You Absolutely Love Your Kids but Find Parenting a Challenge
Parenting Can Bring Out Parts of You You Didn’t Know Existed
You love your children more than anything.
And yet… some days you’re counting the minutes until bedtime.
You promise yourself you’ll stay calm this time. And then you’re yelling. A few minutes later, you’re drowning in guilt.
“What is wrong with me?”
You love your kids.
And sometimes you really, really don’t like parenting.
Both can be true.
Meet Carlie
Carlie* loved being a mom. She stayed home with her two young children.
Life was good. Except for one small problem: Her children fought. Constantly.
Toys. Snacks. Whose turn it was. Who looked at whom.
Carlie tried everything. She stayed calm. She redirected. Most days, she handled it beautifully. Until she didn’t.
A few times a month, after what felt like an entire day of refereeing, something in her would snap. She’d yell. Her children would cry. Then she’d cry.
And afterward she’d hide in another room, drowning in shame and promising herself she’d never do it again.
What If You Didn’t Have to Be a Perfect Parent?
When Carlie came to me, she had two goals:
Stop yelling.
Get the kids to stop fighting.
We started with Carlie. She thought a good mother should be able to handle this. A good mother shouldn’t need a break from her own children.
She was holding herself to a standard she would never have expected another mother to meet. So we started by helping her stop treating every hard moment as evidence that she was failing.
She learned to care for herself with some of the same tenderness she gave everyone else.
The yelling became less frequent. Because she stopped fighting herself so hard.
A Year Later, Carlie Emailed Me
Her kids still fought about as much as kids their age typically do.
She just didn’t experience every argument as an emergency anymore.
She was enjoying her children again. She didn’t become a perfect parent. She became a more peaceful one. And a happier one.
*Carlie is a fictional example inspired by common experiences of clients. Her story is shared to illustrate what parent coaching can look like while protecting client confidentiality.
Parenting Is About More Than Your Kids
Sometimes, you need a strategy.
But sometimes, the strategy isn’t the problem.
And sometimes, parenting brings up parts of you that haven’t gotten much attention in a very long time.
We’ll look at what’s happening for you, not just what’s happening with your child. We’ll make room for the overwhelmed part. The guilty part. The part that misses who you were before kids. The part that loves your children more than life itself.
You Get to Be a Human Being Raising Other Human Beings
You don’t have to stop losing your patience completely.
You don’t need a perfectly regulated household populated by children who cheerfully follow instructions.
That sounds exhausting just writing it.
More connection. More ease. More laughter. More you.
You Don’t Need to Arrive with a Parenting Plan
Call or text me at (530) 213-0696 to schedule a free 20-minute consultation.
We’ll talk about what’s been happening, answer your questions, and get a feel for whether parent therapy is the right fit for you and your family.
We’ll start there.
All of you is welcome here.