Never say this to your child!

Lazy Parenting Canada
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The fundamental message behind Lazy parenting has always been that we need to build a strong relationship with our children built on mutual respect. I strongly believe that it is impossible to raise healthy, happy, independent, empathetic young adults if our relationship with them doesn’t have this strong foundation. When our children don’t trust us, they don’t respect us. And that trust comes slowly, over time by us proving to our child that we are there for them in the good and bad times and that we always have their best interest at top of mind. Trust takes years to build but only an instant to break. And this goes both ways...it’s a message our kids need to understand, especially as they begin to gain independence and start to make their own decisions. They need to understand that when they break our trust through lies or deceit, it will take time to earn that trust back.

Now, understanding this and committing to this as the basis of all our parenting brings a new way of looking at our child’s behaviour. It means that we always have to look at our child’s behaviour from their perspective, from a lens of trying to understand the where and why the behaviour is coming from. And, being honest with ourselves that it is often our own constructs, our own hangups, our own issues from our own childhood that get in the way of this.

One of the times we often respond in a way that is not at all helpful is when our children are angry, upset, or crying and we say the words…

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Fostering Resiliency in our Children so They Know They Can Do Hard Things

Lazy Parenting Canada
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We are in a hard season. There is no doubt about it. And, depending on where you are living --- the uncertainty of the election happening right now in the US is just one more pile of bricks loaded onto your back making the weight of motherhood, parenting, living….that much harder.

I talk often about how we as the parents HAVE TO work on ourselves so that we can become the best, the strongest, the most resilient version of ourselves so that we can be the model to which our children look.

I believe the best way to help our children through these times is to shape the lessons they are going through. To do this, we have to INTENTIONALLY manage our own feelings and actions knowing that they are what our children are seeing. They are looking to us to see how they should be feeling.

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10 Tips for Parenting Your Unreasonable Child

Lazy Parenting Canada
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Don’t perceive your child's behavior as coming from a reasonable place - it isn’t! They aren’t reasonable beings...They do most of the behaviors that annoy us out of impulse, out of stress, out of emotion --- which are all heightened right now. And in your house, if you have a new baby, a new pet, a new parent home, new schooling schedules --- so many new things!

By definition - unreasonable means “not guided or based on good sense”. Well if there was ever a word that described children this would be it!

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No School, Now What? How to keep our kids safe & busy during this uncertain time. |#15

Lazy Parenting Canda
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So here we are...in real time, smack dab in the middle of a global crisis... Well, what I hope is the middle although it might likely be just the beginning. This episode is being released on Tuesday, March 17th...here in Canada the Prime Minister just announced that our borders were closing to anyone except Canadians and US citizens...Community centers, libraries, pretty much all public places are closing their doors. I announced today that my own business, a children’s cheer & tumbling facility was suspending all programming for the next 2 weeks. All sporting events, concerts, all public gatherings have been canceled. The economy is struggling with the markets dropping “Social-distancing’ has become a common household term. People are being asked to work from home. Many people are being laid off. Schools have been canceled with no re-start date confirmed. Parents are having to think fast about how they will hunker down and survive the next few weeks, at home with all their kids….and amongst all this chaos...there are those of us who understand that we get to CHOOSE how we react to these circumstances...we can’t change what is happening, we can’t alter the course that is going to unfold...but we CAN choose how we react, how we behave in front of our children, how we control and mold the experience our children have through this time...we CAN make the best of this! In today’s episode, I am going to break down how you can not only survive through this time with your children at home but how you can THRIVE and strengthen your relationship with your kids, how you can ensure that they learn and grow and remember this time as one that was amazing - because they got to spend time with their parents in a way that they haven’t been able to before.

So what is this magic I talk about - how can you make this time with your children special and manageable and not just something you survive - barely - going to bed frustrated and angry and at wit’s end (although let’s be honest, there will be days that are harder than others). Well, as any good teacher or coach knows...the old adage “if you fail to plan, you plan to fail!” is going to hold true for all the parents out there...

Lazy and Entitled Kids - 10 Parenting Tips You Need to Revisit TODAY (Part 2) | #12

Lazy Parenting Canada
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Welcome Lazy Parents! Funnily enough, we are talking about lazy kids today….and not Lazy in a good way like I am encouraging you to be! Lazy kids who don’t help around the house, who expect you to do all the things for them, who lock themselves in their room, who spend hours on screens, kids who don’t understand and blow up at you when you don’t give them what they want when they want it. Today’s episode is part 2 in which I share tips 6-10 to help your kids become more caring, more involved and more grateful! From exercise to chores, to forced family time and reading & music!

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7. Your Child Being Good at Sports, Doesn't Make You a Good Parent

Lazy Parenting Canada
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TEAM SPORTS is something we are passionate about in this family. As teachers and coaches, my husband and I saw first hand the difference it made in our students’ lives long before we became parents. As athletes ourselves growing up, we knew the difference it made in our own lives. Sports have a HUGE impact on helping kids develop strength of character, work ethic, team-building skills, resiliency, patience and so much more. 

But, your child’s success in sports does NOT mean you are a good parent. In fact, too many of you are becoming nightmare parents and actually harming your child’s success in sport and causing them to quit. Follow these 10 rules to ensure you don’t!

 

But as teachers who volunteered many days/evenings and weekends and as parent coaches who do the same, we are saddened and frustrated by  those parents who feel it is their duty and right to get involved in their kids’ sports in a way that isn’t healthy, helpful or supportive to their child. So I have come up with 10 rules that I believe all parents of athletes must follow to ensure their child’s experience in sport is a fun, healthy and long lasting one!

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