tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45666426651118670002012-02-16T18:02:47.304-07:00Tara Wood, M.A. has been one of Colorado's most respected parenting coaches and educators. She now resides in Hudson, OH. Tara supports parents beginning in pregnancy and continuing through parenting of teens by offering effective parenting advice and tips. Follow her paretning journey as she gives practical examples of how she implements positive parenting techniques with her own three children and get inspired to do the same!Tara Wood, MA, CGEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15238693412255469206noreply@blogger.comBlogger601100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4566642665111867000.post-50212100801525009992011-01-09T19:58:00.002-07:002011-01-09T20:02:54.002-07:00

I would like to announce that the decision has been made to not reregister Xylem Family Resource as a nonprofit in Colorado and Ohio or continue its federal tax-exempt status.This decision was made for a variety of reasons and I can assure you that it was not made lightly. We pursued many options, including discussions with several individuals regarding the possibility of taking over the

Tara Wood, MA, CGEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15238693412255469206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4566642665111867000.post-78938749253095642162010-12-20T10:38:00.010-07:002010-12-20T11:11:07.868-07:00

My kids and I can become a group of goof balls when left alone. It will start out innocently enough with singing Christmas carols at the top of our lungs and morph into seeing who can most creatively change the lyrics to one of the songs.Today, we tackled "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer". Here's the result:Jesus the Son of GodYou know Joseph and Mary and Melchior and Jaspar,Gabriel, the innkeeper

Tara Wood, MA, CGEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15238693412255469206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4566642665111867000.post-56924993250169650752010-10-28T11:01:00.002-06:002010-10-28T12:15:49.542-06:00

My favorite time at Halloween is about 20 minutes after my kids go to bed on Halloween Night. This is when I admittedly raid my kids' Trick-or-Treat bags to pull out my favorites to indulge in - Snickers Bars, Kit Kats, Peanut Butter Cups, and Sour Apple Blow Pops. And my kids know I do this.I recently read a blog that suggested that you could teach your kids a lesson in tithing by requiring

Tara Wood, MA, CGEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15238693412255469206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4566642665111867000.post-24853726095305976852010-10-08T10:25:00.008-06:002010-10-13T11:07:42.649-06:00

This morning I looked out my window. It was a beautiful day. After a week of cold, cloudy, rainy weather, I felt my heart leap with excitement as I saw what awaited me on the other side of my front door. Today there wasn't a cloud in the sky. The sun was reflecting off the many colored leaves of the huge trees that grow in our neighborhood. The grass was a thick and healthy deep green having been

Tara Wood, MA, CGEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15238693412255469206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4566642665111867000.post-86581307027455349622010-09-07T10:07:00.010-06:002010-09-07T19:28:06.592-06:00

Last week Isabella got her first spelling list of the year sent home. Attached with the list was a nice letter from her teacher explaining how lists will be sent home and giving wonderful creative suggestions for how the kids could practice their words. Her first spelling test was going to be the following Wednesday. Looking over the list, Isabella and I saw that many of the words she already

Tara Wood, MA, CGEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15238693412255469206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4566642665111867000.post-80927551791124197282010-08-30T09:35:00.006-06:002010-08-30T11:06:36.593-06:00

My last post focused on allowing my children to grieve and how I was trying to help them through that process. However, eventually there is a time to help kids move beyond their sadness so they don't get stuck there. That is what we have been working on this past week.Overall, my kids have been trying really hard to make the most of our new situation. They've searched for new friends. They've

Tara Wood, MA, CGEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15238693412255469206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4566642665111867000.post-45136045733676714912010-08-16T19:33:00.005-06:002010-08-16T20:40:55.171-06:00

The hardest thing by far for me as a parent is that helpless feeling I have when my children are in pain. I would do anything to take their hurt, or sorrow, or sadness away.Which is why the hardest part of our move to Ohio has been the grief it has caused my children.I think forever in my memory will be the day we told the kids we would be traveling to Cleveland to see if it could be a place we

Tara Wood, MA, CGEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15238693412255469206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4566642665111867000.post-53237589638657304442010-07-21T13:04:00.003-06:002010-07-21T13:18:25.402-06:00

Sorry to be MIA for a while. Life is changing very fast in the Wood household and I'm barely keeping up. Here is the letter I've been sharing letting people know what's going on. Hang in there with me. I'll be back and posting regularly again soon!!!!Dear friends,It is with mixed emotions that I share some important news that affects my family and the future of Xylem.About four weeks ago, my

