It can be incredibly frustrating when our big-emotion children refuse to use their coping skills in heated situations. And when we remind them to use these strategies, they often just get more upset! What can we do in those moments to get them to calm down? In this episode, you’ll learn why children are unlikely to use coping strategies when you remind them to, and what we can do instead to de-escalate these situations.

Taking kids with big emotions on vacation often comes with challenges -- and those challenges can affect everyone in the family. In this episode, you’ll learn why vacations can be tough for children with big emotions, how to plan ahead to make sure that you meet their needs (and yours!), and what to do when things don’t go the way you anticipated.

It can be so frustrating when we do something fun for our children -- take them somewhere, play a game with them -- and then when we ask them to do what they have to do -- brush their teeth, go to bed -- they don’t listen! Shouldn’t doing things for our kids make it more likely that they’ll do what we ask? In this episode, you’ll learn why “deposits” don’t always improve behavior (and may actually make it worse) and what your children really need in those situations in order to behave better.

Siblings of children with big emotions may be impacted by their sibling’s controlling behavior, anger, meltdowns, and more. While they sometimes fight back, often these children give in to preserve the peace…which may eventually lead to resentment and other negative feelings. In this episode, you’ll learn what siblings need from us when they’re feeling resentful, how to help them make a plan for situations that frustrate them, and what changes we need to make for long-term peace in our homes.

Many children with big emotions push boundaries…over and over. And of course we give in;   we’re tired of fighting with them and we’ve seen that they don’t give up until we give them what they want. In this episode, you’ll learn why firm boundaries are even more important for kids with big emotions, how to avoid getting stuck in a power struggle, and what our kids need to learn in order to respect boundaries in the future.

Kids know that they have to do things they don’t want to do: brush their teeth, put their stuff away, do their homework -- and yet, they still complain day after day. Even when we ask them to stop complaining or whining, it doesn’t stop for long. In this episode, you’ll learn why whining and complaining is a symptom of something deeper for kids, how to avoid being sucked into their Yuck (and save our energy), and what to teach them to help them stop complaining in the future. 

It’s very common for parents not to be on the same page when it comes to parenting. After all, parents come from different backgrounds and often have different perspectives about what will “work.” Often when this happens, each parent will spend a lot of energy trying to convince the other that they need to change -- a strategy that is rarely effective. In this episode, you’ll learn why it’s important to stop trying to convince your spouse or co-parent to change, and what you can do instead if you want to be closer to being on the same page.

Now that birthday parties and bigger gatherings are happening again, there’s a lot of excitement. But with children with big emotions, there can be struggle as well. Often big-feeling children are hesitant to join big events, and when they do, they often come to us, full of frustration, upset, or other Yuck. In this episode, you’ll learn what children actually need in these situations in order to be more resilient so they (and we) can enjoy these gatherings more.

We all want to know what to say to put an end to a situation that is going downhill. When our children have big reactions, or when they’re being disrespectful because they’re upset… we want to know how to make them stop. The problem is, most of what we try makes the situation worse, not better. In this episode, we’ll talk about why trying to find the “right thing” to say can backfire and what action to take instead to improve a situation more quickly.