Modern Parenting Solutions

Motivating young people is a tricky - but achievable - task!

** This is the first of three episodes focusing on young people and motivation! **

The topic of young people and motivation is a big one, which is why this is the first out of 3 episodes devoted to the strategies needed to improve your child's "motivation muscle".

As adults, if we want to get motivated to do something like exercise more, eat less sugar, or write that novel that we always talk about, we do the internal work needed to start the motivation process. HOWEVER…the problem with motivating young people is that, as parents, we have no control over this internal process! Most of the time, our kids don't even WANT to be motivated!

So what can we do? Especially when we KNOW our kids have such POTENTIAL for great things…but they just don't seem to care?

I've been teaching parents how to improve their young person's "motivation muscle" for years now, and in my experience, this is a 3-step process:

STEP 1: Create the right mindset for motivation to begin

STEP 2: Create the right structure for motivation to continue to come back

STEP 3: Create the right context to supercharge motivation when it hits!

This episode dives into the motivation mindset. You'll learn about these 5 important mindset shifts:

• Positive vs. negative mindset
• Delayed gratification vs. Immediate gratification mindset
• Abundance vs. scarcity mindset
• Smart Risks vs. "play it safe" mindset
• Effort vs. manifesting mindset

Start listening now!

Links that are discussed in this episode:

• [Free Guide] Step-by-Step Checklist to Help Your Child Take Risks The Smart and Effective Way
• [Article] Why Teaching Your Child To Take Smart Risks When They Are Young Turns Them Into Successful Adults Who Stand Out From The Crowd Later
• [Free Guide] 50 Examples of Turning Common Negative Thoughts Into Positive Ones
• [Free Workbook] Get Your Child's Behavior Back on Track
• [Free Checklist] Preparing Your Anxious Child For a New School Year Checklist
• Sign up here for our weekly newsletter!

Do you need a parenting or co-parenting class to satisfy a family court requirement? Check out our 100% court-approved classes by clicking HERE.

In this episode, I give you specific tips and strategies on how to build or repair your relationship with your child or teen over the summer (or what's left of the summer).

In this previous episode, I go over basic parent-child communication strategies that I recommend to all parents working on their relationship, but this episode focuses solely on using the summer to connect with your child.

Once you finish listening to this episode, you'll feel a renewed sense of confidence and hope because now you'll have a game plan on how to work on a strained relationship with your child.

I've seen so many of the families that I work with turn around challenging parent-child relationships when they put the effort into it - and I share some real-world examples from my patients in this episode too!

Start listening now, and then put these strategies into use so that you can start creating a closer and warmer relationship with your child or teen.

Links that are discussed in this episode:

• The Summer Schedule Planner Guide
• How To Have Difficult Conversations With Your Tween or Teen So That Your Get Your POint Across & Create a Close Parent-Child Bond
• 10 Tips To Communicate Respectfully, Even When You Disagree

Do you need a parenting or co-parenting class to satisfy a family court requirement? Check out our 100% court-approved classes by clicking HERE.

Enjoy your summer by using a Modern Parenting technique that will turn a grumpy and bored kid (or teen!) into someone who is a joy to be around!

Summertime means no homework…no rules…and no bedtime. Right?

Wrong!

A consistent summertime sleep/wake routine gives your child or teen the cognitive energy to:

• Better manage their emotions
• Better manage their behavior (even those toddler tantrums and older kid anger outbursts)
• Remember facts and memories
• Move more and eat healthier
• Maintain better relationships with friends and family members.

There are so many benefits for kids and teens to go to bed and to wake up at a set time each day in the summer…but I know it's easier said than done!

That's why I give you all the tools you'll need to create a consistent sleep/wake routine for your unique family.

In this episode:

• I give you the reasons WHY a summertime sleep/wake routine is important so that you can have an effective conversation with your child or teen about it
• I walk you through 5 steps on how to create a summertime sleep/wake routine that will work for YOUR unique family
• I point out where many parents go wrong when trying to implement a sleep/wake routine – so YOU don't make these same mistakes too!

No matter when you start your summertime sleep/wake routine, you'll see the benefits in no time at all! Listen to this podcast today and get started bringing peace and FUN to your summer with your family.

Links that are discussed in this episode:

• The Summer Sleep/Wake Talking Points
• The Summer Schedule Planner Guide

Do you get really excited by the idea of your child or teen's summer break...but pretty quickly, you can't wait for them to go back to school?? You're not alone!

As a parent, I can so relate to this situation...AND as a child psychologist, I see this scenario play out in my office EVERY YEAR!!

