Positive Discipline Parenting Blog

Empowering Encouragement: The Power of Trusting Your Teen’s Journey

Parenting a teen can feel like an emotional rollercoaster. As they navigate the ups and downs of adolescence, it’s easy to feel the urge to fix things, to rush them through the tough moments, and to offer solutions to their problems. But what if the best thing we can do for our teens isn’t to […]

Shifting from Worst Case Scenario to Trusting the Process With Our Teens

I say this a lot, but this season of parenting is messy. The terrain of adolescence is rough. It is the nature of the path, it is the nature of the season. Even when we are practicing our tools and setting up agreements and doing family meetings, it's still a rough season. I always get excited when I get to say that to people because I think there's a certain level of relief when you're reminded, "Hey, this isn’t necessarily you not being enough, this isn’t necessarily your kids having issues. This is the terrain. This is how adolescence feels." Granted, you might think, "Yeah, but this doesn’t look like what’s going on at my neighbor’s or my sister doesn’t seem to be having these issues with her teens." It’s all relative. It’s hard and every single thing that happens, including the challenges that show up with our teens, are an opportunity for us to… learn, to grow, to expand, and to get curious.

Why Teens Lie and What Parents Can Do About It

Parenting teens is a journey of growth—both for them and for us as parents. It’s often said that raising teenagers is like signing up for a personal growth workshop you didn’t realize you’d need, and it’s true. The challenges teens present push us to examine ourselves, our beliefs, and our responses. One of the trickiest and most triggering issues for parents is when their teens lie. But here’s the thing: lying, while frustrating, is not necessarily a reflection of a bad kid or poor parenting. It’s part of the messy terrain of adolescence.

How to Help Your Teen Quit Vaping: A Compassionate Approach

When talking about vaping or nicotine use, it’s important to recognize that addiction isn’t just physical — it’s mental, too. The brain becomes accustomed to the release of dopamine when using nicotine, and soon, it craves that reward. This "mental brainwashing" can make it incredibly difficult for your teen to quit, even if they know the health risks and the consequences. So, how do we help our kids break free from this cycle?

When your teenager shuts you out

Parenting teens can sometimes feel like a constant balancing act. One moment, you might feel close to your child, only to be met with resistance, frustration, or distance in the next. This was exactly what one parent shared recently. Their 13-year-old daughter, while generally a good kid, was shutting them out—silent treatments, ignored texts, and […]