Tara Wood, MA, CGEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15238693412255469206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4566642665111867000.post-14413783387528469742010-06-14T22:15:00.008-06:002010-06-15T09:41:14.287-06:00

This post is a last of a trilogy of posts dedicated to dads in honor of Father's Day, June 20th. Happy Father's Day to all you dedicated dads! When my first daughter was born, my husband wanted nothing more than to be a great dad. From day one he was committed to getting up in the middle of the night to help change diapers and hand the baby to me to feed. Then he would get up in the morning and

Tara Wood, MA, CGEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15238693412255469206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4566642665111867000.post-86983709859715727192010-06-07T22:28:00.008-06:002010-06-08T00:13:09.666-06:00

Dear Dads,You are so important in your child's life!I am sad that there is a belief out there that you are only good for working hard and "providing" for your family. I'm sad that you may have been lead to believe that you could never be as good at parenting your children as their mother and certainly not as nurturing. I'm sad that many women believe this. Because it flat out isn't true.Research

Tara Wood, MA, CGEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15238693412255469206noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4566642665111867000.post-83233624575390817752010-05-18T10:41:00.005-06:002010-05-18T11:49:35.975-06:00

It's 8:15. The kids have their jammies on. Teeth are brushed. Two happy kids skip up to me. "Good night, Mom."I get a kiss and a hug from each.The kids turn away and begin their climb up the stairs calling behind them, "Come on, Dad!"This is my husband's cue. He gets up and begins his own climb up the stairs to meet my son and daughter who by now are snuggled up in our bed with their Harry Potter

Tara Wood, MA, CGEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15238693412255469206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4566642665111867000.post-69353836364387596212010-05-11T13:59:00.012-06:002010-05-12T13:46:02.057-06:00

One of the qualities I hope my children have is a love and compassion for other people. In fact, if I had to pick one characteristic above all others that I desire for my kids, it would be this one.There are many things I try to intentionally do with my kids to help teach them the importance of caring and loving others. Service is one of these things.Serving others is a very practical way of

Tara Wood, MA, CGEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15238693412255469206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4566642665111867000.post-25535195989579915042010-05-03T12:52:00.004-06:002010-05-03T16:28:43.307-06:00

Sometimes I don't want to be a mom.There. I said it.Sometimes I just get tired of always being "on call," no days off, no sick days. My days are filled with caring for a baby who has a lot of energy and has discovered she can get to just about any place in the house...really really fast. I can't take my eyes off her.My afternoons are spent shuttling kids to lessons or helping them with

Tara Wood, MA, CGEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15238693412255469206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4566642665111867000.post-3511241061338357732010-04-22T10:17:00.007-06:002010-04-22T19:38:29.224-06:00

Today I was reminded what it feels like to be a kid, particularly what it feels like to be parented without consistency. I got to feel how it feels to randomly have a rule that had really never been enforced before suddenly be enforced with a huge consequence and to receive that consequence with no warning that a consequence was going to be issued if the rule was broken. I felt the desire to then

Tara Wood, MA, CGEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15238693412255469206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4566642665111867000.post-52954200895126880202010-04-15T11:09:00.005-06:002010-04-16T11:08:45.119-06:00

Samantha was on my hip with a big smile. Nathanael and Isabella had happily skipped away, each with a penny in their hand to go ride the horse. I stood at the checkout pleased with how quickly this trip to the grocery store went preparing to swipe my credit card for payment.And then the checkout man made "the comment"."Wow! You sure have your hands full."This is just one of the many versions of

Tara Wood, MA, CGEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15238693412255469206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4566642665111867000.post-7777704517425786482010-04-06T12:23:00.004-06:002010-04-06T13:11:07.547-06:00

It was one of our first real family vacations. Isabella was three and Nate was one. We spent a whole week in Vail with my husband's parents. About three days in, my husband Asa and I were sitting in the sun by the creek while our kids were splashing in the water. I turned to Asa and said, "This is so great! I love being away with you and the kids, out of the daily routine. I feel like I am

Tara Wood, MA, CGEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15238693412255469206noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4566642665111867000.post-46619010729757564782010-03-22T18:10:00.005-06:002010-03-22T18:20:13.807-06:00

