Do your kids not let you get anything done? Or do you feel like you have to cater to them when they are home all day? Or are you like me and feel guilty if you aren't giving them your full attention 24/7 but you need an hour to cross some things off your to-do list? Well, This week Amma Lisa shares why independent play is so beneficial to our little ones and how to set it up for success in our own homes so that we could get an hour or two to finish up our holiday planning/shopping. Amma...

Is your toddler starting to bite, kick, yell, or smack you? Mine is! In this week's episode, we had a listener ask us what to do about her 18-month-old biting. At first, this mom was modeling how to be gentle and it was helping but after some time her little one was not responding to it and she didn't know what to try next. Amma will educate us on why these behaviors are coming out and how we can respond to them instead of reacting to them! EXCITED FOR OUR NEW MEMBERSHIP 🎉We are so excited...

Welcome to The Nurturing Parent, the podcast that explores the journey of parenthood and celebrates this unique season that shapes our lives and out littles. This week we have 2 big celebrations! We celebrate our 2 year anniversary at the nurturing parent podcast and amma's daughters birthday! Today's episode is a special one as our host, Amma Lisa, takes us on a heartfelt journey through time to share the birth story of her daughter, who turns 38 years old today! This episode is a...

The average American now spends just four to seven minutes outside each day, while we spend four to seven hours using devices with screens. Our physical, mental, emotional, and relational health has suffered--and so has that of our children. But there is a solution: get outside! A homeschooling mother of five and the founder of the global 1000 Hours Outside movement, Ginny Yurich explains how we got to this point--and how to get back to a healthier, more engaging relationship with the...

The average American now spends just four to seven minutes outside each day, while we spend four to seven hours using devices with screens. Our physical, mental, emotional, and relational health has suffered--and so has that of our children. But there is a solution: get outside! A homeschooling mother of five and the founder of the global 1000 Hours Outside movement, Ginny Yurich explains how we got to this point--and how to get back to a healthier, more engaging relationship with the...

We do not want to scare our kids, we want them to make smart decisions. We do want to scare us, parents, a little so we can understand the harm in feeding our kids this "poison"! This begins with us being transparent, modeling, and also understanding that giving our kids "freedom" to decide and allow natural consequences like a tummy ache might not be most helpful with our toddlers as these foods have been made to be addictive.  Learn how we can help guide our littles through this...

So, to spank or not to spank?  This might seem like a redundant question to some. If you want to deter a behavior and they are not listening, you can make them listen... right? Many of us were brought up on spankings. But let's call it what it is, hitting. Does hitting our kids really work? That's what we are discussing in this week's topic. Sure it might seem like a quick fix but what are the consequences? If we are setting the example, the example we are setting is that hitting is ok....

Join us in celebrating 100 episodes! We wanted to hear from our listeners and they showed up! Tune in to hear how this podcast has changed families. We are so grateful for this podcast and for everyone who joins us each week! This podcast has helped me, Mama Sareena, grow so much as a mother. Everything i thought i would do as a parent changed because of the knowledge ive gained here in this podcast. If you have learned just one thing leave a review and something that has helped you as a...

In this week’s conversation, we are talking tantrums. What are they, why do they happen, and how can we minimize them? One thing we want you to take away is that a tantrum is a communication and not a behavioral problem! This might be hard to digest as we might think a tantrum or meltdown is because they just aren’t getting what they want, when in fact this is just their response to stressors. Do you ever joke with your kids and say “awwww, your life is soooo hard.” Although it seems that...

Have you heard of not using the word no with your littles?  Did that sound crazy to you?  Because it did to me…… until this episode!  I learned the brain work behind it and how it actually helps gain our littles cooperation. I used to think we would be raising brats by not saying no do them or using these “negative” words. But it is not only with our littles that we can improve cooperation and listening, even in our other relationships this will help.  I know it may seem difficult but the...

Is your little hitting? Mine does and it makes me want to yell “how dare you hit your mother” or “who do you think you are, want me to show you how it feels!” Then I have to remember that this is what I was told growing up and those reactions DO NOT HELP! What does help is reminding myself that “my child is acting her age.” What does that mean…. Well, our little ones still lack the ability to control their impulses and also lack the ability to verbally communicate what they need or feel....

I'll let you in on a secret.... the reason they aren't sharing is because they don't know how! You can expect your child to understand the concept of sharing around ages 4-5. If you are worried that your kid doesn't know how to share, tune into this week's episode to learn how we can encourage them and work through this uncomfortable phase, I say uncomfortable because I notice how quick we are as parents to jump in and "fix it." It might be relieving to know that we can take a step back and...

In this week's episode, we dive into why your child really doesn't want to go to school/daycare. The truth is, it's separation anxiety!  Yes, they want to be with us it's natural. It is normal and so we should not be fighting our kids to "just deal with it" but instead be there to understand that it is a transition phase and all we can do is support them and their feelings.  Amma will share things we can do to ease the transition and build connections during this time. We want to remind you...

