Bill Corbett

That's what one adult wrote in an online forum about the condition of parenting today, that "parents have lost their spine and kids now rule the roost." He went on to say, "The world is falling apart and it's all starting in the home. Gone are the days when parents were in charge and children knew their place. Parents no longer get the respect they deserve and kids aren't made to show it. What happened to the good 'ole days when parents had spines and kids behaved? The world didn't need parent educators back then; parents knew what to do and they did it." He's right that parenting has changed and to those who don't understand why, it probably does appear as if the world revolves around the child now. I don't agree that it really does, but I will agree that we do treat children differently these days then our parents and grandparents did. As in anything that requires developing skills, parenting requires new skills and knowledge th...

A young intern working on a research project contacted me to ask me a few questions about dads, parenting classes and getting them to engage more with their kids. He told me that his team at the University of Wisconsin-Madison was developing intervention programs to support fathers and to find the best ways of engaging them in programs.  Dress up Dad as a Guardian of the Galaxy Costumes at Spirit Halloween! Shop now! He implied there was a belief that men don’t like to take parenting classes and they were trying to find out why. I shared with him that I do occasionally get some dads who contact me for parent coaching or even some who show up at my parenting classes, but mostly it’s the moms who aren’t afraid to seek out help. One of the questions he asked me was, do I interact differently with women as opposed to men in my coaching sessions. I told him that a large part of my training with parents is to help them understand the emotional intelligence aspect of their child an...