I'm going to just be honest here. My little family of mine is made up of some very competitive individuals. I know that my husband and I lead the way on this. We enjoy healthy competition. We regularly play competitive games and we do keep score. I particularly love playing cards and strategy games with my husband because they are one of the few kinds of games I actually have a chance at beating

Tara Wood, MA, CGEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15238693412255469206noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4566642665111867000.post-28201770972198434662010-03-12T20:27:00.005-07:002010-03-12T20:35:47.718-07:00

Are kids allowed to get angry? It may seem like a silly question at face value. I would guess that most of us would answer, "of course" to that question. And yet, parents often respond to their child's anger as if they have no right to feel that emotion.Think about it. Your preschooler has an absolute meltdown when you say it's time to leave the park even though you've been there two hours. The

Tara Wood, MA, CGEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15238693412255469206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4566642665111867000.post-23039651560226757242010-02-12T14:09:00.001-07:002010-02-12T14:11:51.852-07:00

Yes, this is cheating a bit. I am reposting one of my very first posts on this blog. It seemed appropriate given that Valentine’s Day is this weekend. If you have followed us on the Xylem Family Resource fan page on Facebook, you know that we’ve been doing a “14 Days of Love” challenge trying to add to a list of things we love about each person in our family until we have a list of 14 things

Tara Wood, MA, CGEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15238693412255469206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4566642665111867000.post-40496951194460678372010-02-05T12:01:00.006-07:002010-02-05T13:10:10.207-07:00

There is a lot of research out there about body language and how the majority of what we communicate is through our nonverbals. In fact, one study at UCLA found that up to 93% of what we say is not through words. Our tone, our gestures and our facial expressions play a much larger role in what we communicate than the words that come out of our mouth. Try it. Watch TV with the volume off and see

Tara Wood, MA, CGEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15238693412255469206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4566642665111867000.post-32678663453672207052010-01-19T11:15:00.006-07:002010-01-19T14:27:44.772-07:00

Isabella and Nate were flipping through channels on the TV last week. Isabella paused for a moment on the news. Something caught her eye. "Oh," she said. "It's just about an earthquake." She went to reach for the remote to change the channel again.I stopped her."Actually you guys," I said, "it's not just an earthquake. It's a very sad and terrible thing that has happened."There is definitely

Tara Wood, MA, CGEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15238693412255469206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4566642665111867000.post-69978574435311303772010-01-04T21:31:00.008-07:002010-01-04T23:19:47.731-07:00

Ah, my sweet Nate. He is so in a phase right now. Challenging the rules. Being extra stubborn. Whining incessantly. Pushing buttons as often as he can. Trying to find the loopholes so that he can get away with whatever it is he wants to get away with for as long as he can.When I'm not in the midst of experiencing his "phase", there is actually a part of me that loves this aspect of him. It's a

Tara Wood, MA, CGEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15238693412255469206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4566642665111867000.post-32776265171879033722010-01-01T17:28:00.001-07:002010-01-01T17:30:51.665-07:00

What a year 2009 was, huh? The inauguration of our nation’s first black president. The financial crisis. Michael Jackson dying. Balloon Boy. Amazing!For the Wood family it was quite a year, too! The biggest event of 2009 was the addition of our daughter, Samantha Caroline. Born in June, she kept the second half of our year full of joy. All who meet her know that she lights up the room like

Tara Wood, MA, CGEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15238693412255469206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4566642665111867000.post-61494588641904964652009-12-21T15:53:00.004-07:002009-12-21T15:58:33.618-07:00

Can you relate to this scene?Walking through the mall, doing some last minute Christmas shopping with Nate, we passed a woman who was doing balloon animals. Admittedly, they were pretty amazing creations. And there were a lot of parents purchasing one for their child in exchange for a donation to the charity she was supporting.Nate really wanted one. I said, “No.” He did not like that answer.The

Tara Wood, MA, CGEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15238693412255469206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4566642665111867000.post-7961311783883817272009-12-17T09:50:00.002-07:002009-12-17T09:55:44.161-07:00

One of the questions I get a lot around the holidays is how to help children realize that Christmas is not just about toys. Many parents get really frustrated with the consumerism mentality of Christmas. I don’t think there is one answer to this question. But I thought I’d share some of the things we do in our family around this issue.To begin with, I don’t think it’s the presents that are

