MyParentingSource Articles

Have you ever wondered when your crying baby will rest peacefully? Tried every game and disciplinary action in the book to get your child to eat peas?

At My Parenting Source, we have expert Parent Coaches on hand to help parents with these and other parenting challenges. Just as a star basketball player needs direction at times, we know parents can sometimes use a little guidance.

Feel free to ask a parent coach a question. You'll get a personalized response. And, its free!

Teach your child to manage his anger by giving your child words for his feelings.

Anger often escalates when a child feels misunderstood. Simply enabling your child to communicate by giving names to his feelings can help him feel more calm and be understood.

Is it safe to say that all of us as parents at one point or another have asked our children to apologize? Apologies are transparent when you think about it. The ‘I just want to get out of trouble and get this over with’ apologies are really obvious. With these types of apologies there is li
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Help Your Teen Get the Most Out of a Summer Job

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Teens gain a lot more from a summer job than just a little pocket change. You can help your teen get the most out of this experience by engaging in the right conversations over the course of the summer.

Whether it’s serving pizzas or being a camp counselor, a “real job” can benefit your teen in these ways:

Interviewing for jobs requires your teen to grow into the ability to say, “This is who I am, and this is what I can do.” Talking with you can help your teen develop a knowledge of his own strengths and the courage to claim them.
Working alongside others gives teens a sense of their own competence. It’s exciting for them to find out what they’re capable of – and important for them to see where they need to grow.
The “real world” experience of a job, where their parents cannot intervene on their behalf if they fail to meet expectations, teaches teens a “no excuses” work ethic.
Collecting a paycheck helps your teen understand financial realities like taxes – especially if it’s combined with teaching them about budgeting. Help your teen create a spreadsheet of typical monthly expenses – like an apartment and a car – so that she can get a realistic picture of the money she’ll need to have the things she wants.
On-the-job experience teaches teamwork. It also teaches teens to be tolerant of the shortcomings of others and to capitalize on the strengths of team members. You can facilitate their learning by listening to their experiences, asking questions and making neutral observations.
Having a job can clarify for your teen what he doesn’t want to do as a career – as much as clarifying what he does want. A summer on a landscaping crew will either fuel his fascination with horticulture or push him in another direction entirely. For some, their summer job provides the motivation they need to buckle down and be successful in school.
Above all, having a paying job puts teens in touch with their own capacity to find their way in the world. That confidence feeds their readiness to set out on their own when it’s time.