Bill Corbett

 “Did you wash your hands?” “Yes!” “With soap?” Silence. If you’re a parent, you may know this conversation all too well. Teaching children to wash their hands sounds like one of the simplest parenting tasks imaginable. Turn on the water, add some soap, scrub, rinse, and dry. But there’s a big difference between knowing how to wash your hands and developing the habit of doing it without being reminded . And that’s really our goal. We don’t simply want children to wash their hands because Mom, Dad, or a teacher told them to. We want them to eventually recognize when handwashing is needed and take responsibility for doing it themselves. The best handwashing aid to use with children, on the market. Why Handwashing Matters Children explore their world with their hands. They touch toys, pets, playground equipment, doorknobs, floors, food, shared pencils, bathroom surfaces, and one another. Then those same little hands find their way to their mouths, noses, and eyes. Handwashing with soa...

Our jobs demanded long hours. Highway construction stretched our commute. Yard work never seemed to end. Weekends felt more exhausting than restorative. And inside our home, our three school-aged and preteen children seemed to be fighting more and cooperating less. Get the book that provides many answers. When we compared notes with other parents in casual conversations, we realized we weren’t unusual. We were normal. Busy. Stressed. Doing our best. But while I couldn’t do much about corporate deadlines or growing grass, I became increasingly focused on one question: How could I become a better father? I wanted our children to get along better. I wanted more cooperation. I wanted our home to feel less reactive and more connected. I quickly realized that yelling and punitive discipline weren’t producing the results I hoped for. In fact, they seemed to be making things worse. And I knew something else with absolute clarity: I did not want to repeat the patterns I had grown up with. My fa...

Practical Tools for Raising Cooperative and Independent Kid s https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0H5Q2S84N What if the secret to better behavior wasn't more punishment, more lectures, or more frustration? If you've been reading and enjoying this blog, then you'll love the new book. What if raising cooperative, responsible, and independent children came down to having the right tools? In Love, Limits & Lessons: The Parent Toolbox , parenting educator and author Bill Corbett shares a practical collection of proven strategies designed to reduce power struggles, strengthen parent-child relationships, and help children develop the life skills they need to thrive. Drawing on decades of experience working with parents, teachers, and families, Corbett moves beyond parenting theory and focuses on what parents need most: simple, effective tools they can begin using immediately. Inside this book, you'll discover how to: Encourage cooperation without yelling, bribing, or threatening Re...

Many parents assume their primary job is to provide answers. Children ask questions. Parents give answers. Simple enough. But what if some of the most important moments in a child's development happen when we resist the urge to answer? Children are constantly trying to make sense of their world. They are organizing thoughts, processing experiences, exploring emotions, and building confidence in their own ability to think. Unfortunately, adults often interrupt this process without realizing it. A child begins telling a story. Before they finish, we explain what happened. A child asks a question. Before they have a chance to think, we provide the answer. A child expresses a feeling. Before they can explore it, we rush in to make it better. While our intentions are good, we sometimes rob children of valuable opportunities to develop their own thinking. Three simple phrases can help. 1. Tell Me More This phrase communicates one powerful message: "I'm interest...

Many parenting struggles don’t begin with what we say. They begin with how children hear it. The word no is sometimes necessary, of course. But when children hear it repeatedly throughout the day, it can start to feel less like guidance and more like opposition. Some children immediately push back. Others argue. Some melt down emotionally. And many simply stop listening altogether. That’s why one small language shift can make such a big difference. Instead of saying: “No, we’re not buying that.” “No, you can’t do that.” “No, I’m not taking you there.” Try saying: “I’m not willing to do that.” “I'm not willing to spend money on that righ now.” “I'm not willing for you to do that.” “I'm not willing to drive you there.” At first glance, it may seem like a tiny change. But emotionally, it changes everything. Why This Response Works When a parent says, “No,” children often experience it as a wall. But when a parent calmly says, “I’m not willing to do that,” the messag...

Six Laws about Kids That Parents Need to Accept Much of the frustration we experience with our children’s behavior is caused by a lack of understanding kids.  Expanding our thinking about our children and accepting some basic, rudimentary facts will help us change the way we see their behavior and also change our behavior as a parent.  We will be much more successful as caregivers if we see the world from our child’s point of view.  Here are six irrefutable laws about kids that will change the way we use discipline. They Live Only In The Moment.  Whatever the young child happens to be doing at the moment is his entire world.  His full attention and focus is on the activity in front of him and he is usually unable to think about anything else unless another activity offers more incentive than the current activity. What Adults Can Do:  Establish rules prior to the start of each activity Use visual timers to create limits for some activities Be patien...

There are really good parent education programs, and then there are some with good intentions but containing misguided information. I have personally attended many myself or obtained the instructor's manual from others. Having authored my own, the Love, Limits & Lessons parenting course and instructor training course, I don't hold back on offering my opinion. This brings me to one of the first ones I attended, way back in 1995. I was looking for parenting help as a father who didn't have a positive role model when I was growing up. I attended the Redirecting Children's Behavior (RCB) course for instructors in Tampa, FL, created by Kathryn Kvols. It instantly changed the way I parented my children and enhanced my relationship with my three. GET A COPY OF THE LOVE, LIMITS & LESSONS PARENTING BOOK. What I loved most about this course was how I had learned to, as Kathryn said, PAUSE BEFORE I PARENTED. The course taught me to stop and think about how my emotion in th...

Even the most patient parent has moments they regret, such as the checkout meltdown, the raised voice in the car, or the hasty words that sting more than intended. What you do after those moments matters as much (if not more) than what happened in the heat of it. Children are resilient, but they need guidance to process what they have just witnessed and to learn how to manage their emotions effectively. Here’s how to turn a moment you wish you could erase into one of the most powerful lessons you can teach. 1. Wait Until Everyone Is Calm Jumping into the conversation right away can backfire if either of you is still upset. Give it time - sometimes minutes, sometimes hours - so the conversation feels safe and not like a continuation of the conflict. You might say: “I want to talk about what happened earlier, but let’s wait until we both feel calmer.” This teaches that cooling off before talking is not avoidance - it’s wisdom. Want to listen to the podcast version of this post? CLICK HER...