Economic Stimulus Parenting Workshop!
by Ellen C. Braun
Filed under Problem Solving
Economic Stimulus Parenting Workshop!
Due to popular demand, Adina Soclof, MS, CCC-SLP, Parent Educator,
and I will be subsidizing FIVE Parenting Workshops! That means
that you get a free six-session “How-To-Talk-So-Kids-Will-Listen”
Workshop!
(If you already registered, and paid, you will be refunded if you
win this contest!)
Simply scroll down and in the “Leave a Reply” section, describe
what you hope to gain from the upcoming Parenting Workshop.
Describe the impact it would have on your small souls and the
dynamics of your family if you were to gain that which you
anticipate.
You may use a pseudo-name, but you must use your valid email
address (which will NOT be posted online) in order to be notified
if you are a winner!
To our children’s success,
Ellen
EDIT: This contest will close at 4pm EST, at which time winners will be selected and emailed. Due to high interest, Adina and I will likely offer this opportunity again in early 2009.
I have a 9 year old girl(going on 25) & 6 year old boy….our family has always been very…very united but after a gut
wrenching divorce where we had to leave our home, my children have been having a very difficult time dealing with it all
…my 9 year old is simply overwelmed & at times she’s depressed & is trying to grow up very quickly…my son, 6, is having major behavioral problems & is acting out toward his sisters & mostly to me. We have been seeing a family phycologist & things
seem to be a bit better but still have alot of rough spells. Now my oldest daughter, who is 22 & is living with us, has
been given orders to deploy to Afganistan in May, not to mention that she & her husband, who is also living with us, have
been having alot of marital issues since they cannot get pregnant. Sadly enough the little ones are aware to alot of their
issues & are reliving another divorce. They are also very close to their older sister & they are freaking out about her
having to go off to the war as she is a combat medic & will be in the midst of it all……not to even mention what I’m
going thru…..sometimes I feel as though the devil himself has reached up to me a stuck me with a syringe that just sucks
the mojo right out of me…..I am drained…..I LOVE & ADORE my children & want to have a happy & peaceful home once again!!!!
I would like to be able to talk to my 14 year old daughter without fighting. She’s at such an impressionable age that I want to guide her not alienate her. I want her to make good choices in her life. I also want her to want to stay at home and be with her family instead of already wanting to move out at 18 and live with her boyfriend. I know things are different than when I grew up, but they can’t be that different. I want to know also why it so important to have boys in their lives at such a young age. I would like to be able to talk (and have him listen)to my 8 year old son and have them get along better. If I could do something different with him to change now what I did “wrong’ with her. Just to have them get along and not fight all the time and have a more pleasant home is my goal. Thanks for any help and suggestions you have over the months and years I have gotten your e-mails
I am a single working mom of two children, one 16 and one 14, and I am currently dealing with a custody battle over my 14-year old even
though the 16-yo will have nothing to do with her father and her horrid new stepmom. The stepmom used to be my friend and she is a special
ed teacher who recently got a certification in applied behavior analysis and is manipulating my disabled 14-yo and filling her head full
of sick things. This is causing much trouble between me and my younger daughter, and I’m very afraid for her. She is already very
vulnerable to manipulation and control because of her disability, and this woman is using her to be hateful and mean to me. This woman already
lost custody of her own children and is out to punish me for it, even though I had nothing to do with it. I have always had a really great
relationship with my older daughter, even through age 16. But my younger daughter is an altogether different person entirely. I need to
find the right words to connect with her and not lose her altogether to the manipulations of her stepmom. I think this seminar could help me.
I love my kids and I want for us to stay a family together and be happy and well-adjusted.
I am working in my life to break the difficult communication legacies from my family of origin. This topic feeds right into this area. I am often repeating myself and feeling frustrated with my children. When we have good moments and I feel a triumph it is my goal to try to examine it and work on repeating the experience. This workshop sounds as if it will expand my “toolbox” and enlighten me further. Thank you for this possiblity.
Jenni
Hi, my daughter is 10 and we are having a difficult time communicating. Often I need to express what I need her to do, or what she has not been doing properly but the anger and frustration come out instead of love. I need to learn how to communicate so that she will listen and be responsive, and I also need to learn how to listen to her so that I, too can be responsive to what she needs. I want to have a peaceful, joyful home and I also want to build our relationship up so that in her teen years I will be the kind of listening, responsive mother that she needs and wants, and who she can feel free to talk with about anything.
If I were to participate in the workshop and become a better listener and communicator, my household would be more peaceful, my marriage better, my stress load lighter and my daughter would feel much more loved and appreciated than I imagine she does now. I would regain my confidence as a mother and I would have more help in the home as well.
