and behaviors (and if you want to change your young person's emotions or behaviors you have to START with their mindset)
• [11:00] The two categories of mindset: positive and empowering mindsets or negative and limiting mindsets
• [16:11] The importance of still highlighting some classic mindsets that continue to be important for raising great young people
• [17:15] Three NEW mindsets that I believe every Modern Parent needs to be teaching their young people: 1) being uncomfortable is temporary, 2) everything is figureoutable, and 3) challenges are not your identity; your accomplishments are.
• [34:09] Five negative mindsets to avoid
• [39:02] Are YOU modeling a positive or negative mindset to your young person? Be accountable!

As always, I give you lots of real-world examples as I teach the concept of mindset.

Want more info on Modern Parent? Check out the great resources below…

• THE SELF-MOTIVATION CHEAT SHEET: CLICK HERE to download the free Self-Motivation Cheat Sheet
• THE SELF-MOTIVATION SUCCESS ACADEMY: Need more support in helping your child or teen master self-motivation? Then check out our online course for parents – The Self-Motivation Success Academy.
• NEWSLETTER: Click HERE to join my email newsletter and be the first to be notified of enrollment for the Self-Motivation Success Academy
• ASK ME A QUESTION OR BE ON THE SHOW: Send me an email at [email protected] and tell me about your Modern Parenting challenge. You might be a great fit for me to work with you on a future episode 🙂
• ONLINE PARENTING CLASSES: Check out our 100% court-approved classes by clicking HERE.
• PARENT COACHING: Want to work with me one-on-one? Click HERE to find out more.

Because self-motivation is such an important and HUGE topic, I'm also continuing the theme on today's episode.

Last week, I told you about the 3 science-backed ingredients that need to be present in your day-to-day parenting in order to influence your child or teen's self-motivation to grow.

I know these ingredients work, too, because not only have I seen success with these ingredients when I used them with my own 2 kids, but I've also seen countless numbers of the parents I coach use these ingredients successfully.

So just to review, the three ingredients are autonomy, mastery, and connection, and if you're new to these ingredients – or you need a reminder – I created a helpful free guide called the Self-Motivation Cheat Sheet that breaks down what these ingredients are and how to use them with your own parenting.

And remember – these elements have a LOT of scientific backing behind them – so they definitely work.

If you've already listened to Episode #32, I now want to address all of those common objections that I hear from parents about why autonomy, mastery, and connection just won't work for their child or teen.

I KNOW this works – so I want to address the top 5 myths that keep a lot of parents from taking this important step in helping their young person to totally turn around their self-motivation in a good way.

I believe that once you see how these myths aren't true, you'll feel more empowered to use the 3 ingredients to begin creating a home environment where your child or teen has no excuse but to succeed.

LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE…

• THE SELF-MOTIVATION CHEAT SHEET: CLICK HERE to download the free Self-Motivation Cheat Sheet
• THE SELF-MOTIVATION SUCCESS ACADEMY: Need more support in helping your child or teen master self-motivation? Then check out our online course for parents – The Self-Motivation Success Academy.
• NEWSLETTER: Click HERE to join my email newsletter and be the first to be notified of enrollment for the Self-Motivation Success Academy
• ASK ME A QUESTION OR BE ON THE SHOW: Send me an email at [email protected] and tell me about your Modern Parenting challenge. You might be a great fit for me to work with you on a future episode 🙂
• ONLINE PARENTING CLASSES: Check out our 100% court-approved classes by clicking HERE.
• PARENT COACHING: Want to work with me one-on-one? Click HERE to find out more.

Today's episode is going to answer the question you've always wondered: why can't young people just buckle down and get their work done?

Believe it or not, self-motivation is like a physical muscle – it can be strengthened with practice. This means that parents can develop strategies to use with their young people to help them grow well-developed self-motivation muscles!

In this episode, you'll learn TWO important concepts:

• #1: Why your current parenting style might be DESTROYING your child or teen's self-motivation, and
• #2: What 3 elements MUST BE PRESENT in order to build your young person's "Moivation Muscle".

After listening to this entire episode, you'll come away feeling like you now have a plan of action that will guide your child or teen to a successful semester at school.

Rate, review, and follow on Apple Podcast. This helps me serve more parents just like you to use science-based strategies to parent their young people in a way that sets up their child for a great future AND builds a warm and positive parent-child connection. CLICK HERE, then scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select "write a review." Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!

LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE…

• THE SELF-MOTIVATION CHEAT SHEET: Click here to get the free Self-Motivation Cheat Sheet
• THE SELF-MOTIVATION SUCCESS ACADEMY: Click here to learn more about The Self-Motivation Success Academy
• NEWSLETTER: Click HERE to join my email newsletter and be the first to be notified of enrollment for the Self-Motivation Success Academy
• ASK ME A QUESTION OR BE ON THE SHOW: Send me an email at [email protected] and tell me about your Modern Parenting challenge. You might be a great fit for me to work with you on a future episode 🙂
• ONLINE PARENTING CLASSES: Check out our 100% court-approved classes by clicking HERE.
• PARENT COACHING: Want to work with me one-on-one? Click HERE to find out more.