Tara Wood, MA, CGEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15238693412255469206noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4566642665111867000.post-6886909889142983332009-12-08T13:55:00.006-07:002009-12-08T14:02:29.958-07:00

My kids believe in Santa. Santa is part of our Christmas celebration. My kids also know inside and out what Christmas is really about. I don't worry that letting our kids believe in Santa overshadows the birth of Jesus or will damage them in the long run.Why and How? First, I would say that Santa is 10% of our overall Holiday experience. Our kids visit Santa at the mall (we tell them that this is

Tara Wood, MA, CGEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15238693412255469206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4566642665111867000.post-68325764895108029042009-11-30T11:46:00.004-07:002009-11-30T11:52:55.435-07:00

In a previous post, I told the story of how our lamp shade got broken ( read You Break It, You Pay For It). After giving us $4 from his coin bank, Nate had decided that he wanted to try to sell some of his toys to pay the remaining amount of his half for the new shade.The other day, we were doing a run to Goodwill to drop off some items we had cleaned out of the garage. I told the kids that I

Tara Wood, MA, CGEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15238693412255469206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4566642665111867000.post-12065431066557885682009-11-23T15:03:00.003-07:002009-11-23T15:10:45.436-07:00

Are you thankful for your family? I don't necessarily mean all your aunts and uncles, brothers and sisters, mom and dad. I mean specifically your nuclear family; your spouse and your kids.Now I'm sure for many of you your first reaction is ,"Of course". And I don't doubt you. But what about your family makes you thankful? To answer that question, most of us usually have to pause and really

Tara Wood, MA, CGEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15238693412255469206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4566642665111867000.post-35832976774167969862009-11-03T22:13:00.004-07:002009-11-03T22:19:09.974-07:00

Nate and Isabella were having a lot of fun wrestling yesterday. I love how they love each other. They are such great friends. But last night their “fun” was getting a little close to the bookshelf and floor lamp. I stopped them twice to remind them to be careful and aware of where they were.“We’re being careful, Mom!” they sang.Moments later, there was a crash. Isabella had plunged into the floor

Tara Wood, MA, CGEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15238693412255469206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4566642665111867000.post-48265517668651403542009-10-27T13:40:00.002-06:002009-10-27T13:44:51.924-06:00

I recently had a conversation with a working mom who shared with me her struggle to connect positively with her kids during the week. In the midst of getting up early, rushing to get dressed and out the door, late afternoon pick up from daycare, making dinner and getting ready for bed, there seemed to be little time to just enjoy her kids. Each day she just needed to make it through the daily

Tara Wood, MA, CGEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15238693412255469206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4566642665111867000.post-72690456585695024502009-10-15T11:55:00.002-06:002009-10-15T11:59:08.124-06:00

Today I want to encourage you.You are not a terrible parent. In fact, I know you are a good parent because you are seeking out ways to become better at what you do with your kids. You came searching for solutions to things you're struggling with. Or you knew this blog was here and came to read what it had to say because you want to soak up as many parenting ideas as possible. You know you

Tara Wood, MA, CGEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15238693412255469206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4566642665111867000.post-55541841070002733072009-09-23T12:10:00.008-06:002009-09-25T12:41:14.294-06:00

So you got your homework bin all set up, right? If not, read the previous post.Here are some more tips that I do with my kids to make getting their homework done less of a battle each night.First, it is not a requirement that they get their homework done as soon as they get home before they can do anything else. Yes, I know. That's a common rule among parents. Get it done and over with, right?

Tara Wood, MA, CGEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15238693412255469206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4566642665111867000.post-89004579616934787182009-09-14T10:42:00.011-06:002009-09-14T14:37:30.559-06:00

Last week I came home with a big plastic bin full of office supplies. But these weren't just any office supplies. They consisted of green scissors and a blue tape dispenser and glittery pencils. In my bag I had all the needed supplies for a homework bin.Putting together a homework supply bin for my kids accomplishes several things:Eliminates the extra time spent looking for a pencil, paper,

Tara Wood, MA, CGEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15238693412255469206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4566642665111867000.post-38685264729508699412009-09-08T11:25:00.004-06:002009-09-08T15:21:36.612-06:00

Five minutes. Not very long. But five minutes of pure joy. For five minutes your child is nothing but happy and free. The largest smile spread across their face. Giggles and other gleeful noises that you hardly ever hear in any other circumstance come out of their mouths. To top it off, their sheer joy overflows into you. For five minutes, you join in your child's happiness. You laugh

