If you have tried gentle parenting and still feel like nothing works with your strong-willed child, this episode is for you.
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Wendy Snyder was three years into motherhood, home with a colicky newborn and a three-year-old who got sent home from preschool on repeat, when she walked past a flyer for a free positive parenting class and took it as a sign. Fifteen years later, that same strong-willed daughter is a Division I beach volleyball player at a top ten school.
In this conversation, Wendy and JoAnn get into why the strong will you are fighting is the exact trait that will carry your kid, and what has to shift in you first before any strategy will work.
In this episode, you'll learn
Why punishment, timeouts and "break their will early" advice backfire hardest on the kids they are aimed at
The difference between a kid who is born strong-willed and a mild kid moving through a power surge season
What autocratic parenting actually is, and why almost all of us absorbed some of it
How releasing control over homework and grades produced a self-motivated straight A kid
One tactical swap you can make today: replacing compliance statements with choices
Resources mentioned in this episode
Fresh Start Your Family: Powerful Parenting to Restore Peace in Your Home by Wendy Snyder
Fresh Start Family
Race to Nowhere, the documentary Wendy recommends for every public school parent
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey, source of the subway story
The 3 in 30 Podcast with Rachel Nielson, who introduced JoAnn and Wendy
The Happy Mom Reset, our free class
No Guilt Mom Inner Circle
The Best Mom is a Happy Mom by JoAnn Crohn
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