Follow me on social media, where you get daily tips, inspiration, and connection.

Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest

Need inspiration and support with finding - and keeping - the right parenting mindset?

My goal for The Modern Parenting Solutions podcast is to provide you with the education, inspiration, and support you need to be the best parent possible. My Sunday episodes are packed with actionable tips and strategies to provide the educational part of that goal, while my Thursday episodes provide you with the inspiration and support needed to really jump-start what you learn.

In this episode, my goal is to challenge your thinking when it comes to your parenting mindset.

What is your parenting mindset?

How do you keep it "front of mind" so that your mindset guides your day, instead of your day dictating your parenting actions and decisions?

After you listen to this episode, you'll feel prepared to take on the holidays in a way that puts YOUR parenting goals and relationships first.

LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE...

• SHOW NOTES: Visit the show notes by clicking HERE
• THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO MAKING BETTER PARENTING DECISIONS: Click HERE to download the workbook
• NEWSLETTER: Click HERE to join my email newsletter and be the first to be notified of enrollment for the Self-Motivation Success Academy
• ASK ME A QUESTION OR BE ON THE SHOW: Send me an email at [email protected] and tell me about your Modern Parenting challenge. You might be a great fit for me to work with you on a future episode :)
• ONLINE PARENTING CLASSES: Check out our 100% court-approved classes by clicking HERE.
• PARENT COACHING: Want to work with me one-on-one? Click HERE to find out more.

If your young person is struggling with their grades or other academic responsibilities - and they only have WEEKS left in the semester before going on Christmas Break - then this episode is a MUST LISTEN!

This episode was inspired by the real-world issues going on with the young people at the Modern Parenting Solutions office this week. The other therapists and I have been busy helping young people who are very stressed out right now, but need to finish the semester on a positive note.

In this episode, I give you the same strategies that we have been recommending to all of our MPS families.

And as always...the strategies that I discuss in this episode are meant to help your child succeed AND to help you build (or maintain) a close and positive parent-child relationship.

Here's a glance at this episode...

• [3:12] Quick discussion of new research showing how weekly piano lessons lead to better cognitive ability AND lower rates of depression. anxiety, and stress
• [5:40] Quick discussion of new research confirming what most of us know already - that young people coming out of the pandemic are struggling due to lack of in-person socialization
• [8:49] Four strategies to do BEFORE the semester ends (even if you only have a week or two left!)

• [16:05] How to build or maintain your relationship with your child during this emotional and stressful time

• [18:36] The parenting mindset YOU need to make these last few weeks successful and less emotional (for you and your child)

• [22:53] What to do AFTER the semester is over so that you set your young person up for a successful NEXT semester

• [27:25] Two important life lessons to make sure your child learns during this time.

Rate, review, and follow on Apple Podcast. This helps me serve more parents just like you to use science-based strategies to parent their young people in a way that sets up their child for a great future AND builds a warm and positive parent-child connection. CLICK HERE, then scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select "write a review." Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!

LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE...

• SHOW NOTES: Visit the show notes by clicking HERE
• NEWSLETTER: Click HERE to join my email newsletter and be the first to be notified of enrollment for the Self-Motivation Success Academy
• ASK ME A QUESTION OR BE ON THE SHOW: Send me an email at [email protected] and tell me about your Modern Parenting challenge. You might be a great fit for me to work with you on a future episode :)
• ONLINE PARENTING CLASSES: Check out our 100% court-approved classes by clicking HERE.
• PARENT COACHING: Want to work with me one-on-one? Click HERE to find out more.

Thursday Thoughts episodes are designed to inspire you to think differently about your parenting journey...to inspire you to keep going or to try new things...and to provide YOU with the support you need to enjoy your parenting journey!

Today's episode is based on a listener question.

This parent listened to Episode 28 about parental overwhelm and wanted some more real-world examples of using the strategies. And...I keep getting emails from parents wanting to know more about me and my parenting journey, so this episode combines these two requests.

In this episode:

• I give you a little bit more about my background as a parent
• I share how I finally came to the conclusion that I didn't deserve to live an overwhelmed life
• I explain what tasks I outsource...and what things I don't
• I detail how I used the constraints in my life to make me a better parent
• I describe several seasons of my life and how I git through them into better times
• I share my love of priorities and boundaries - and how these elements allowed me to tackle my parenting overwhelm once and for all!

My hope is for you to gain encouragement and inspiration from hearing a few examples from my life to tackle those areas of your life that contribute to overwhelm.

LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

NEWSLETTER: Join my email newsletter and be the first to be notified of enrollment for the Self-Motivation Success Academy

THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO MAKING BETTER PARENTING DECISIONS: Get the guide here

ASK ME A QUESTION OR BE ON THE SHOW: Send me an email at [email protected] and tell me about your Modern Parenting challenge. You might be a great fit for me to work with you on a future episode :)

ONLINE PARENTING CLASSES: Check out our 100% court-approved classes by clicking HERE.