Vicki Hoefle's Blog, page 4
October 31, 2017
10 Reasons To Adopt a Less is More Parenting Strategy
I am often asked by a parent who is sick and tired of lecturing, nagging, reminding, counting, time-outing, and yelling if the approach to parenting I used to raise my own kids (and the approach I have been teaching for 25 years), will work for them? Here is what I tell them: This parenting strategy […]
October 29, 2017
Problems With Potty Training? Give Up.
When parents ask me, How do I get my kids to use the toilet? How do I get my kids to eat dinner? How do I get my kids to go to sleep at night? My first thought is how the heck should I know? I’m not in the business of teaching parents more ways […]
Control: How is it Holding you Back from Raising a Resilient Child?
If I ask 100 people about their thoughts on control, 99.5 of them will whisper “I am a control freak”, as if this is a bad thing. Personally, I embrace and celebrate my “control freakish” nature. Why? Because the truth is, being a control freak is not the problem. The problem comes from trying to […]
October 26, 2017
Use a Timeline for Training to Grow a Grown-Up
Spend enough time with me and you’ll learn that training kids to manage their own lives is essential. None of us want to have our child leave our home at 18 years old, only to return to our house wide-eyed and say, “Mom – what were you THINKING? I can’t handle THAT!” No, ma’am, you’re […]
5 Ways to Preserve your Teen’s Freedom (and Your Relationship With Them)
When I work with parents of tweens and teenagers, I am reminded how very difficult is to give teens the freedom they so desperately yearn for. In the teens’ attempt to break free from their parents and create some autonomy, parents experience increased stress and as a result, begin tugging at the little freedom their […]
October 25, 2017
You’re Living with a Toddler – But You’re Growing a Grown-up
My “aha” moment as a mother came when I realized that parenting wasn’t about what happened when my kids were between the ages of birth and 18. Parenting is about preparing your kids for what happens between the ages of 18 and 80. When I realized this, I sighed relief and immediately gave up any […]
Top 10 Ways to Avoid Battles with your Kids
Happy Parenting doesn’t happen by magic. And it doesn’t happen by saying, “Next time, I won’t lose my temper.” It takes observation, practice and consistency. I know it’s easy to second guess your decisions in the heat of the moment when you’re about to blow your top, so here are my favorite tips for a […]
The Essential Mind Shift for Finding Joy in Parenting: Focus on the Relationship
Why did you choose to have children? Sometimes we forget WHY we had children in the first place. Our lives get busy, our resources get tapped, the parenting techniques passed down from our own parents and the expert books aren’t working and we find ourselves screaming at – or giving in to – our children […]
October 20, 2017
Top 10 Parenting Complaints We Address Consistently in our Parenting Programs
I’m a mom who has raised 5 highly independent and self-sufficient kids. I’m also a parent educator of 20 years who has talked with thousands of parents about life with their kids. So, I feel qualified to point out the obvious places we are struggling as parents. These are the complaints I hear in my […]
October 19, 2017
Top 10 Parenting Complaints We Address Consistently in our Parenting Programs
What interests and inspires me is how much we parents have in common with each other. Even the complaints. I’m Read More...
