Age - Tweens, Age - Teens, Tech and Parenting
Dana Hirt
Mentoring -- not Monitoring -- Best Approach ...

Raising digital natives requires parents to mentor their children on their journey to becoming good and safe digital citizens. Get my top resource recommendations and consider questions designed to help you develop an approach that reflects your values and intention.

Mentoring -- not Monitoring -- Best Approach for Parenting Digital Natives
Age - Teens, Age - Toddlers, Age - Tweens, back-to-school, Intentional Parenting, resilience, Teaching Resilience
Dana Hirt
Three 'Must-Dos' To Help Kids Cope With Violent ...

Here’s one thing you can rely on: Your kids will be exposed to an uncontrollable media assault on multiple platforms, as well as information – and misinformation – from friends and schoolmates.

As concerned and hungry for information as we, ourselves, may be, our job as parents in the face of this type of crisis is threefold:

·      Control your kids’ environment

·      Share only age-appropriate information

·      Don’t answer questions they haven’t asked

Three 'Must-Dos' To Help Kids Cope With Violent Events
Intentional Parenting, Tech and Parenting
Dana Hirt
4 Keys to Intentional Millennial Parenting

An intentional millenial parent is an empowered one. The four keys to becoming an empowered parent can be found here.

4 Keys to Intentional Millennial Parenting
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What To Do With Your Kids' BIG Emotions?

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What To Do With Your Kids' BIG Emotions?

Big emotions, as you know, are natural for kids of all ages (and for adults, too!). That’s why before we attend to our child facing emotional dysregulation—it’s super critical for parents to regulate their own affect first.

Here’s some advice in the spirit of putting on your oxygen mask before helping others. As long as everyone is safe, there’s absolutely no harm in walking away from a screaming child to calm yourself down before engaging. When we feel emotionally triggered by a kid temporarily carried away by big emotions, it can make us feel out of control or impotent to the handle the situation. And chances are high that if both parent and child are dysregulated, they will spiral down together, making the upset harder to regulate and repair.

‘Maximize Your Return on Life’ with Intentional Parenting

Shari Greco Reiches, an investment advisor and cofounder of Rappaport Reiches Capital Management, LLC, recently invited me to be a guest on her “Maximize Your Return on Life” podcast.

Like Shari’s approach to capital management, my strategic focus as a parenting coach is values-based. Our far-ranging conversation covered many aspects of parenting that I trust you’ll find worth the listen. Here’s just some of what we talked about:

*  Using the strengths of the family system to empower parents to make decisions tethered to their core values

*  Why a self-care practice and building community are essential activities for parents

*  The surprising similarities between toddlers and teens 

*  Dealing head-on with the unmentionables: drinking; drugs; sex

*  Fostering clear communications with weekly family meetings

*  Embracing the beauty of the pivot, and

*  The value of life-long learning

I hope you will check in out here or on your favorite podcast app

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Pregnant Again? Tips for Preparing Yourself – and the Kids

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Pregnant Again? Tips for Preparing Yourself – and the Kids

A first pregnancy is both a magical and stressful time for many parents full of anticipation about what lies ahead for themselves and the family they are trying to create. For many expectant parents, being present for and enjoying each phase of pregnancy the first time around can be a remarkable experience. But what about pregnancy number two? Read on for advice for parents and little ones awaiting a new sibling.

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It's Time for your 4-Step Scholastic Checklist

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It's Time for your 4-Step Scholastic Checklist

The current academic year is pivotal for families, largely because it’s the first ostensibly “normal” scholastic experience since March 2020. Given the return to routine, parents might be inclined to simply breathe a huge sigh of relief convinced they and their kids are finally free from the myriad pandemic-induced educational stressors of the last two years.

However, given the recent reports on the “impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on learning,” now is the time for parents to pay even keener attention to their kids’ school experience. To ensure their return to academic life is as smooth as possible, consider this comprehensive 4-step process.

How to Make Parenting Decisions Even Your Kids Understand

How to Make Parenting Decisions Even Your Kids Understand

It’s estimated that adults make approximately 35,000 decisions each day -- about 220+ of them about what to eat alone!

Researchers have yet to determine just how many of those decisions are related to parenting, but I’d guess that a significant majority of them are. To navigate the thousands of discrete and unique parenting decisions with more confidence and (relative) ease, I believe the best approach is to ensure those decisions are clearly tethered to your values.

I frequently refer to this approach as values-based or “intentional” parenting. That’s just a fancy way of saying that as parents, we need to have clear and concrete ideas about the ideals and traits we care about and want to instill in our kids. Your values, then, are simply the principles that matter to you…what you live by and put into practice each and every day.