My small soul came to me when she was 6 months old. I was her 9th primary caregiver and, if I have any say-so, her last one. She was sick, confused and absolutely frantic. She couldn’t eat or sleep and was delayed in her development. Now, at 6 years of age, she is healthy and much loved, and is functioning at or above grade level.
I don’t think she has ever gotten over the trauma of her first months, though. She is extremely hyperactive. She has a hard time following directions and an even harder time being told “no.” She is also very impulsive — and she has the scars to prove it!
My little girl is much beloved by everyone but is having such a hard time. I really need to find a way to help her develop good decision-making skills and impulse control, and to learn ways to communicate that will lead to peace in our home. I fear that time is running out for her. She is so sad sometimes. She is such a sweet, loving child. She got off to a rocky start through no fault of her own.
Thank you for all you do to help families grow and learn together and to help children realize their potential. I hope that you will choose us, but if you don’t, I will be content in knowing that some other family will have the tools they need to grow their small souls.
In peace,
An Oklahoma Mama
I have a 13-year-old son who is very reserved and private. He has never liked talking about his feelings or anything about his personal life. By listening to the workshop, I want to be able to communicate better with him so he’ll talk to me about the (big and little!) things going on in his world. He just seems to shut us out.
I have a 12-year-old son also and it seems that we are always butting heads about everything. I always seem to be blowing up at him even over insignificant issues. Afterwards I think to myself, “Did I really need to yell at him about that?!” I know he would talk to me more but he is scared to sometimes because I might yell at him.
My children know we love them, but life at our house would be so much more peaceful if we all knew how to communicate with each other better!
I have 2 children, ages 5 and 6, and would hope that these lessons would foster better communication and honest relationships in our family. Both of my children are so empathetic that I believe there are times they are censoring what they share with me in an attempt to protect my feelings. I want them both to know that what is most important to me in our relationship is open communication and that this leads to growth for everyone involved. They know that I will love them no matter what, but they need to know that relationships can survive disappointments in each other. Learning this truth now can equip them to have fuller relationships their whole life, impacting the world one person at a time. I know that being a people pleaser can be a self defeating behavior when it gets in the way of who you are and what you really believe. I want them to have a voice for what is right and not just what is status quo.
I am a single, Christian mommy and have one strong willed 6 year old girl. We do have a fabulous relationship, but I feel the need to improve my communication skills now so that I am equipped to handle the upcoming preteen and teen years. We are involved in church and have strengthened those bonds to help provide structure and guidance in these young years. I am very concerned about future media and peer influence in her life. I also want to ensure that she is confident and secure to make independent choices as she grows.
I hope to open within to the parenting I received and continue to receive from myself. I hope to become vulnerable enough to grow into a parent who loves unconditionally and guides the children in a loving non critical way.I hope to be able to inspire the children by accessing that part in me which is inspired and has transcended the parenting of my parents.
Our family would really benefit by my husband and I taking this webinar. We have twin 13 year olds who are terrific and challenging. One of our twins was recently dx’d with ADD and we are particularly in need of support and guidance.
Would this seminar be useful if I only have a kids 4 and under???
What I would hope to gain from this workshop is to learn effective communication skills to help my sons, 12 and 14 deal with the grief of losing their father in February. My 14 year old is having a really difficult time finding a reason to do anything at all especially school work. I know this is a challenging age to begin with and with this added pressure it is more difficult. I am not at my best right now either so anything that could improve this situation would be extremely helpful.
Being an older sister to two brothers never prepared me to be the Mom of 3 boys (15, 8, & 6). My oldest boy just happens to have Down Syndrome and has abilities that range from the 3 year old level all the way up to age appropriate (only thing is we haven’t figured out what triggers each type of behavior which makes things interesting to say the least). Well, the other day I had a ‘bad Mommy’ moment due to this oldest one getting into stuff he isn’t supposed to get into and making a royal mess which I woke up to at 5:30am (I’m not a morning person). Anyway, I exploded and then realized I was handling it all wrong and beat a hasty retreat to the shower where I proceeded to cry and berate myself. My youngest got up and found me crying and asked what was wrong. I responded with, “Oh, I’m just the worst mommy in the world.” He responded with, “No you’re not! You’re the bestest, bestest, bestest Mommy!” I want so badly to feel I deserve that title! Also, I’ve often joked that the old saying Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus must be true because when I speak my sons don’t always understand me. Please help!
My parents were lacking in the communication dept. They yelled a lot and I see that coming out in me with my 4 year old.
