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Transforming the Toddler Years

The Blog

 

“Parenting is really one big, beautiful story and

I love telling it.”

Cara Tyrrell, Founder Core4Parenting
Holding Boundaries Without Power Struggles behavior boundaries conscious parenting foundational skills parenting tips

Toddlers are born salespeople. They refuse to take NO for an answer. 

They show up consistently. 

They exhibit persistence.

They use creativity to pose other potential solutions that get them what they want.

 

You, to say YES.

 

The truth is that these skill sets are vital...

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Time Outs vs Time Ins conscious parenting mom life parenting parenting tips raising children time out

How often do you get caught in the trigger trap reaction cycle? It’s so easy to do and hard to break out of! 

 

Reactions are live-time, high emotion, frustration point solutions. They're short lived, and you have to repeat them over and over and over. And, they often lead to...

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Traveling with Toddlers - My Observations of Kids on Planes conscious parenting family mom life parenting tips toddler mom travel

Traveling as adults is stressful enough. But traveling with kids is a different beast.

 

The planning. The packing. How does a tiny little human require so much stuff? And, of course, the changing of routines, food options, and sleep.

 

The first time I took my kids on a plane they were...

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Why You Shouldn't Tell Kids to "Stop Crying" and What to Say Instead conscious parenting emotional awareness emotional regulation parenting

Toddlers cry. A lot. It’s their primary way of communicating, well – everything. 

How they feel. What they are thinking. Their opinions. And their preferences as their tiny-little belief systems develop. 

In fact, crying is a healthy sign of early development. Kids who never...

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Mindfully Managing Your Emotions While CoParenting conscious parenting core4 family husband motherhood partnership relationships

She did it. This is what my husband says. 

 

People say, “Oh my gosh, you have such amazing kids”, and he smiles, points his finger at me and says “She did it. It’s because of her” 

 

He’s right. I did the bulk of the childrearing, adopting...

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Feeling Triggered All the Time? The #1 Strategy for Turning Reactions into Responses behavior character conscious parenting emotional awareness emotional regulation mom life parenting tips

 How many emotional triggers do you field in a day? Don’t answer that, because you likely can’t.

 

Your toddlers and preschoolers are master button pushers and trigger your conscious and subconscious reactions, often without even trying.

You want to sit inside a level of...

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Choosing the Best School Options for Your Child's Learning Needs conscious parenting education kindergarten parenting school

 

School wasn’t going well for my Kindergartener. Most spring mornings it was a battle to get out the door, followed by massive, puddle-on-the-floor meltdowns when she got home at the end of the day.

 

I knew something had to change for 1st grade, but how? 

 

I worked....

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My Toddler's Behavior is Out of Control. Do We Need to Get Them Tested? behavior conscious parenting emotional regulation parenting

I raised a challenging child with big, loud, audacious behaviors. Think puddle on the floor, screaming meltdowns that often went on for 30 or 40 minutes until she expelled her dysregulated energy, then – then popped right back up and reengaged with me, like nothing ever happened.

Big...

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My Toddler Won't Stop Kicking Me! conscious parenting core 4 emotional regulation foundational skills parenting

Today we’re talking about physical behavior with our kids, how they come at us physically and how we are going to manage that.  One of my clients who's a Transforming the Toddler, Toddler Years course graduate, still works with me and we work very deeply together monthly. Here’s...

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Guest Blog Post: Caroline Tyrrell, Age 12 about me conscious parenting core 4 family motherhood parenting parenting gps parenting mission statemnet

A conversation for context.


My husband: “What do you want for Christmas?”

Me: “Finish renovating my office?” 

Him: “Ok.” 

He's a contractor by trade so I trust him and he has This Old House type vision for our home updates so I trust him even more.

He...

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When You Pay, You Play character conscious parenting family foundational skills mom life money parenting parenting wins raising children self care sense of self teaching

You’ve heard this quip, right? It’s along the lines of, put your money where your mouth is and no pain - no gain.  

In plain speak, we tend to take action when we feel invested. 

For example:

Your friend gives you free access to her newest online course and you never...

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Welcome to the World Little One! conscious parenting first time mom foundational skills infant mom life newborn sleep sleep soothing

We come into the world as brand new, tiny humans with three basic survival needs: food, shelter and sleep. Shelter represents safety. Food represents nourishment and growth. Sleep is the foundation of it all. 

Your newly born baby isn’t able to control any of these things. 

...

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