Decide What You Will Do
Andrea Ramsay Speers
We spend a lot of our time as parents trying to “make” our kids do things. Whether it’s making them hurry up, pick up after themselves, be polite, or make the bed, a lot of [...]
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Ask One, Then The Other
Andrea Ramsay Speers
How do you handle a child who doesn’t take “no” for an answer, but instead quietly goes to the other parent and asks the same question? Kids can be crafty, [...]
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Do We Need Intuition In Parenting?
Andrea Ramsay Speers
Who do you trust for information about raising your children? Your doctor, your mom, your girlfriends, the internet? Who do you receive information and advice from (whether [...]
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“Because I Said So!”
Andrea Ramsay Speers
Who among us did not hear that as a kid? And who finds themselves saying it to their own kids now? Children can really wear you down, and some of them are more persistent [...]
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Catch Them Being Good
Andrea Ramsay Speers
It seems to be in our nature to notice the bad. Whether we’re cataloguing the things we would change about ourselves, the mistakes we have made, or why life isn’t perfect, we [...]
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Mistakes Happen
Andrea Ramsay Speers
Nobody’s perfect; we all know that. But it would appear that the best way to motivate children and get them to modify their behaviour is by paying less attention to their [...]
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Keeping Cool: Avoiding Anger In Parenting
Andrea Ramsay Speers
Anger gets a lot of attention. Everybody, it seems, is angry about something, whether it’s road rage, public policy, or kids’ sports. Anger in itself isn’t a bad thing. As [...]
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Parenting Spirited Kids
Andrea Ramsay Speers
Some kids are just a little more than others. More energy, more tantrums, more persistence, more highs and lows…just more. If you’ve got a “spirited” kid in your family, you [...]
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Are The Inmates Running The Asylum?
Andrea Ramsay Speers
When parents learn some of the basic principles of Democratic Parenting, those with a background in more traditional “do as you’re told” parenting styles [...]
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The Truth About Effective Parenting
Andrea Ramsay Speers
When I’m working with parents, as we’re discussing some possible responses to kids’ misbehavior, they will often sigh and tell me just how hard it is, or how [...]
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