She shys away from me when I raise my voice and I’m quickly realizing, as she is coming into her personality and pushing
her limits, that I am not communicating very effectively. I want to understand her and help her understand that open
communication is the most important thing in a relationship. I want her to respect my husband and I and at the same
time I want her to reaize that she is respected by us. I have read lots of magazines and talked to “experts”, but
would love the opportuntity to learn as much as I can about raising my daugher to be the best person she can be, as well
as helping my husband and I deal with raising an only child.
Thanks!
I am a mom of three that have issues from bipolar to ADHD. I believe that this would help me, not only with my family, but also with those that i come in contact with as a Family Representative in my advocacy work, as i attend and present workshops.
We were a blended family and earlier this year things changed. My daughters and I are alone and it has been difficult making the adjustments. They are teenagers (15, 16 and 17) and along with teenage girl issues, our financial situation and just living together is getting complicated. I am hoping your course will not only help me learn to talk to my kids, but they will also learn how to socialize with other people.
I have a son that is an absolute miracle. He was born 1 pound 7 ounces and he is a fighter. He was born at 25 weeks and had less than a 15% chance of life. He has had 5 or so surgeries and is getting stronger everyday. Life is not simple when you have a medically fragile child to raise. The Raising Small Souls website is a constant reminder of my ability to love and support this child to make him a good contribution to society.
I desperately need this session to give me a good basis for my family. My husband and I come from two different worlds and as we begin to discuss and develop our family tenets, we are learning the importance of how that all is intertwined with our education and discipline of our child.
Thank you for what you do to help parents stay centered. I love your website.
Ellen,
(I may have sent a partial message by mistake. Here I go again.)
I am the director of an early childhood education program, formerly a college professor and parent educator. One of the parents in my program turned me on to your website. I am grateful to have purchased Animal School. It had a great impact on parents. Thank you.
For years, I have been recommending How to Talk . . . as my favorite book ever. It should be on everyone’s night stand. When was first reading it, my husband, an obstetrician, was reading over my shoulder and eventually took it from me. He told me that the next day, AS he was delivering a baby, he told the new parents about the book!!
I would like to recommend this workshop to the parents at our program. I am very interested in knowing (with some more notice) about the workshops coming up in early 2009. In fact, my next newsletter (due to the editor on Dec. 1) is about discipline and self-esteem. I was planning on siting Faber and Mazlish. I would like to site the workshop. Have you thought about putting the workshop on DVD and selling that?
Thank you again for your wisdom.
I would love to give this workshop to my beloved daughter who is a young widow and a mother of a three year old
she struggles to find the patience to give this beautiful young child all that she needs and all that is right
thank you
Thank you so much for the gifts you have given to me and my family. The gift of listening, communicating and extending to others those attributes that we ourselves cherish and jealously guard in our personal lives – well, to be able to enhance this in any increment will be most appreciated and welcomed. I look forward to the workshop as a means for this enhancement to begin! Thank you!
Ooops… I see that my response is late.. I wish you the best.. the winner of this seminar.. I see from all the responses that the need is very great! I have comfort knowing I am not alone in this area. Thank you! To all of you who poured out your hearts. There are so many caring families represented here!!
I have a challenging 15 year old son who has ODD, Bi-polar and ADHD. He has been suspended from school and had in-school suspension. He recently attended a two week out patient program at a local hospital. My husband and I are exhausted and we have a 10 year old daughter that has to see us dealing with this young man day in and day out. My husband and I could really use some uplifting, helpful information. Thanks for your consideration. L.M.
I hope to gain the very essence of the title; How to talk so that my kids will listen!
HI,
I am a very engaged mom and it’s the most difficult but worthy job I have ever had. I have two boys ages 9 and 6, they even share the same birthday!! The oldest always thinks the youngest gets away with too much , the youngest thinks he never gets to do anything like the oldest. I love them dearly and try to help them daily with their life skills and sibling rivalry. I feel like most of the time it is merely me talking and them hearing blah blah blah. I want to be able to effectively communicate to them in a way that is helpful. Thanks for offering this program to us.
Leslie
It was during the first counseling session with my 10 yr old daughter (with a teenage attitude) that I abruptly realized that it was me who needed the counseling… Not my child. After sharing a little with our new therapist, she looked straight at me and asked “and Mom, what did you do about that”? Of course I was happy to share my parenting strategy and I responded with “I, um, well I um I” And from that point on I understood that it was not my daughter, as much as it was the lack of structure and related consequences from me! Kids will push as long as you let them. My parenting style or lack thereof was not working. So “what am I going to do about it”? Learn from this workshop and take responsibility for setting strong guidelines and child specific consequences.