Luckily, this episode is your answer to this summertime dilemma.

By the end of this episode, you'll feel excited about this summer with your child because you'll now have a parenting plan that supports you in helping your child develop their passions and interests - and where you create a close and positive parent-child connection.

Links that are discussed in this episode:

• The Summer Schedule Planner Guide
• The Ultimate Guide to Making Better Parenting Decisions

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This is an important episode with a lot of tips and strategies!

If your child or teen has been struggling with their emotions, academics, social life (family AND friends), or with their motivation, then this episode will help them get back on track.

Here are some helpful links mentioned in the episode:

How To Talk To Your Anxious Child Online Course

My library of free parenting resources

I believe that today's hot hiring market provides the perfect opportunity for teens to not only avoid the summertime slump (you know, that weird time where teens sleep all day and stay up all night on screens and you never see them for the fun family stuff!) but to really increase their self-esteem, confidence, and maturity too. I want to share with you the reasons why it's so important for your teen to get a job this summer and how to encourage them to get that job if they appear to be a little unwilling.

But the important thing is that you have to start NOW. I can't bold and underline that sentiment enough!!!

If you wait for summer to get here, then all the good jobs will be taken and all that opportunity for personal growth will be gone with it.

Tune in to this episode today to gain the tools you need to talk to your teen about getting a summer job, how to encourage a resistant teen to get a job, and how to reinforce the life lessons they'll learn while on the job.

Want MORE Modern Parenting strategies? Visit my website at https://www.modernparentingsolutions.org/

Browse my FREE parenting resource library for ebooks, worksheets, and guides at https://www.modernparentingsolutions.org/parent-resources/

Parenting outside of the traditional family is often seen as a negative thing, but it doesn't necessarily have to be. As a child psychologist who has worked with families of all different kinds, I can tell you with great certainty that it's not WHAT your family looks like; it's HOW you parent that makes all the difference.

I've also parented within a non-traditional family structure, and my kids - who are young adults now - are AMAZING people. Our family is PROOF that non-traditional parenting can be functional.

And what do I mean by functional? In my experience, the goal of most families is to create an environment that is positive and supportive where everyone in the family feels free to pursue their natural talents and interests.

When you're done listening to this episode, you'll feel encouraged knowing that non-traditional families can be just as functional as traditional ones.

I'll talk about what being a non-traditional family means, why it isn't a negative thing, and the habits that need to be present for any family to work.

To find out more about Modern Parenting, visit https://www.modernparentingsolutions.org/

Browse my parenting resource library full of FREE ebooks, worksheets, and guides https://www.modernparentingsolutions.org/parent-resources/

Cancer took me out of the picture for a while...but I'm healthy and back to work on helping Modern Parents tackle real-world challenges. Listen to this episode to find out what I have planned for this podcast over the next year - I think you'll find a lot of helpful tips and strategies to address your parenting challenges. As always, you can find more Modern Parenting answers on my website at https://www.modernparentingsolutions.org/ Also look through my whole library of FREE Modern Parenting ebooks, worksheets, and guides at https://www.modernparentingsolutions.org/parent-resources/

On this episode, I'm going to tackle a Modern Parenting 101 topic: building a warm and positive parent-child relationship.

When a parent and child have a trusting, loving, and warm relationship with each other, then everything else falls into place.

I reference about the following free parenting resources on today's episode:

How To Have Difficult Conversations With Your Teen So That You Get Your Point Across And Create a Close Parent-Child Bond

10 Tips to Communicate Respectfully, Even When You Disagree

You can find the show notes for today's episode, as well as other free and premium Modern Parenting resources by visiting ModernParentingSolutions.org

This pandemic has disrupted the lives of many individuals and families – and we are of course going to have lots of different feelings about what's going on, and that's ok. Today's episode is going to cover how to handle these emotions, as well as how to make the most out of this extended stay at home experience a positive one for whole the family.

In this episode, I'll cover: 1) how to keep the family emotionally and physically healthy, 2) why you should be creating a daily schedule that addresses education/responsibilities, physical movement, family/peer socializing, and participating in hobbies/interests.

I also referenced the following blogs and free parenting resources:

eBook: How To Have Difficult Conversations With Your Tween or Teen So That You Get Your Point Across and Create a Close Parent-Child Bond

Worksheet: Help Your Child Find Their Passions and Interests

Blog Post: Circling The Wagons: Shutting Out The Rest of The World To Prioritize Your Family During a Crisis

Blog Post: Co-Parenting and Sharing Custody During COVID-19