
I’m here with Amy McCready who is, as she describes herself, a recovering yeller, and she’s the founder of Positive Parenting Solutions and the creator of “7-Step Parenting Success.” I love having conversations with her and she always shares so much great information and advice. She has two best-selling books about parenting, and she’s always a well-sought after guest on this podcast. She shares extremely practical information for families. And I will say firsthand that her tips have definitely changed my relationship with my children and been extremely helpful in my household.
This episode is about five hard truth about parenting and steps to calmer, easier home life. We talk about learning how to delve into why behaviors are happening in the first place, versus just reacting to them. And we talk about these five truth bombs, including how kids continue the behaviors that work for them, how parent priorities aren’t the same as kid priorities, how to order, correct, and direct less while getting actually more done in your home, why the carrot and stick approach doesn’t work with consequences, and what to do instead. She has some really great practical tips here.
As always, this is a super practical episode packed with lots of really applicable tips that you can implement today in your family. And I really recommend her course if you want to go deeper on this. She takes you through everything from all the different ages of parenting, how to deal with everything from tantrums to getting kids to help out around the house to rebellious teenagers. And she has very practical approaches to all of those.
Episode Highlights With Amy McCready
- Learning how to delve into “why” the behaviors are happening in the first place
- Truth bomb #1: kids continue the behaviors that work for them
- Why children are excellent observers but poor interpreters
- Parent priorities aren’t the same as kid priorities
- How to order, correct and direct less while still getting what needs to happen done
- Why the carrot and the stick approach doesn’t work long term
- How to encourage internal motivation and control vs external motivators of control like rewards
- Ways to foster their sense of capability
- “If no adults lived in this home, how could this child function completely independently”
- The importance of age appropriate risk taking
- Differences between punishment and discipline
- How to avoid children feeling blame, shame or pain
- Ways parents can make simple shifts in response that change parenting dynamics dramatically
- Phrases like “I love you too much to fight about this with you right now”
- The five Rs of consequences to actually create long term positive change
- What to do about family jobs and what to do when kids don’t want to help around the house
Resources We Mention
- 7-Step Parenting Success System Course
- Get Kids to Listen the Right Way – Free Course
- The Me, Me, Me Epidemic: A Step-by-Step Guide to Raising Capable, Grateful Kids in an Over-Entitled World by Amy McCready
- If I Have to Tell You One More Time…: The Revolutionary Program That Gets Your Kids To Listen Without Nagging, Reminding, or Yelling by Amy McCready
- Children: The Challenge : The Classic Work on Improving Parent-Child Relations–Intelligent, Humane & Eminently Practical by Rudolf Dreikurs
More From Wellness Mama
- 424: Navigating Virtual School, Homework, and an Unpredictable School Year Without Stress With Amy McCready
- 495: Madiha Saeed on The Holistic Rx for Kids: Parenting Healthy Brains and Bodies in a Changing World
- 471: Dr. Jen Forristal on Umbrella Parenting and Raising Children With Strong Coping Skills
- 390: How to Raise an Adult: Break Free of the Overparenting Trap and Prepare Your Kids for Success With Julie Lythcott-Haims
- 316: 17 Practical Time-Saving Systems for Parents (& How I “Get It All Done”)
- 268: Tildet Varon on Positive Parenting & Effective Family Communication
- 057: Katie Kimball on Natural Parenting Tips
- 657: Meditations of Parenting, Love, and Raising Great Kids With Ryan Holiday
- 9 Important Skills We Should Teach Our Kids
- My Parenting Rule to Foster Independence (& Save My Sanity)
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