Tara Wood, MA, CGEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15238693412255469206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4566642665111867000.post-25275330612536658022009-09-02T09:54:00.009-06:002009-09-02T13:10:23.030-06:00

My kids have been in school now for two weeks. The first week of school came with a bit of grace from me. I remember as a kid the adjustment from lazy summer morning "routine" to up-and-at-'em-no-messing-around school morning routine. So, I offered more reminders than usual about how much time they had before we were leaving and let them run back into the house to grab their backpack after we had

Tara Wood, MA, CGEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15238693412255469206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4566642665111867000.post-62365047061720900142009-08-24T12:47:00.003-06:002009-08-24T19:19:56.932-06:00

Kids argue with us because they believe that as long as they keep our attention on the issue they have a chance to win. Obviously, if we ever give into our kids once they've started arguing with us, because they've worn us down or even because we've change our mind, we've only confirmed for them that arguing works, at least sometimes. If it works sometimes, then EVERYTIME they will give it a shot

Tara Wood, MA, CGEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15238693412255469206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4566642665111867000.post-88504985898805948252009-08-11T11:52:00.004-06:002009-08-11T13:11:23.637-06:00

A long exhausting day with my baby. Samantha wants to be held more than my other two children ever did. I'm lucky if she'll let me put her down for more than 10 minutes. I've tried putting her in a sling so that she can feel held and I can still get things done. Sometimes she gives into me and puts up with the sling, but usually she protests. Samantha cries a lot, too. Some of it is because

Tara Wood, MA, CGEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15238693412255469206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4566642665111867000.post-81832274431941442992009-07-23T14:59:00.002-06:002009-07-23T15:03:39.081-06:00

"Mom, sometimes I get so mad at my friends that I want to say the "S" word."I about spit out my dinner. The statement seemed to come out of nowhere and was not something I expected to hear from my little girl. But I tried to remain calm."What do you know about the 'S' word?" I inquired.Isabella hesitated. I could tell she was carefully thinking about whether she could say it to me or not.

Tara Wood, MA, CGEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15238693412255469206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4566642665111867000.post-42572043347557506572009-07-19T13:53:00.003-06:002009-07-19T13:59:13.985-06:00

I didn't have time to argue. The baby had been crying and I was just sitting down to nurse her. We had friends coming over in about 30 minutes. Nate's toys, that were strewn all over the floor and stairs, needed to be picked up.I asked him once to please pick up his things. He immediately developed some rare condition that causes his legs not to work and he complained that he couldn't walk. Going

Tara Wood, MA, CGEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15238693412255469206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4566642665111867000.post-35475310251434346932009-07-07T18:10:00.004-06:002009-07-07T18:18:03.930-06:00

It has been three weeks since my last post. Laying beside me, sound asleep (finally), is my new sweet baby girl, Samantha Caroline. When she was born, she was 8 pounds 5.7 ounces and 20.5 inches. Definitely a good-sized baby but still so tiny.Samantha Caroline Wood born June 17th 5:06pmI held her and touched her and explored her little features and smelled her and loved her. So tiny. So sweet. So

Tara Wood, MA, CGEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15238693412255469206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4566642665111867000.post-39580669623373188422009-06-17T09:54:00.002-06:002009-06-17T09:57:31.050-06:00

Several weeks ago I started to memorize the first verse to the song “Be Still My Soul”. I planned to use it as comfort and strength through my labor. Each line jumped out at me as speaking directly toward different aspects that I would be experiencing through the process. Almost every night for the past four weeks I have sung the verse to myself over and over envisioning using it to focus

Tara Wood, MA, CGEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15238693412255469206noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4566642665111867000.post-64532337369308011472009-06-16T17:35:00.004-06:002009-06-16T17:38:20.365-06:00

No blog post this week. I'm off to have another baby. Looking forward to sharing stories involving this new little one with you soon!Blessings!Tara

Tara Wood, MA, CGEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15238693412255469206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4566642665111867000.post-6824021994428575322009-06-09T18:25:00.002-06:002009-06-09T18:28:17.458-06:00