What would I like to gain from this you ask?
I want my oldest to pass her 4 year old sister without shoving her aside to get by. I would love to see my 4 year old daughter kick her pacifier habit and understand that rolling her eyes, whining endlessly and yelling is not okay even if her sister does it. I would like her sister to stop yelling, whining endlessly and do her homework for Pete’s sakes and for the love, brush their teeth without being told a billion times. I would like my daughters to learn to share with each other, without being forced to. To be respectful to each other (and me) and when forced to say “I’m sorry, at least say it like they mean it. I would love to see simple things like playing together nicely, hugs and kisses between the two and developing strong relationship that will last forever. I want my beautiful little girl to wake up without telling me I’ve” ruined a perfect day” by sending her to school and to stop calling me “Mother” with that teenage tone. Lastly, I want to be able to get my daughters attention without having to threaten, “I’ll call Daddy” which is the ex husband that is a Jackass but still holds kid power.
Seems simple enough when I read back through this note but the reality is that I need trainig in order to raise these beautiful little girls to become happy, self suffecint and secure young women.
Hi! I am so excited to hear about this program and the idea that I might beable to participate to learn how to be a more effective parent would be such a wonderful opportunity. I am a single mom with 4 kids and am seriously struggling. Thier dad has very little involvement as he lives out of state. I had a single, alcoholic mom growing up and I was an only child who did not receive much parenting. I feel at a total loss with my 4 little ones. My oldest daughter, age 15, has very little respect for me and chooses not to get up for school on a regular basis. She will not listen to me at all, and now her brother age 13 has started this same behavior! The court system has gotten involved and my oldest daughter is going to court about once a month, they have ‘court ordered’ her to go to school… but she is still chooses not to get up for school despite my futile attempts, and the courts! She does not listen to me, and beats up on her little brother and sisters, age 9 and 7. I would be so excited to see some change in the way I speak to her so that she will want to listen to me as well as treat her little brother and sisters with some common courtesy! I would so appreciate some parenting tools to use to enable me to be a better parent with all of my children (there are issues with all of them) because quite honestly, I don’t have any idea what to do. I seriously need help! Thank you so much for this wonderful opportunity! Sincerely ~ Amy
I am a SAHM to 4 children: 8,4, 3, and 4 days from being 2. I am hoping to gain insight in helping my 4 and 3 year old listen. Obviously, my 4 year old’s defiance/lack of hearing is affecting my 3 year old and going down from there. Life has been SOOO trying. I have in essence given up by having in an all day program. My 3 year old has ADHD tendencies and is already a handful by herself but it gets so much worse with her big brother around. They antagonize each other and it never ends. Parenting classes in that past have never gotten me to the root of the problem to help fix the issues. I am hoping that through this course I will learn invaluable approach for all of my children that can last a lifetime.
I am a divorced mother of three children, two boys and one girl, ages 11, 10 and 8. I was given the revelation that medicine was where I belonged as a profession four years ago. I wanted to become a pediatrician, but considering the time required, and the fact that my oldest son was 4 at the time, I decided to go into nursing instead. I can become an MD anytime…I only get one chance to watch my children grow up, and I wanted to be there. I’ve put myself through nursing school, seeking to live by example for my children how to follow your dreams and not be limited. Now an RN, I recently pulled all three out of the public school system and have begun homeschooling them. My youngest has always been a huge challenge: he is creative, sensitive, and oh so intelligent, and the school system was failing to give him what he needed. I was dismayed by the attitudes, behaviors and languages my other two were bringing home, so when they expressed an interest in being homeschooled, they came home too. They are happy with the change, but now, being so close together all the time, I find it even more important that we be able to communicate with each other. It is just me and them, and I find myself grasping for every possible tool I can reach to aid them in becoming the outstanding individuals I know they have the potential to be. This program sounds like it is something that would benefit us immeasurably.
I feel helpless at times with my older daughter who is five. She gets her feelings hurt so easily and is extremely jealous of the 3 year old daughter. I need some techniques to improve our lives so we can all be happy and grow into stable adults.
I would absolutely love to attend one of your workshops! I am terrible with money and I am an “average” parent to my two little kids. I would love to learn positive new ways of leading my life and making a good example for the little ones. Thank you so much for the e-mails – they are very helpful. God bless <
I have always wanted to take this class, and I think it would help my husband and I in working better with our children. Additionally, my husband was laid off in October, leaving me as the primary bread winner, dinner maker, and booboo healer. Now, he is going back to school full time to complete his MBA quicker, thus making time and financial strains harder.
I would soooo appreciate any support in being a better mother, both financially, and emotionally.