My 13-year old Can’t Stand Me
“Dear Kerry, I am in a really hard corner of parenting – my 13 year old daughter, who I have loved and adored since the day she was born – cannot stand me. Everything I say is met with eye rolls, every request I make is countered with a snarky “Why don’t you do it?” […]
Lighter fluid and yogurt bowls
It was a calm, normal morning of getting ready for school with Palmer (13) and his little brother (8). All was well. It was a minute or two before we needed to leave. All of a sudden, Palmer could not STAND the way his brother was using that particular spoon to scrape the yogurt out of […]
Meet Your Kids Where They Are
Palmer here! One of my favorite parts about my work as a youth coach is getting to walk alongside kids as they go through the ‘tween and teen years. I feel like I am constantly learning from each one of them and it brings me so much joy. This incredible work also comes with a […]
What to do when your teens are rude?
With six kids, I’ve heard my share of rudeness! Some phrases that got under my skin the most were those dismissive comments like, “Mom, stop” in a snarky tone. Or, “Bye, Mom” when I’m being dismissed from their room. What to do? Here’s something to experiment with: If you don’t like how you typically respond […]
Teen Rejection will Challenge our Parenting Skills
I hate to admit it, but when my kids were little, it was the first time I really felt popular. All the “mommy do it” felt great. It was sort of exhausting, but it was also so sweet and there was so much love from my boys. I also hate to admit how as they […]
What to Do if Your Kid Leaves Dirty Dishes Laying Around
There are times when a parent has no clue what to do. This especially happens when our innocent babies and precious toddlers become willful and defiant ‘tweens and teens. Kids capable of making choices out of laziness and disregard for their parents. So, what do you do when your kid leaves dirty dishes lying around? […]
The sun is shining, and the chaos is beginning
The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, the school year is wrapped up, and the chaos is beginning… can you guess what season is here? 😆 We know summer can be overwhelming as a parent. And we also know there are seasons when life feels busy or family time feels hard. While this video […]
Finding our ‘why’ at The Connected Family
I recently worked with a mom and her high school son who were struggling with their relationship. The mom was fed up with her son’s messes, his weed use, how he treated his little sister, and his disrespect. The son was fed up with his mom blowing up, her forcing him to have conversations when […]
I caught my teen drinking. Now what?
Parenting teens is terrifying sometimes. It can make us long for the days when our kids were little and we actually had some control over keeping them safe. Teenage drinking is one of those areas we wish we could make the decisions for our kids, but we can’t. As a family therapist and parent coach, […]