Contributing Writer: Erica Trainor from the Lil' Iguana’s Children’s Safety Foundation

As parents of toddlers and preschoolers, we’ve all found ourselves saying “don’t” more times than we can count.

“Don’t touch that!”
“Don’t talk to strangers!”
“Don’t go near the water!”
“Don’t eat that!”

Contributing Writer: Lauren Fonvielle

If you’ve ever watched your child struggle with fear, overwhelm, or nervousness — and wished you had a magic wand to help — you’re not alone. As parents, we want to protect and empower our kids, but sometimes we’re not sure how. That’s where EFT (Emotional F...

Tantrums are all kinds of T's: Tricky, Terrible, Testing, Trying, and, in any given day, Too Many!  (and Too Loud!)

I know, I'm preaching to the toddler tribe choir here.

You know that my goal is to teach you about another set of alliterative T's: how to Turn Tantrums into Teachable Moments....

Meet Davey, a high-energy, fun spirited little boy who is ALWAYS in motion.

This is toddler Davey loving life way back in 2021.

He's now six years old and the hero in my story-of-the-week on the podcast. 

Why? 

Because he lied to me, and then told the truth to his teacher about lying to me.

Honestly, I say those words sometimes too. 

Nope - not the swear words. 🤣I'm not a cusser but be sure to listen to this short podcast episode to hear what I DO say! 

I'll hear myself take a *long, deep sigh* and say, outloud, 🗣️"I'm so bored". 

But the truth is, I'm feeling a lot of things in tha...

"Ok, it's time to clean up. Help me put these blocks back in the box please."

I was wrapping up a home visit and the recently-turned one year old looked at me and smiled. 

She then did these three things in quick succession:

1. Picked up a block
2. Put it in the wooden box
3. And dumped all the blo...

I duct-taped my 3 year old’s car seat buckle.

Yep, you read that right. 

The year was 2006  and we were on vacation in Cape Cod when Claire’s explosive behaviors began. It truly felt like an out of the blue, 180 degree change in our child. The crying, body flailing, and refusal to wear certa...

"I don't know but I'll figure it out."

This is what my then 18 year old daughter Caroline told me after arriving in Japan only to find that the Aupair job she had lined up had fallen through.

😰I world away I was in a bit of mama panic and did what I counsel parents never to do 🤷🏻‍♀️ peppered her w...

“My toddler just won’t listen to me! And don’t even get me started on how they don’t follow directions.”

If I had a dollar for every time I heard a parent navigating the toddler years say this…

But here’s the thing.

Hearing isn’t the same as listening. They hear you, promise.

They are choosing n...

Toddlers misbehave: at home, in public, at school.

They are small humans exploring the world and testing to see who will hold boundaries with love, consistency and compassion, regardless of where they are.

As parents, the urge to apologize for their behaviors is strong. But when you consider...

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 parts of becoming a...

 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 self awareness that allow...