Hey, perfectionists who also happen to be parents: I’m calling you out. Do you often question your abilities as a parent? Do you think you should be doing something better or different with your kids? Well, stop it. I’m here to tell you that it’s unlikely you’re ever going to be perfect at ANYTHING, especially parenting. Being a recovering perfectionist myself, I’m continuing to learn this lesson along with you. “Good enough” is the new “perfect” and I hope I can help you see

Picture this: a frazzled mom picks up her toddler and five-year-old from daycare after a long day at work. On the way home, the five-year-old begins to scream about being hungry and wanting dinner NOW! The toddler starts to cry shortly after and joins in about being hungry. With 20 minutes still left in the ride home, the mom reaches her breaking point and screams back, "Fine! We're going to McDonald's!" and pulls into the nearest drive-through to get a couple of Happy Meals,

There are tons of books, resources, classes, friends, family, and internet searching that my husband and I turned to when we knew we were expecting our first child. We prepared ourselves by taking childbirth and breastfeeding classes, getting things together for his room, buying clothes, diapers, wipes, and dreaming about what was to come. I think these things only gave us a small glimpse into what parenthood would really be like. Both of us forgot nearly everything from the

After taking a short break from blogging for two months, I'm excited to be back! I have decided to focus my practice more specifically to address parents of younger children. This means my blog posts will talk about children, parenting, you and your significant other, and strategies on how to improve these relationships. From here on, you can look forward to my blog posts the 1st and 3rd Mondays of each month. Today, I'll be addressing whether you and your partner are in a "m

For many parents, their relationship as a couple came before their children did. Therefore, it makes sense to nurture that initial connection both before and after adding more members to the family tree. Parenting can be a tricky endeavor, but mixing two peoples' beliefs, parenting styles, families of origin, family histories, individual struggles, and more can be a disastrous combination for family functioning if not done so carefully and with forethought. Dr. John Gottman (

To continue the trend of my blog posts recently, I figured I'd address something that comes up quite frequently with parents I've worked with in therapy. Many parents come into therapy sessions at the end of their rope. They are tired, frustrated, and don't know what to do after a full day's work, running errands, doing household chores, scraping together something for dinner, helping with homework, taking the kids to and from practices, etc. This list could go on forever. As

In honor of Father's Day yesterday, I'm posting a video I found made by FamilyShare.com. This little girl has some advice for dads and how to improve their parenting skills from a unique and honest perspective. Enjoy and feel free to comment below about what tips and advice you have for dads. #children #family #father #fatherhood #happy #havingfun #kids #life #parenting

Now that it's summertime, kids are home from school, feeling bored and/or antsy, and the last thing you want to do is entertain or occupy them 24-7 when you have a thousand other things that need to be done. Here are some things you should start with: Let go of the idea that your kids need you to entertain them all the time. Kids are more than capable of finding ways to entertain themselves. Just make sure they are being safe while playing alone or with others. There are alwa

Trigger warning for readers facing a grieving process or life transition causing you grief. Today's blog post will be completely different and far more vulnerable. So far in my weekly posts, I have offered advice and tips for better living, more effective family functioning, and educational tools. This week, I'm letting you into part of my life and letting you know I don't always have it together either. The topic of grief has been on my mind a lot recently. I have been a Com

Wow, time flies! It's already week three of my five-week blog series! If your family has expanded to include at least one little one, you can probably relate to this post. Raising children and parenting with your partner is a significant change for your relationship and potentially an area where conflict emerges. Drs. John Gottman and Julie Schwartz Gottman's research about couples who have children has shown that two thirds of parents become unhappy in their relationship wit