Family Help

You’re excited to be a new mom…but you have no idea what to expect. You know it’s going to be a magical experience, but you’re feeling both exhilarated and scared. You’ve been looking forward to this moment for as long as you can remember, but now that it's drawing nearer, you’re getting nervous. Maybe you’ve looked through countless websites on motherhood but your research is becoming more overwhelming than helpful. Don’t worry: You are not alone!

Potty training your child doesn't have to be a stressful experience. Parenting authority Elizabeth Pantley helps your child get on the road to bathroom independence without frustration, confusion, or tears.

In busy-mom-friendly short essays, Sippy Cups Are Not for Chardonnay delivers the empathetic straight dirt on parenting, tackling everything from Mommy & Me classes ("Your baby doesn't need to be making friends at three months old - you do! But not with people you'll meet at Mommy & Me") to attachment parenting ("If you're holding your baby 24/7, that's not a baby, that's a tumor").

Teenagers face unique challenges when it comes to situational awareness. These challenges are only exacerbated by the constant physical and biological changes teens are subjected to. As young people learn to deal with these changes, they begin to explore the limits of their individuality. Unfortunately, this process often involves unnecessary risk-taking. The key to keeping teens safe during this time is to keep them alert and engaged with their environment. Spotting Danger Before It Spots Your Teens is designed around principles of positive communication, trust, and teamwork.

Ten years ago, Ilyse Kennedy was a disconnected twenty-something, sitting on a therapy couch, grappling with her own trauma. Now, as a trauma therapist, Kennedy shows up ready to attune to her treasured clients. Those who meet her might be surprised to know that this twenty-something still lives within her. She also has a people pleaser, who caters to the needs of others for self-protection. Then there is the therapist within her, who offers tools and solutions for her clients. The twenty-something, people pleaser, and therapist are all parts within her.

The percentage of adolescents who suffer from significant anxiety is currently close to one-third, and this number has been steadily rising over the past few years. The experience of living with anxiety can make a teen feel cut off from others and frightened.

A pioneering music educator reveals how music can supercharge early childhood development - and how parents and educators can harness its power.

Attention, mood, emotions, behaviors, organization communication, social interactions, learning, and confidence all have one thing in common—the brain learning. Your child’s brain mines how they take in, process, and react to the world around them, influencing everything, from their thoughts and feelings to actions and interactions. Brain development is an active process that has no true end point, as the brain continues to evolve and improve throughout life. Yet all too often parents and educators take a passive role in this process, wishing, hoping, and praying for growth and change.

No Better Mom for the Job is for any mom who has ever felt inadequate - who loves her kids fiercely but sometimes thinks another mom would do a better job in her shoes. Becky Keife knows the ups and downs of motherhood. And she has learned along the way and from other mamas that it doesn't work to try to do more or be better. Confidence comes from leaning on the One who made you a mother.

If we're honest with ourselves, almost every mom knows she can go from being kind to cranky in no time flat. When we're tired, busy, anxious, preoccupied - okay, so anytime, really - we tend to default to snapping and barking at the people we love best. But life doesn't have to be this way. Through coaching other moms who share a desire to be a kinder, gentler parent, Becky Kopitzke has learned the keys to taming the "momster" in all of us.

Let's face it - raising children can take a wrecking ball to your ambitions, your finances, your relationships, even your health. But, as mother of three Shantelle Bisson will tell you, it doesn't have to be that way. In Raising Your Kids Without Losing Your Cool, Shantelle sets out how to get ready for baby's arrival, helps you through the big push, lays it all out on breastfeeding, and makes sure you don't forget to keep having sex. Plus, she'll help you navigate the perils of helicopter parenting, children on social media, and even gender-reveal parties.

Henry is a good helper! He can even help with dinner.

Henry is a good helper! He can even help with his new baby sister.

Modern-day life can be extremely hectic and stressful for teenagers. We are constantly bombarded by people, and information flows through ever-present access to social media and a hectic pace of life. Social media can be great to get in touch with those close to us, but it can also bring higher levels of stress and anxiety. Mix in school and work stresses and any medical problems, and it can be difficult for modern day teens to cope.

Over seven million kids in the US suffer from serious anxiety, and that figure has doubled since the pandemic. But 90 percent of kids treated for anxiety using exposure therapy are now experiencing a better quality of life. Could it be the answer for you and your family? Are you concerned that exposure therapy may be too harsh or cruel?

Edward M. Hallowell, MD, father of three and a clinical psychiatrist, has thought long and hard about what makes children feel good about themselves and the world they live in. Now, in The Childhood Roots of Adult Happiness, he shares his findings with all of us who care about children. We don't need statistical studies or complicated expert opinions to raise children. What we do need is love, wonder, and the confidence to trust our instincts.

Parents are beginning to realize that deficiencies in ethics and character are becoming a big problem among our nation's children. According to the latest data, lying, cheating, and rampant insensitivity to other people are increasingly common. What can parents do? In this book, ethics expert Rushworth Kidder shows how to customize interventions to a child's age and temperament. He encourages parents not to give up, since what they do can always make a difference, regardless of how long or deep the bad habits of dishonesty may be.

Parents, teachers, therapists, and anyone who cares about a child or teen on the autism spectrum needs this essential roadmap to prepare our youth for being successful adults in today's world. Best-selling author, autism advocate, and animal science professor Dr. Temple Grandin joins psychologist and autism specialist Dr. Debra Moore in spelling out the steps you can take to restore your child's hope and motivation, and what you must avoid.

In How Babies Sleep, Sofia Axelrod, PhD - neuroscientist, sleep consultant, and mother of two - introduces the first baby sleep method that is truly rooted in the science of sleep. After having her first child, Axelrod realized that the typical baby sleep advice conflicted with what she was finding in her mentor's Nobel Prize-winning sleep lab. She developed her transformative method based on the latest discoveries about our body's circadian clock and how it is disturbed by light and other external stimuli.

Between the worry, the doctor's appointments, and the thousand small challenges of everyday life, it's easy to feel overwhelmed and exhausted. The idea of showing abundant love to every member of your family can feel like a daunting task. Jolene Philo has been there. And in this wise, warm, practical guide, she and Dr. Gary Chapman show you how the five love languages can help strengthen your marriage and family life-whatever your needs.