Positive Discipline Parenting Blog

Sproutable's Positive Discipline blog.

Real tips. Real talk. Read & grow.

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Three Time-Tested Positive Discipline Tools for Nannies

One of my all-time favorite Positive Discipline books is “Positive Discipline Parenting Tools” which Dr. Jane Nelsen wrote with two of her adult children, Mary Tamborski & Brad Ainge.  This book breaks down each of[...]

By Danielle Taylor

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Three Time-Tested Positive Discipline Tools for Nannies

One of my all-time favorite Positive Discipline books is “Positive Discipline Parenting Tools” which Dr. Jane Nelsen wrote with two of her adult children, Mary Tamborski & Brad Ainge. This book breaks down each of the 49 unique tools that we use in Positive Discipline with stories & examples. While this book is written with parents in mind, the content and all of the tools are relevant and applicable to nannies & other caregivers too.

By Danielle Taylor

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Opening Up to Your Resistance

When I work with parents, lots of families resonate with the idea of letting go and being open & present with their children. But in reality, we spend so much of our time resisting in parenting. We hold onto a vision that we’ve created for our children - a narrative, an expectation, an attitude about how things should play out. This isn’t even in our consciousness; we often don’t even realize we’re holding onto these ideas.

By Casey O'Roarty

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Liar, Liar:  Why I Don’t Stress When my Nanny Kids Fib

Something I see pop up occasionally in online nannying groups is concern & frustration over nanny kiddos telling lies. I totally get it; nobody likes being lied to! I see suggestions of taking things away, lecturing & punishing, forced apologies, and even trying to scare kids out of lying. In fact, I remember being told “you’ll go to hell if you tell a lie” when I was a young child, and it was terrifying! I’ll offer you a different solution: let it go.

By Danielle Taylor

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Catch Us at the Library

I’ve been nannying for about eight years now, and though kids & families may change, one very consistent part of my nanny routine is visiting the library. I recently found myself considering what’s still so engaging to me and my nanny kids about the library after literally hundreds of visits. Why are libraries so helpful in supporting young children?

By Danielle Taylor

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Moving from praise to encouragement

I’ve been soaking up everything I can about Positive Discipline for the last five years or so, and most of it has come fairly easily to me. It takes patience, intention, consistency, and effort, but most of the tools and strategies have always “clicked” for me. That being said, I am still, every day, working on moving from praise to encouragement with my nanny kids. This has been so challenging for me!

By Danielle Taylor

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Getting comfortable with messy play

I’ve been working with kids for over 15 years, and I’ve cleaned up a fair share of messes in that time. I wasn’t someone who initially leaned into messy play because it can be gross, stressful, overwhelming, and because I could always come up with something else that’s fun to do instead. However, the longer I’ve been doing this, the more I’ve gotten not only comfortable, but actually have started enjoying, inviting, celebrating, and really leaning into messy play time! Here’s my why, my how, and some tips I’ve learned along the way.

By Danielle Taylor

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How to motivate teens and tweens

How do we motivate adolescents?   Sometimes it feels like nobody wants to help around the house, nobody wants to clean their room.  I know, I’ve been there!  We work and work on our relationship with our kids- it’s ongoing.  It’s a practice of connecting, creating and tweaking agreements, problem solving, checking in, and finding solutions.  […]

By Casey O'Roarty

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Getting out of our teen’s way

Something that keeps coming up in my class and in my own parenting is the power of the tension of life.  I’ve been thinking about how Jessica Lahey and Ned Johnson both talk about getting out of our kid’s way.  We have to get out of the way so our kids can feel the tension […]

By Casey O'Roarty

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Getting curious about the Belief Behind Behavior

A few years back I did an interview with Alison Smith. It touched on the importance of finding the need beneath the behaviors we see. I also often reference the iceberg metaphor - the idea that behavior we’re seeing is just the tip of the iceberg, and if we can go under the surface and really get to what's fueling the behavior, we can make lasting, sustainable change in our home environment.

By Casey O'Roarty

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Exploring “Is This Positive Discipline?”

A lot of parents and caregivers who read my blogs or listen to my podcast are interested in Positive Discipline philosophy but haven’t actually taken a Positive Discipline class or program. You might hear some things that inspire you, but you may be asking, “Is this Positive Discipline?” I know it can feel unclear, so I want to break it down so you know some criteria about if you’re handling things the Positive Discipline way. Know that I’m not here to judge! It’s not about being a perfect parent, it’s about sharing information and guidance to support you if you’re heading in a Positive Discipline direction in your home and with your kids.

By Casey O'Roarty

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