It comes up all the time in parenting conversations. What is OK for our kids to watch on TV and movies? Do we let them play video games and on the computer? This is a huge topic with lots to be addressed in the discussion. I could probably write a book just on this (maybe I will someday). But for now, let me just briefly share how I address this with my kids.To start with, my husband and I

Tara Wood, MA, CGEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15238693412255469206noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4566642665111867000.post-55320001487564577442009-06-02T15:45:00.002-06:002009-06-02T15:48:56.288-06:00

It's important that we provide our kids instruction on appropriate behavior in a variety of ways. One of my favorite teaching tools, and often the most effective, is the "Look around you. Is anyone else doing that?" technique, or more simply, the observation technique.Here's an example of how I used this parenting strategy recently:To start with, I get it that it can sometimes be hard for two

Tara Wood, MA, CGEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15238693412255469206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4566642665111867000.post-4322558463536137292009-05-26T17:40:00.002-06:002009-05-29T09:34:21.168-06:00

All of these are true stories recently witnessed:Scene 1: A mom is with her two-and-a-half-year-old getting ready to have some ice-cream. The little girl, full of energy, does not want to stay seated. The mom however is requiring that her little one sit properly at the table in order to get the ice-cream. "If you want the ice cream you need to sit down first, " mom says. The toddler briefly sits

Tara Wood, MA, CGEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15238693412255469206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4566642665111867000.post-71038749408549455802009-05-18T21:44:00.007-06:002009-05-19T09:30:33.837-06:00

Today I’m going to post a bit differently than I normally do and address an issue that has been coming up a lot lately with both friends and clients. For simplicity sake, I’m going to write today’s post in the context of marriage. However, for those of you who are single parents still interacting with your child’s other parent, hopefully you will see that the comments below can still apply.Let me

Tara Wood, MA, CGEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15238693412255469206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4566642665111867000.post-52912244628290986172009-05-11T14:50:00.002-06:002009-05-11T14:53:20.252-06:00

My son Nate is in this wonderful phase of not listening. Right now it's mostly developmental, I know. In his little ego-centric four-year-old mind he's thinking "I don't want to listen. I'd so much rather do what I'm currently doing than listen to what you have to say." And like my daughter was at this age, he is very stubborn. If I don't give him a reason to think that listening to me is a

Tara Wood, MA, CGEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15238693412255469206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4566642665111867000.post-58713445613867409452009-05-11T14:50:00.000-06:002009-05-11T14:52:56.049-06:00

My son Nate is in this wonderful phase of not listening. Right now it's mostly developmental, I know. In his little ego-centric four-year-old mind he's thinking "I don't want to listen. I'd so much rather do what I'm currently doing than listen to what you have to say." And like my daughter was at this age, he is very stubborn. If I don't give him a reason to think that listening to me is a

Tara Wood, MA, CGEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15238693412255469206noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4566642665111867000.post-40701771529959713882009-05-04T11:59:00.004-06:002009-05-04T13:06:11.308-06:00

I love that my kids love to talk. They always seem to have so much to say and billions of questions to ask. Working with parents for a living, I know that getting their kids to really talk to them is a challenge to some parents. I must say, that has never been a problem for me. From the time my kids were old enough to start signing words I've always encouraged them to communicate with me.

Tara Wood, MA, CGEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15238693412255469206noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4566642665111867000.post-2680504655259638212009-04-27T13:27:00.002-06:002009-04-27T13:30:20.364-06:00

It's hard to admit that I don't always know what to do when it comes to my kids. It's frustrating. And humbling.My daughter has been "stuck" with her reading for several months now. She began the school year as one of the top readers in her class. But while the rest of her classmates have made steady improvements, and have even passed her reading level, my sweet girl has barely shown any

Tara Wood, MA, CGEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15238693412255469206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4566642665111867000.post-25053304904051356642009-04-20T10:53:00.008-06:002009-04-20T12:20:48.990-06:00

Recently, we were expecting last-minute guests and I needed all the help I could get cleaning our disaster of a house. I put Nate to work at loading all the clothes into the wash (one of his favorite jobs) and I asked my daughter to be in charge of cleaning the living room. Isabella, eager to help, went straight to work putting away her books, picking up her stray clothes, taking her toys back

Tara Wood, MA, CGEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15238693412255469206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4566642665111867000.post-46910497665431206212009-04-13T09:36:00.004-06:002009-04-13T18:05:42.201-06:00