Tina Hamilton is a mom of 2, educator of 15+ years, and parent coach for mothers ready to radically transform their experience of parenting to one of joy, ease, and loving connection. As a certified trauma-informed mentor, Tina helps stretched-thin moms with frazzled nervous systems to learn healthy, simple, and wildly effective ways to emotionally regulate themselves to create harmonious, trusting, and connected relationships with their children. For real-world parenting healing tools and...

Hi,  I have a 2 1/2 year old and a 4 month old baby. Both are girls. My oldest daughter is going through the tantrum phase and at times it’s literally for anything - she wants to pour her own water even though the cup is filled to the rim, her father went to walk the dog, she wants to eat on my lap, she wants something else to eat, doesn’t want the car seat belt, etc - and they just spiral.  I try to connect with her, we do breathing exercises and I reinforce feelings and “using our...

Do you know what the #1 predictor of young success is? It is helping with chores by the age of 2-3. In this week's episode, we talk about all the benefits of getting our littles more involved with chores and how we can do it successfully! Some benefits of chores that we discuss are : -more bonding time -teaches family values -life skills -inspires a desire to offer contribution -builds competency -builds confidence/self-reliance Some chores our little can help with are: - setting the...

Do you ever catch yourself cringing when you see your little one making a mess or getting dirty? I do... Messy and sensory play is so beneficial for our littles but if I'm honest setting up sensory play seems overwhelming and I hate cleaning up!  But after this week's conversation with Amma, I was actually very excited to set up messy play opportunities and let my kids go out and get dirty. Some simple and easy messy play ideas are -water play -sensory bins (with dirt) -painting Ways I...

Does letting your kids get bored bring up some anxieties for you? Maybe you suffer from mom guilt because you wish you could give them your attention 24/7. We are here to relieve you from this and let you know how amazing boredom can be for our kids! We are living in an on-demand society where we have little to no patience and are constantly looking for a hit of dopamine. Who wants to leave space for boredom when we have TikTok, Instagram reels, youtube shorts, kid's youtube, ipads,...

Before creativity, there has to be curiosity. Open-ended play fosters curiosity in kids. For it to be open-ended play these must apply - no specific goal in mind -allow your kids to lead the way Some ways we can do this as mentioned in the episode are just to fill some bins with paper, glue, and scissors. Tip: to help them get into it first show that you are into it and that it is important remembering to let them take the lead and if they ask you what you are doing just talk about the...

Is your child going through any big changes? i.e. separation/divorce, death in the family, new sibling, starting daycare/school These changes can cause big upsets in our littles world and will come out in bursts of unwanted behaviors. How do we best combat this? Well, if we look at the whole picture amma will give us some preventative measures to assist with the de-escalation of some behaviors. 1. Regression is normal 2. Stick to your normal routines-provides safety & security 3. ...

Welcome to the Nurturing Parent, in today's episode, we examine the negative effects of overparenting or rushing in to fix everything on our kids. One of the most important things to look at is how we can be robbing them of opportunities to learn and grow. Overparenting, also known as helicopter parenting, refers to excessive involvement and control by parents in every aspect of their child's life. You might not think this is you but let's be open to accepting that there are some things we...

Did you know that 3 children a day die in the U.S. from drowning? In this week's episode, we wanted to spread some information about water safety in hopes to help parents be more aware of how easily accidents can happen around water. We want to remind you  Bring everything to the bathroom when its bath timeIf you have to leave the room, take your babyAlways be in arm's reach around water; even when using "safety jackets" Do NOT depend on floaties/water wingsMake sure another adult is...

This week we want you to ask yourself, has your kid seen a worm?  If the answer is no, we are SO EXCITED to have you join us for this conversation! You might start to question our way of learning at the end of this week's episode.  Heather will teach us the amazing benefits and possibilities for learning that nature provides for us. Some of these benefits include: feeling calmsensorial experiencehelps you learn about the worldrelease energymore empathy and compassionbetter sleepincreased...

Let's send a shout-out to Danette for this week's listener Q&A! Danette wanted to know how to create appropriate boundaries for specific situations in the moment. Her little was struggling with teeth brushing time and wanted some help on how to approach this. We also know that it is hard to think of how to respong when our patience are at an end. Tune into this weeks episode to learn some ways to deal with these situations. The 2 things you get out of this episode: Tools to...

This week lets look at:  Are you too busy?Symptoms of an over scheduled kidWhat rest does for us"Without rest, music would just be a bunch of noise." We want you to think about Are you a human doing or a human being?Look at what are you doing when you are not being a mom?Go for a walkRead a bookAllow your kids to just playIf your child is in pre-school they do not need another scheduled activity. Referenced Ep. #5 HOW TO HAVE FUN DAY DATES WITH YOUR KIDS! Support the show Please share...