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

When is the last time you went on a date? A real date? Received flowers or gave a small token of your love to your partner? Dressed up and went to a fancy dinner with a date? Felt like you were the only person in the world your date wanted to spend time with that evening? Let me rephrase: when is the last time you and your spouse went on a date? If you are married, perhaps it's been a long time since you've dated. I'm here to tell you DATING DOES NOT HAVE TO DIE AFTER MARRIAG

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

We have come to the last week of my five-week blog series for couples. This last installment is regarding housework and chores - an area few couples agree on and tensions can flare. How often has putting together a "honey-do" list actually worked out? Are you and your partner always squabbling about whose turn it is to clean the dishes? Pick up the clutter in the living room? Scrub the toilet? Change the next diaper? Are you satisfied with how work gets done around your home

For week four, I'm addressing how working and jobs can get in the way of having a happy relationship and what can be done about it. This is a tough topic. Usually, at least one person in a relationship has to hold a job in order for bills to be paid, mouths to be fed, and overall quality of life to be met. Many times, two-income households are the norm in our culture because one income isn't enough to provide for everything. There is no way around having to earn money somehow