Bill Corbett

It’s like a drug, they can’t get enough.  They’ll mysteriously forget about homework assignments just to get it.  They’ll fight you tooth and nail not to lose it.  It’s one of the biggest issues that reduces cooperation for many parents and if they could, they would pass up sleep and food just to have more of it.  What I’m talking about is entertainment media for children, and it is highly addictive.  It’s also referred to as SCREEN TIME and it exists in the form of video games, television shows, computer usage and the Internet, and it must be controlled, supervised and allowed in moderation.  If parents would just understand and implement this, they would get a bonus of more cooperation from their children.  Chores would be done as planned and homework would be completed as agreed. I was hired as a parent coach by a family recently.  At our first meeting, they listed the top five challenges they were experiencing with their oldest child....

Just in time for V alentine’s Day , here are 8 tips you can use, one each day leading up to the big day, for demonstrating love to your children.    Using a family meeting, have everyone create a craft project that represents love to them.   Provide a wide selection of construction paper and craft supplies and allow your children to create whatever comes to mind.   Put the creations on display for everyone to see and enjoy, and photograph them to look at for many years to come. Compose a poem about your child or describing how much you love her. Print it off on special preprinted paper with a border that can be purchased at office supply stores. Frame it and hang it on your child’s bedroom wall. You could even include the child’s picture or her foot or handprints if you had them done earlier. Sign it and read it to her nightly. Have a movie night with your kids, complete with big pillows to snuggle up with and a big bowl of popcorn. The one...

I was in my Philadelphia hotel room when the newsflash appeared on the television screen: “13-year-old Philadelphia-area girl is missing,” and the authorities were pleading for anyone to come forward with information on her whereabouts.   The story was updated the very next night when the local news station reported that the girl was found in a Washington D.C. bus station in the company of a 20-year-old male whom she met online on Facebook. Over the next few days I saw various interviews with the girl’s parents as they demanded justice for the male predator who was responsible for convincing her to leave her home with him.  The authorities apprehended him without incident and charged the young man with “corruption of a minor.”  Perhaps her parents should be arrested with him on the same charge.  How was it that the 13-year-old girl was able to meet him on Facebook without her parents knowing about it?  They were obviously not monitoring her activity and al...

Tragedy happens all around us, but when it involves innocent children there are few words that can express the pain any caring person feels.  This morning, a shooter took the lives of 20 innocent school children including several teachers and staff members at a small town school here in Connecticut.  That means Heaven accepted 20 new little angels this morning.  If your own children haven’t heard about it, they most likely will.  Here are some tips on how to help your children handle the news of this unthinkable tragedy. First and foremost it’s important that you settle any fears your children may have.  They are torn between the worlds of fantasy and reality, so it may be very difficult for them to tell the difference between what is real and what isn’t.  Make every effort to listen to them carefully and with 100% of your attention.  It is important that you help them feel safe and calm.  Sometimes they may fear that what happened to the ...

It’s time once again to begin preparing for the holidays and gearing up for family, fun, and festivals.  The kids will be getting excited and home for school vacation.  Here are eight tips for ensuring a happier holiday season. TIP # 1:  Good Behavior in Someone Else’s Home At some point prior to arriving at someone else’s home for a holiday party, get to your child’s eye level and go over the rules for being at the party.  You may even ask them to explain the rules to you and don’t be surprised if they already know.  Throughout the event, acknowledge them every time you witness the behavior you want.  If their behavior has been a problem in the past, tell them there will be a consequence to bad behavior and that consequence will be leaving the party.  If you choose this option, be ready to implement it immediately, and don’t punish them.  The punishment is the departure itself and your complete silence on the drive home. TIP # 2:...

Would you like to know about an easy-to-use device that will help you get your kids to cooperate more?  My friends over at TimeTimer.com created the perfect device to help parents transition their kids from one activity to another and it is incredibly effective with parenting.  I’m talking about the visual timer from TimeTimer.co m.  Many of you may already be familiar with the desk top and wall mount models, but I’d like to introduce you to the new  Time Timer Watch Plus ®  that you wear on your wrist.  You’ll notice in the image to the left, that I’m wearing one of these great watches myself and right from the start, what I love most about it is the precision.  The  Time Timer Watch Plus ®  provides you with the exact minute and second as time passes so that you know the exact amount of time you have remaining. Unlike audible timers that simply count down to zero and ring when time has expired, the  Time Timer ®  al...

Asking Questions .  Our children are smarter than we give them credit for.  We are so worried that they are not going to do what is right, or we are in such a hurry that it just seems easier to give our children marching orders.  But asking them questions is a far more effective teaching tool.  Often, they know exactly what to do and when they come up with solutions to their own questions or challenges, it builds their problem-solving skills.  I always encourage parents to refrain from telling their children what to do or from answering their questions so quickly.  Instead, ask them questions such as “what do you think?” “what will you do now?” “what did you notice?”  Asking children questions also builds their own confidence and strengthens their faith in themselves.   Coaching .  Taking the art of asking questions one step further, coaching adds two more elements that teach a child greater problem-solving skills: Telling a child what you...