Challenging Boys Blog
by Dr. Timothy Davis, author of
Challenging Boys: A Proven Plan for Keeping Your Cool and Helping Your Son Thrive.
Pope Francis says spanking is OK and why he’s wrong.
Today, popular Pope Francis appears to have endorsed spanking as an acceptable form of punishing children with some conditions: "One time, I heard a father say, 'At times I have to hit my children a bit, but never in the face so as not to humiliate them,' " the Pope...
The Best Parenting Book: A Review of “How to Talk So Kids Will Listen.”
The Best Parenting Book: A Review of "How to Talk So Kids Will Listen. In my roles as a parent and as a psychologist, I have read many books on parenting. My favorite by far (I've read it 4 or 5 times) is Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish's How to Talk So Kids Will...
4 Tips for Ending Homework Battles
From Homework Battles to Self-Management: 4 Tips for Parents School doors are open again and, for many families, it means the resumption of homework battles. You might have noticed that schools are giving more homework than ever before. This increased workload places...
Take Care of Yourself: It’s What Your Challenging Child Needs Most
Ellen Galinsky, president of the Families and Work Institute, studied a sample of 600 parents and 1000 children (ages 8-18). The children were asked what they wished they could change about their parents’ work. The majority of the parents guessed that their children...
Does 1-2-3 Magic Work? A Review of 1-2-3 Magic by Thomas Phelan
Does 1-2-3 Magic Work? A Review of 1-2-3 Magic by Thomas Phelan 1-2-3 Magic, by Thomas Phelan, describes an approach to child discipline that has the advantage of being very simple to learn and follow. When a child misbehaves he or she gets two warnings before being...
Understanding the Factors that Maintain a Cycle of Power Struggles
Once language processing issues, temperamental issues, and executive skills issues have started a pattern of power struggles between a challenging child and his or her parents (see my previous post on what causes power struggles), other factors can arise which...
The Best Way to Deal with Power Struggles: Have a Plan!
The best way to deal with power struggles, tantrums, and meltdowns is to have an emergency plan. An emergency plan is a procedure or script that is implemented in the heat of the moment of a struggle. Having a plan helps prevent us from overreacting to the situation...
The Top 3 Causes of Power Struggles (bad parenting isn’t one of them!).
The three top causes of power struggles are: difficult temperament, delays in language development, and deficits in executive functioning. Before discussing the causes of power struggles in more depth, I want to talk first about easy kids, kids who don’t get into...
The Most Powerful Tool for Ending Power Struggles: a Parenting Journal
The Most Powerful Tool for Ending Power Struggles: a Parenting JournalThe most powerful tool for solving power struggles is a parenting journal. In your parenting journal you will record a narrative description of each power struggle, explosion, or other type of...
Step 1: Establish Safety
My first job, when I work with a new family, is to assess whether the home is a safe place for all family members. Before you follow the advice in any blog, in any book, or from any friend, your home needs to be safe for everyone in the family. If your home is not...
The Most Important New Year’s Resolution for Parents
Year end is the time when many of us make resolutions for the New Year. Here’s the one resolution that belongs at the top of every parent’s list. Take time to care for yourself. Being a parent is stressful. Supporting a family can be difficult and work hours seem to...
How do kids spell love? Suggestions for great ways for fathers and sons to spend time together.
I was driving past a church one evening and I noticed that the church sign read, “How do kids spell love? T‐I‐M‐E.” I was struck enough by this that I stopped to snap a photo of it. I thought “Yes, that is how kids spell love!” As I drove on, and reflected more about...