The Partnership Imbalance Nobody Wants to Name It’s 9 PM. The dishes are half-done, the…
The After-School Question That Actually Gets Kids Talking
The After-School Question That Actually Gets Kids Talking Last Tuesday, I watched a dad pick up his second-grader from school. Full of hope and curiosity, he asked the classic question: “How was your day?” His daughter’s response? “Fine.” Then silence. The kind of silence that makes you wonder if your child has taken a vow […]
The Evening Routine That Reduced Our Anxiety
The Evening Routine That Reduced Our Anxiety Last Tuesday, I watched a mom in my office literally slump into the chair across from me. “By 6 PM,” she whispered, “I feel like I’m drowning. The kids are melting down, dinner’s burning, everyone’s yelling about screen time, and I just… I can’t anymore.” Her husband nodded […]
Why Your Child’s Lying Might Be a Good Sign
Why Your Child’s Lying Might Be a Good Sign Last Tuesday, a mom sat in my office with tears in her eyes. “She looked right at me,” she said, “with chocolate smeared on his face, and told me he didn’t eat the cookies. I don’t know what’s worse — that he lied, or that he […]
The Morning Routine That Changed Everything
The Morning Routine That Changed Everything I’ll never forget the morning Sarah walked into my office looking like she’d survived a natural disaster. Her coffee-stained shirt told one story, but her eyes told another — the kind of exhaustion that sleep alone can’t fix. “I yelled at my six-year-old about his shoes,” she said quietly. […]
The 5-Second Response That Calms Any Meltdown
The 5-Second Response That Calms Any Meltdown Last Tuesday, I watched a father in the grocery store do something extraordinary. His daughter, maybe four years old, had just launched into full meltdown mode over a box of cookies. Instead of reasoning, bribing, or doing the tight-lipped march to the car, he dropped to one knee, […]
What Your Child’s ‘I Hate You’ is Really Trying to Tell You
What Your Child’s “I Hate You” Is Really Trying to Tell You The first time my daughter screamed “I hate you!” at me, I was standing in the cereal aisle of Target holding a box of store-brand flakes instead of the unicorn-covered sugar bombs she wanted. She was four. I was exhausted. And for about […]
What Your Teen’s Eye Roll is Really Communicating
What Your Teen’s Eye Roll Is Really Communicating Last week, a mom sat across from me in my office and said, with a weary laugh, “I swear, if I got a dollar for every eye roll my 14-year-old gives me, I could retire.” She paused, then added more quietly, “But honestly? It breaks my heart […]
The Bedtime Mistake That’s Making Nights Harder
You Are Not Alone Last week, a mom sat across from me and sighed, “I don’t understand. We have the bath, the books, the lullabies — all the ‘right things.’ So why does bedtime still feel like a hostage negotiation with a tiny dictator who refuses to sleep?” She wasn’t alone. In fact, if bedtime […]
Why Time-Outs Are Creating the Very Behavior You Fear
Why Time-Outs Are Creating the Very Behavior You Fear There’s a moment I’ll never forget from my practice. A mom — smart, loving, completely exhausted — sat across from me and said, “I don’t understand. I do everything by the book. Time-outs, consequences, staying calm. But my son is worse. He hits more. He screams […]
The Question That Transformed My Picky Eater Overnight
The Question That Transformed My Picky Eater Overnight I’ll never forget the evening with Emma, a mom whose five-year-old had eaten nothing but chicken nuggets and crackers for six months. She was exhausted, tearful, and convinced she’d somehow failed at this fundamental parenting thing. “I’ve tried everything,” she whispered. “Hiding vegetables, bribing with dessert, making […]