When our kids spew out lava like responses, we can look deeper inside their figuartive volcano to see the magma brewing underneath. These hidden layers help us understand better and these moments are golden opportunities for connection.

We can be stretched so thin with all the work we need to get done and all of our kids' bids for attention to play. So this episode is throwing out all the parent guilt and celebrating ways we can connect and hang out as well as what the best parenting books say about giving our undivided attention to play.

Come learn from Dr. Mona Delahooke who is a clinical psychologist with 30 years of experience in her book Brain-Body Parenitng. She will help us know how to co-regulate with our emotional tone of voice and compassionate presence. The acronym LOVE can remind us what to do in the heat of the moment.

Continue to learn from clinical psychologist Dr. Mona Delahooke in her book Brain-Body Parenting about the 3 steps to go through when a child is in the red or blue pathway and how "checking in" can be more helpful than doing a "time out."

This is the first of three episodes on Dr. Mona Delahooke's (child psychologist) amazing book Brain-Body Parenting: How to Stop Managing Behavior and Start Raising Joyful, Resilient Kids. Today we discuss three pathways we and our children fluxuate between all throughout the day.

Here are concrete ways we can help our kids exercise their pre-frontal cortex (area of the brain directly behind the forehead) which is the center for things like sound decision making, control over emotions and body, empathy, and morality.

Any time we can ask our kids to convince us or problem solve or come up with a solution it helps them turn their frustration into exericsing their pre-frontal cortex. Here's an example of a real Star Wars battle we had in our family and what helped us to conquer through it.

Come learn from The Whole Brain Child book about the downstairs brain and the upstairs brain to better understand your child, their development, and their reactive responses! The upstairs brain of pre-frontal cortex is the center for sound decision making and planning, controlling emotions and body, self-understanding, thinking before acting, empathy, and morality. No wonder it's difficult for our kids a lot of the times since their upstairs brain is under massive construction and is not fully developed until the mid-20s. Throughout our lifespan, our pre-frontal cortex is being wired and re-wired so there is hope for us all!