The Cult of Victimhood won’t make your kids happy.

Posted by on Apr 4, 2023 in entitled kids | No Comments
The Cult of Victimhood won’t make your kids happy.

Why would I say that the cult of victimhood won’t make your kids happy? Well, let’s start with this. Have you ever had something bad happen in your life? Perhaps you were bullied as a child? Lost a parent or sibling? Suffered trauma?  Perhaps you were fired from one or more jobs? Lost out on […]

How Do I Develop My Child’s Talents?

How Do I Develop My Child’s Talents?

Perhaps you’ve just watched your little one in the school play and you think, “Wow, he can really act and sing too!” The next question you need to ask is, “How do I develop my child’s talents?” Knowing how to develop a child’s talent is an important part of helping children find their place in […]

Why Kids Need Downtime

Why Kids Need Downtime

I don’t know about you, but when the days get longer, I can’t help but enjoy what it means for the children. It’s a time to hang out and just have fun in the sun after the confines of our cold, rainy, or snowy winter, depending, of course, on where you live. As we start […]

How to Build Climate Change Resilience in Children

Posted by on Jul 5, 2021 in Articles, resilience | No Comments
How to Build Climate Change Resilience in Children

Take a look at this lettuce.  Growing against all odds in a less than easy environment.  If you want to learn how to build climate change resilience in children, then you need to teach your children the skills necessary to adapt and thrive in what looks to be an increasingly hostile world.  We’ve all had […]

My Kids Are My Everything Parent

Posted by on Nov 11, 2020 in Articles, entitled kids | No Comments
My Kids Are My Everything Parent

Are you a “my kids are my everything” parent? I’ve heard parents on many occasions make comments like, “My kids are my everything.” It’s a funny little phrase, but it appears often, and I wonder how many people actually sit down for a moment and think what it really means.  As a case in point, […]

The Key To Parenting Is To Keep It Simple

Posted by on Sep 8, 2020 in Articles, Child Development | No Comments
The Key To Parenting Is To Keep It Simple

I’m sure you’ve heard the KISS principle, and yes, it certainly applies to parenting. In fact, I’d have to say that the key to parenting is to keep it simple. However, trying to keep it simple often presents us with a problem because it seems as if society at large likes things to be complex. […]

Teaching Kids Gratitude

Teaching Kids Gratitude

Teaching kids gratitude makes the world go round. All parents hope they will create appreciative children. So when it comes to teaching kids gratitude, let’s face it: nobody wants their child to be the one grabbing their birthday presents in a frenzy, shoving whatever lovely and thoughtful gift they just got aside in a desperate […]

How Do I Improve My Child’s Imagination?

How Do I Improve My Child’s Imagination?

For those of us who had imaginative childhoods, I’m sure one of the biggest questions on any parent’s mind is, “How do I improve my child’s imagination?” To me, there is nothing more beautiful than the imagination of a child. When I was little, in elementary school, I wanted to fly. The dream of flight […]

Parenting The Strong Willed Child

Parenting The Strong Willed Child

Would you like to know how to parent the strong-willed child? Parenting a strong-willed child is not easy, but I’m going to tell you something wonderful. Even though you may not feel it at times, you’re lucky. You see, I understand. If you’re the parent of a strong-willed or otherwise challenging child, it’s easy to […]

Parent With Confidence Not Fear

Posted by on Nov 2, 2019 in Articles, Child Development | No Comments
Parent With Confidence Not Fear

I have a great job though sometimes I have to confess to feeling as though I’m swimming up stream.  The reason I often feel that is that my way of helping parents differs somewhat from the prevailing North American parenting philosophy that’s currently in favour.  What that ideology is we’ll get to later, but one […]

Do Parenting Tips Work?

Posted by on Oct 22, 2019 in Articles, general behaviour | No Comments
Do Parenting Tips Work?

Parenting tips are everywhere, but the question is: do parenting tips work? All around us, they fill magazines, the airwaves, and the internet, and many parents rely on them not just for little snippets of information but for their wholesale parenting approach. Which begs the question: do parenting tips work?  And, if they don’t, why […]

How To Get Your Child To Listen

Posted by on Oct 21, 2019 in Articles, listening | No Comments
How To Get Your Child To Listen

How to get your child to listen is a question that keeps many parents up at night. It’s frustrating when kids simply don’t listen to you, and you end up having to say the same thing over and over again. Here’s a question from Nancy: Hi Annie, I’ve got 3 kids; my oldest is turning […]

