Parenting

My boys use potty words and laugh about their privates. How can I teach them about safety?

Potty language perpetuates. Even though I repeat/remind and carve out time where my son can get it out, he continues to use this language around his two year old brother. I don’t know how to stop this. He will say one word and and his little brother will grab onto that and repeat it over and over and there’s just no stopping this. I am also noticing that when one of them is naked this also becomes a big deal and they giggle, say whatever word has got them going and then try touching each other. I’m really struggling with this as I don’t know what is normative vs sending the wrong message around body safety.

My daughter's anger is intense. How do I help her through big feelings?

When my daughter gets mad she goes from 0 to 60 and gets so big saying, “I hate this person”, “they are so stupid”, “I never want to see them again”, “go home” and will say it loud and repeatedly. What else can I do in the moment to help her not say things that make the whole thing worse or do I just embrace the tantrum in totality?

My child may repeat a grade. How can I tell them and help them?

My son is in 4th grade and in a new school and while he is making progress on his self-confidence, his grades have really suffered. The conversation now is that he will be repeating fourth grade. I’ve called a lot of tutoring places and everyone is on a wait list so it’s obviously a big problem. How can my husband and I have a conversation with him without his self-confidence suffering?

My 2yo loves taking their clothes off and has started using unkind words.

About 1 month ago, she started to take off her clothes and diapers all of a sudden. She would sometimes announce "ugh, hot" and then just take off everything she has on. She has also started to say really strong words, like "hate", "stupid", "ew, gross", "bad baby". I tried to model other choices of words for her and tell her that "hate" for example is not a nice word - but does she understand? How do we teach her?

My 5yo is grieving her grandmother, how can I help her?

My 5yo daughter lost her grandmother to cancer. It was a hard hit on her. They had a very special connection. After 5 months now, she still says (pretty much every day if not at least twice a week) , that she is sad and that she misses her so much. It is usually in her quiet moments that she talks about her and asks us very creative questions/ideas to bring her back. For instance, today she asked us if we could get into a rocket ship to reach the stars and bring her back. Not sure if all those questions/ideas are part of her grieving or if I need to get some help for her. How long might this grieving last? It is heartbreaking to watch this. Please advise!

How do I get my child back to sleeping in her bed after multiple disruptions in routine?

We have talked about going back to their own beds like before and one of my daughters says she will do it but the other says she is not ready. My daughter, who said she will do it, doesn't want to sleep alone (without me or her sister) so we end up all sleeping together. How do I get my daughter who said she was not ready to go back to falling asleep in her own bed? I have never been strict about them coming into bed with us but just wondering how to go about getting her back into the old routine......thank you!!

My 5yo is using bad words when he's excited. What do I do?!

I’ve noticed lately that when my 5yo son gets super excited he starts saying bad words.
It’s super new and super random but the other day he even said “I’m so f**king excited”.
He’s not doing it to get a laugh, I can tell he’s super over excited and he can’t control himself. With that being said, me muero de la vergüenza (I die of embarrassment) and I don’t want him talking like that. Whatttttt do I do?!

My 5yo has been using mean words. How can I manage this?

I’ve noticed that my 5yo son is starting to use meaner and stronger words in his vocabulary. “I hate this”, “don’t ever talk to me again’, ”you’re the worst mom”.
I know it’s when he’s frustrated and he immediately apologizes but it’s very new and very hurtful. Again, I don’t know how to address it (or ignore it) so that he not only stops, but realizes that words have consequences (in that they can hurt people).

My 8yo keeps waking up in the middle of the night and doesn't know why. Help!

How to proceed with my 8 year old who lately has been waking up multiple times throughout the night - 1:30am and 4am as of two weeks ago, almost every night of the week. Insomnia? She tends to be on the anxious side so I asked her if she was worried, anxious or had a nightmare, to which she replied No.

My son has a potty accident every day at school. What can we do?

He has had a potty accident at school every day. He is terrified of someone hearing him or seeing him ask to go to the bathroom so instead he just pees himself and then tries to carry on. We have tried to problem solve this with him. He has extra clothes, a special hand signal from his teacher as a reminder but still he is paralyzed with fear. He has also been very rigid, anxious and combative with his teacher and disruptive in the class. He refuses to participate in lessons. Today he was separated from the group after throwing an object at her.
What else can we do? 

My daughter's anxiety is manifesting in different ways and I need help guiding her.

My question is about my daughter and what seems to be anxiety manifesting in different areas of her life. In May, she developed a weird eye thing that we had checked with an EEG and it came back normal. In December the eye thing came back and we had a 24-hour EEG and that came back normal too. Within the last few weeks she has developed a full on tic where she is blinking 50 times a minute and clearing her throat quite a bit. My brother and cousin used to have a similar tic when we were growing up but it's so hard to see with my own kid. Emotionally I feel like I am doing something wrong, logically I know it's deeper but it's still hard.

My children just do not listen! What do I do?

Both of my children show no respect to the parent/child dynamic. When either my husband or myself give an instruction they simply ignore it. I can repeat what I just said and it will continue until I get upset and then they react or I just give up because they do not listen. Help!!! I feel so lost!

How do I know if my child is ready for school AND which school is right for them?

My son is getting ready to enter PK 3 and I feel a little anxious about the whole school choosing situation Is it too soon for him to be in school?
Should I wait until he is at least four?
How can I be sure the school environment is supportive and kind ?
These are some of the questions I pondered as I decide which is the right school .

How to best discipline my defiant little one?

ur little strong willed daughter is really giving us a run for our money. She refuses to get dressed, going potty, brushing teeth, eating breakfast. I just feel overwhelmed and discouraged and I know it is normal at this age, but I feel defeated.
My husband is battling the gentle parenting approach and thinks she needs firmer and negative consequences and I disagree. I don’t know what to do.

My almost 8yo is having daily meltdowns and fighting with her 10yo sister. Help!

I really need guidance with my almost 8 year old daughter. She is so sweet, sensitive and super funny, but I’m noticing her resilience is waaaay down. She and her older sister (who’s 10) argue almost daily, and her response is tears (the massive meltdown version) and/or hitting her. She will not do basic things independently, like use the bathroom, brush teeth, make bed.

My 7yo uses baby talk. Can it be stimming?

I get complaints by school teachers and/or camp counselors about my son's behavior. He uses baby language with his best friend AND it is always when he is nervous, always when he is feeling the expectation of an adult and always when he is over excited.
I would like to understand if it's stimming because I would like to respond better to these adults that are coming to me.

How and when do we change the bedtime routine for our children?

How can we change our children’s bedtime routine?
Can we stop staying with them until they fall asleep?
I am stuck between feeling like they need a little extra support right now and our own mental health.
And if we do, what does that look like respectively?