Positive Discipline Parenting Blog

Sproutable's Positive Discipline blog.

Real tips. Real talk. Read & grow.

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Navigating the Marijuana Conversation with Teens: A Parent’s Guide

As a parent, one of the most challenging things to navigate is the issue of marijuana use among teens. We all know that adolescence is a time of exploration, testing boundaries, and trying new things.[...]

By Casey O'Roarty

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Tips for Eating Out with Young Kids

How do you feel when you go to a restaurant with your kids? Relaxed and happy? Anxious and stressed? Do you brace yourself for the disaster or embrace the opportunity to take it public? The reframe is that the challenge of eating out is also the chance at practicing social and executive functioning skills and strengthening your relationship. Try these tips to make eating out with children actually fun (gasp!).

By Julietta Skoog

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Joyful Courage & Sproutable: one space for all parents & caregivers

We began merging our backgrounds in psychology, early child development, public health, counseling, mindfulness, social emotional learning, social justice, racial equity and Positive Discipline, joining forces to go farther than either of us could do on our own. We used innovation, technology, Alanna’s idea of videos of REAL families, and an online platform to share the helpful, immediately useful and mutually-respectful tools world wide.

By Julietta Skoog

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Preparing kids for flu shots + vaccines

Kids have been getting shots since they were little, and yet it feels like each time a flu shot or vaccine comes around it is a totally new ordeal. While parents may be relieved at the protection, guess who is NOT doing a happy dance. The kids! Most dread that larger than life needle. So how do you prepare kids for vaccines and possible after effects? We’ve got tips to help.

By Julietta Skoog

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Nightmares

Can toddlers and preschoolers suffer from nightmares? How can I help my toddler and preschooler with nightmares? Why does my 2 year old wake up screaming?How do I stop my child from having nightmares? You are not alone. It is a normal developmental stage and they often come in waves where young children will have them a few days in a row and then not have any again for a few weeks. Here are some tips to help!

By Julietta Skoog

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How do I teach kids to share?

It is completely unrealistic, developmentally, to expect young children to share. What you CAN teach them, explicitly is what it means to share (usually taking turns) and the skills they need to be practicing mutually respectful sharing.

By Julietta Skoog

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Building the Culture of Teamwork through Chores

When I was growing up we did not have a chore chart. There were no stickers, or popsicle sticks or magnets on a whiteboard. There was just an understanding that we pitched in…all hands on deck. My father was in the military until I was about 7, and prior to that, my mother was very sick with breast cancer. For many of my early memories, she was in and out of the hospital and my father worked long hours. We had caregivers and help but there was still a lot to be done.

By Julietta Skoog

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The 5 Parenting Lessons I Learned from 80’s Movie Quotes

For those of us children of the 80's, we have grown up to be parents in a new millennium. It blows my mind to live in a world with Internet, Apple Pay, scanners, and Netflix, not to mention having the intel ahead of time to predict the name of your driver and exact time of your taxi... er... Lyft, pick up. The fact that you can Jetsons style talk to grandparents ON YOUR PHONE

By Julietta Skoog

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The Art of Follow Through

Struggling with transitions and routines? Is your child very strong-willed? How do we motivate kids? How do we invite cooperation? How do we find that balance of connection (so they hear you) and firmness? What does follow-through look like? We often hear grown-ups say they have trouble “getting cooperation” but what does that really mean? […]

By Julietta Skoog

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Wired for Independence: How skills boost self-esteem

“Your preschooler will never learn to make decisions, learn new skills, or trust his own abilities if you don’t make room for him to ​​practice. Parenting in the preschool years involves a great deal of letting go…True self-esteem does not come from being loved, praised or showered with goodies—it comes from having skills…Working together to […]

By Julietta Skoog

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The Cookie Party

It started when my oldest was almost 4 and her sister was still an infant. Somehow, we found ourselves in Pottery Barn Kids just after Thanksgiving. Like any other 3-year-old, she wanted everything in the store. Given that not a single item was within our budget, I had to use our usual line of: “We are just browsing not buying today. There is nothing on our list from here.” But there was one thing she became obsessed with. It was a “cookie party box”, which had everything you needed to host the party: invitations, aprons, a few cookie cutters, etc. All for the low price of a thousand dollars, more or less. I COULDN’T DO IT.

By Julietta Skoog

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