Ten Tips For Successful Parenting

Ten Tips For Successful Parenting

So there you are, perhaps pregnant or weighed down with diapers, and there’s a snot streak left across your sleeve from your toddler’s nose from the fourth meltdown that morning, and you’ve been wondering thoughts like, “What the heck am I doing?” All of a sudden, you take a glance at your smartphone and notice […]

The Trouble with Online Parenting Advice

The Trouble with Online Parenting Advice

So what’s the trouble with online parenting advice?   Looking for online parenting advice?  Sounds fair enough.  So what’s the trouble with online parenting advice? After all, what’s wrong with reaching out for guidance at the end of a night with the kids and looking for help, particularly when any parent I know would much […]

6 tips for well-behaved kids

6 tips for well-behaved kids

Ok, 6 tips for well-behaved kids. There’s always a lot of discourse in the parenting world about behaviour. When I start working with parents, they have all kinds of approaches to their children’s behaviour, some of which obviously work better than others. Combine that with all the behaviour tips available online, and parenting can be […]

Want To Be Your Child’s Friend?

Want To Be Your Child’s Friend?

Do you want to be your child’s friend? All parents love their kids, and pretty much all of us, I’m sure, have wonderful dreams of doing things together and getting along well as adults. But just as we recognize that it may be great to be your child’s friend when they’re an adult, is it […]

My Son Hits My Daughter

My Son Hits My Daughter

Siblings fighting usually drives most parents up a wall, and getting a question like “What do I do when my son hits my daughter?” is an extremely common parenting question. Usually it’s an odd hit or push there, but sometimes the behaviour becomes extreme, and then it becomes a far bigger parent problem to solve. […]

The Problem With Parenting Today

The Problem With Parenting Today

I made a post on Facebook the other day alluding to the gigantic North American industry known as the “parenting industry.” I call it the problem with parenting today. I bet you didn’t think of parenting as an industry, but it is, and it’s huge. As I alluded to in my post, though, it’s not […]

How To Build Your Child’s Self Esteem

Posted by on Jul 27, 2015 in Articles, self esteem | No Comments
How To Build Your Child’s Self Esteem

If you’re sitting out there wondering how to build your child’s self-esteem, I want to start with a joke. One of George Carlin’s more endearing moments, language aside, was when he made fun of the parental obsession of refusing to look reality in the face and say those all-important character-building words to your children, along […]

Free Range Parenting

Free Range Parenting

I’ve always loved the concept of “free range parenting.” But I recall one trip a while back when I went skiing for the weekend. I actually went to the ski resort, did a few runs, managed not to kill myself, handed in my equipment, and did what I really wanted to do, which was relax, […]

My Child Is Narcissistic

Posted by on Jul 27, 2015 in Articles, Being mean, narcissism | No Comments
My Child Is Narcissistic

Are you sitting there in a quiet moment, worrying, “My child is narcissistic?” If you are, you’re not alone, and please don’t feel bad. Narcissism is pretty much everywhere you look. Sometimes we even look up to narcissistic people. They’re the go-getters with high self-esteem who take no prisoners. But is narcissism all it’s cracked […]

Ways To Teach Resilience

Posted by on Jul 26, 2015 in Articles, resilience | No Comments
Ways To Teach Resilience

Every time I think about climate change, I think about Calgary and the floods that ravaged the community in 2013. I have the same thoughts about the BC flood of 2021, from which many communities still haven’t recovered. As I remember how all those flooded areas looked, I think of how the community came together […]

Ways To Make Your Child Happy

Ways To Make Your Child Happy

Like any parent, I’m sure you want to know ways to make your child happy. The answer is really quite simple. It’s actually one simple secret, but let me set the stage for you. Recently, I came back from holidays in Europe, where I went to Holland to see and be with all my husband’s […]

How Do You Teach A Child To Be Kind?

How Do You Teach A Child To Be Kind?

First think about why you’re teaching morality? Most parents want their children to be kind, thoughtful, and decent to other people and to know right from wrong. In short, to be moral So the question is, “How do you teach a child to be kind?” All parents are attuned to screams of “I want it; […]

My Child Is Special

My Child Is Special

Is Your Child Really Special? I have to say something scary is happening to words, and it’s already having a big impact on our kids. If you’re a mom or dad, you’re probably saying it to yourself many times each week. What is it?  Well, you’re probably saying, “My child is special.” Whispering to your […]

How Do You Stop A Child Interrupting

How Do You Stop A Child Interrupting

Dear Annie, I am looking for some advice or suggestions on how to teach my 6-year-old about personal space. He is a very social child and enjoys being around kids, adults, etc., but he always seems to need to get the attention of others. When he arrives at school, he yells, gives hugs, and just […]

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