Sometimes you have to let your child fail. Parents often do their kids a disservice when they protect them from natural consequences when they take over for their kids to ensure that their kids don’t fail. While it’s natural for parents to worry about failure, there are times when it can be productive for kids—and a chance for kids to change for the better.

For many parents, the peace of a child-free home is short-lived, if it even happens at all. At EmpoweringParents.com, we hear from many parents whose children either never left home or returned after a brief experiment with the adult world. This podcast discusses setting up a living agreement with your adult child living at home.

If your kids are like most, they are masterful at finding creative ways to wear you down to get their way. You might think, “My child is just too smart for his own good!” Listen for some great tips on how to deal with a manipulative child.

When children use anger to get what they want, it can feel for all the world like they’re pointing a loaded weapon at you. As a parent, you dread the ugly and sometimes violent emotional outbursts that come with this type of behavior.

Kids learn at a very early age that if they get angry and act out—or threaten to do so—the people around them will give in. In effect, they’ve learned how to blackmail their parents to give them what they want. A child who uses anger with an angle looks like they’re losing control. But in reality, they’re using anger to gain control of their parents and the situation. The anger gets them what they want, whether it’s a candy bar at the store or avoiding homework and chores at home.

This week we spoke with Dr. Maria Gilmour about a wide range of parenting topics. Dr. Gilmour is a parent educator and board-certified behavior analyst who has been working with families and schools for the past 20 years to help parents bring their home life back to the loving basics. She is the author of the recently published book, "Seven Superpowers: How Parents Can Shift from Punishment and Control to Comfort and Success!" She also serves as CEO of Wynne Solutions which provides families with tools to help address behavior challenges.

What causes bad child behavior? James Lehman says it happens because children don’t yet know how to solve problems effectively. To put it another way, they act out as an attempt to handle life’s problems. And they continue to act out, frankly, because it’s working for them. This episode discusses how understanding this will help you to improve your child's behavior.

Does your child complain constantly? No matter how hard you try, something is always wrong: from what you made for dinner, to the horrible school you force them to attend, to the unfair rules in your house and everything in between. Here's what you can do as a parent.

Some degree of backtalk is normal for adolescents and teens—it’s how they learn to assert themselves and become independent. But too often, they don’t assert themselves appropriately, and their backtalk becomes disrespectful and obnoxious. At this point, parents need to take action for their own sanity and for the sake of their kids, who need to learn to assert themselves appropriately to become well-functioning adults.

Meltdowns and tantrums are inevitable. But, depending on how we respond, we can manage the frequency and intensity of these behaviors with these tips.