Positive Discipline Parenting Blog
Sproutable’s Positive Discipline blog for parents and caregivers of children toddler to elementary school.
Real tips. Real talk. Read & grow.
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Parent Self-Care and Coping with Sleep Deprivation
Parenting, especially in the early stages, often comes with, what feels like, endless sleepless nights. Coping with sleep deprivation is so difficult to manage, and is at the same time crucial for maintaining your well-being[...]By Jade Folk
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Building the Culture of Teamwork through Chores
When I was growing up we did not have a chore chart. There were no stickers, or popsicle sticks or magnets on a whiteboard. There was just an understanding that we pitched in…all hands on deck. My father was in the military until I was about 7, and prior to that, my mother was very sick with breast cancer. For many of my early memories, she was in and out of the hospital and my father worked long hours. We had caregivers and help but there was still a lot to be done.By Julietta Skoog
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The 5 Parenting Lessons I Learned from 80’s Movie Quotes
For those of us children of the 80's, we have grown up to be parents in a new millennium. It blows my mind to live in a world with Internet, Apple Pay, scanners, and Netflix, not to mention having the intel ahead of time to predict the name of your driver and exact time of your taxi... er... Lyft, pick up. The fact that you can Jetsons style talk to grandparents ON YOUR PHONEBy Julietta Skoog
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The Art of Follow Through
Struggling with transitions and routines? Is your child very strong-willed? How do we motivate kids? How do we invite cooperation? How do we find that balance of connection (so they hear you) and firmness? What does follow-through look like? We often hear grown-ups say they have trouble “getting cooperation” but what does that really mean? […]By Julietta Skoog
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Wired for Independence: How skills boost self-esteem
“Your preschooler will never learn to make decisions, learn new skills, or trust his own abilities if you don’t make room for him to practice. Parenting in the preschool years involves a great deal of letting go…True self-esteem does not come from being loved, praised or showered with goodies—it comes from having skills…Working together to […]By Julietta Skoog
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The Cookie Party
It started when my oldest was almost 4 and her sister was still an infant. Somehow, we found ourselves in Pottery Barn Kids just after Thanksgiving. Like any other 3-year-old, she wanted everything in the store. Given that not a single item was within our budget, I had to use our usual line of: “We are just browsing not buying today. There is nothing on our list from here.” But there was one thing she became obsessed with. It was a “cookie party box”, which had everything you needed to host the party: invitations, aprons, a few cookie cutters, etc. All for the low price of a thousand dollars, more or less. I COULDN’T DO IT.By Julietta Skoog
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Siblings: Get them in the ring
The most popular night of my seven-week Positive Discipline parenting series is the night we finally get to talk about siblings. From the first week, this is a source of angst for parents. It is on every list of challenges that we make, and usually the sibling fighting is a trigger that brings out the “Final straw! I’ve had it, that’s it!” moment in the night where we turn into the version of our parents we swore we would never become. It takes a full six weeks of building on parenting tools before we can get to this meaty and layered challenge. In this class, I always start by asking that same question, “what did you learn from your siblings?” After some scoffing, the answers range from:By Julietta Skoog
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Saving My Sanity Through Sleep Routines
Whether it was 2 weeks, 4 months, 15 months, or 3 years, the only way we survived was through our crazy routine. We had to change it to keep up with their rapid stages of development, but ultimately, holding on to that structure created, wait for it... GOOD SLEEPERS. Yep, there IS a light at the end of the tunnel. It is never perfect (this morning I woke up to my 7-year-old in her sleeping bag next to my bed) but comparatively, it is CIVILIZED.By Julietta Skoog
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Talking to Kids About Death
As an elementary school counselor, one of the hardest parts of my job was talking to young children about death. It felt so unfair for a little person to bear such sadness. The loss of a mother. A father. A grandparent. A brother. A sister yet to be born. An aunt. A friend. There was […]By Julietta Skoog
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Want to Raise Happy Kids? Teach Gratitude.
Ask any parent what they want for their children and they will likely say, “I just want her to be happy.” It is what we strive for within our own lives, and what we anguish over for our children. It guides education decisions, discipline, and even shopping. Lately there has been a surge of books, documentaries, and research that lay out the “guide” to happiness, with a common theme arising again and again: gratitude.By Julietta Skoog
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An Open Letter to the World ~from a mom of a transgender child
“Humans are diverse and beautiful just like our planet. We are so lucky to live in a world where there are not just one or two or even three ways of being, but so many we can’t even count them. Humans aren’t just boys or girls. Gender is a spectrum. It’s like a rainbow of possibilities. First, there’s how we identify: girl, boy, neither, both, or more! Then, there’s how we want to express ourselves through our clothes, hair, etc.”By Alanna Beebe
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