I've got the mini van (gasp!). I've now got BOTH my kids in soccer. My husband is coaching my son's team. This past Saturday, my kids had their games at the same time at different locations. So, I went to my daughter's game and sent text updates to my husband who was with my son. Oh my gosh! I am such a soccer mom!!!!!! But not just any soccer mom. I'm one of those who actually gets REALLY into

Tara Wood, MA, CGEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15238693412255469206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4566642665111867000.post-3887447137982014012009-04-06T09:20:00.005-06:002009-04-06T10:46:49.177-06:00

I love holidays. My kids do, too. I think it's because it gives us something exciting to anticipate. They provide a break from the everyday routine of life. And holidays give us an extra reason to connect with each other in different ways...dreaming about the magic of leprechauns, staying up late to watch fireworks while eating Popsicles in the park, and going for Easter egg hunts. There is so

Tara Wood, MA, CGEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15238693412255469206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4566642665111867000.post-82313019767996653072009-03-30T09:32:00.008-06:002009-03-30T15:27:08.421-06:00

Do you let fear influence how you parent? Do you skip out on a vacation with your spouse because you're "scared" what it would look like to leave your children with someone else for more than 24 hours? I mean, what could happen, right? And you wouldn't be there! Or are you so consumed by what could happen at school, the influences, the teachers, the instruction, that you fret for months trying to

Tara Wood, MA, CGEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15238693412255469206noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4566642665111867000.post-10236883406146796632009-03-16T10:10:00.000-06:002009-03-16T12:31:51.451-06:00

I want to teach my children that there are definitely times when things need to get done immediately. For example, if we have guests coming over, I will expect that their room needs to be cleaned "right now". But it is also important for me to teach them to take responsibility for something I've asked them to do within a flexible range of time and for them to learn how make choices regarding when

Tara Wood, MA, CGEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15238693412255469206noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4566642665111867000.post-77190594185276440852009-03-09T09:44:00.000-06:002009-03-09T14:10:21.168-06:00

I recently had a great conversation with a good friend of mine who is a teacher at a local middle school. She made a great comment. She said, "The popular kids get teased and put down just as much as the unpopular kids. Just the popular kids know how to stick up for themselves and not be affected by it."In he mid-80's, Gardner came out with this theory of multiple intelligences. Basically, the

Tara Wood, MA, CGEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15238693412255469206noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4566642665111867000.post-86573826534325221762009-03-02T10:59:00.000-07:002009-03-02T12:52:06.322-07:00

The other day my son and I had just picked up my daughter from school. As we were beginning our drive home, we pulled up behind a white SUV waiting at the stop sign to turn out of the neighborhood and onto the next major street. It didn't take long to realize that we had been sitting and waiting for a longer-than-usual amount of time. I turned my attention to the car in front of us and

Tara Wood, MA, CGEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15238693412255469206noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4566642665111867000.post-533642801136964852009-02-24T13:40:00.000-07:002009-02-24T14:44:53.186-07:00

I just filled out one of those things that get passed around on FaceBook. On this one, I had to ask my daughter a variety of questions about me and then write down the answers she gave. One of the questions Isabella had to answer was "What is something Mom always says to you?" Isabella answered, "That she loves me." Another question was, "How do you know your Mom loves you? Isabella answered,

Tara Wood, MA, CGEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15238693412255469206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4566642665111867000.post-63692282667137480362009-02-19T18:13:00.001-07:002009-02-20T14:25:31.399-07:00

My daughter, Isabella can be a bit of a goof-ball. She loves to get silly. Unfortunately, she's not always the best at knowing when it's appropriate to be silly or when it's time to stop. Recently, this has started to interfere with her piano lessons. Now, I understand that her lesson on Thursdays is about an hour after school gets out, right about the time her pent up energy is about to explode.

Tara Wood, MA, CGEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15238693412255469206noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4566642665111867000.post-6187826673356761152009-02-18T17:01:00.000-07:002009-02-20T14:30:00.155-07:00

One of the best pieces of advice I can offer parents is to always be more stubborn than your kids. Believe it or not, my kids are VERY strong-willed and if they didn't have a mom who was the same...well I can't imagine what nightmares of kids they would be. Instead, I am thrilled to say that I have two very opinionated, often strong-willed children, but that's a quality in them I love instead of

Tara Wood, MA, CGEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15238693412255469206noreply@blogger.com1