Even my free newsletter can change your life!

Noel…

this is another “great article” from you! I think if more parents understood the importance of consistency, routines and traditions within the family context, they’d realize there’d be fewer family conflicts and way less stress! I work with so many families…and this is usually one of the areas parents are lacking in…yet admit they need help in establishing it. They all seem to “want to be” consistent but have difficulty in becoming consistent.

You are very genuine, practical and “down to earth” in your writings and advice…thank you!
Hazel

wow i never thought about how we can encourage kids to confess through positive reinforcement, however, we need to encourage the kids how to behave appropriate around other kids through no punishment regarding the incident of inappropriate behavior such as throwing stone? how can i give the kid positive reinforcement for their honesty and at the same time there should be a consequence for the particular misbehavior. On other hand, if the kid knew there will be a consequence, the kid might as well lie to avoid the consequence. Then i thought more about it and realize the consequence has to be accurate for the behavior (response cost) something like that. i heard it from someone else that response cost is one of good way to encourage kids to improve compliant behavior…. interesting article! ur right i do recognize this because when i was younger i tend to avoid the punishment by lying then ended up receiving double punishment but i continued doing this with a hope to get away with it. it is like gambling game.

thanks

jaz

Dear Dr. Noel,

Thanks a ton for your ultimate guidance. I read your mail. It is really excellent & workable + result-oriented.

I wish all the best to you & a successful coming life.

Best wishes & Regards,

Pradeep Kumar

Kampala - Uganda

East Africa.

Noel

First of all I would like to say I have really enjoyed your news letters. You always seem to make things clearer and your advise never seems impossible or unrealistic. We don’t have an exact family night in our house hold, but we do make sure we have fun with our kids. I have a 7 year old who lives with me full time and my boyfriend has a 5 year old we get every other week. The boys love to play UNO, so we play with them at least a couple of times a week. I think this time really helps to bring us together as a family.

I would also like to comment on your letter about children and lying. I also have an 11 year old son who lives with his father in Texas(we live in Washington). I don’t get to see him as often as I would like, but we do keep in touch by phone (although his father thinks we only need to talk when Geoff is in trouble)....  (More...)

Hi Noel

I had to write and tell you about my half term holidays with my kids.

My two kids are ages 11 and 7 and as you are more than aware, finding an activity that suits them both is a challenge in itself.

My son (the 11 yr old) is very sporty and outdoorsy!!!

Whereas my daughter (the 7 yr old) is more of an insidey person and is happy to play dolls or imaginative play.

Daddy has been working away a lot recently and has been away all this week. so it was up to me to provide activities that suited both - HOORAY!!!! Arent I the lucky one?????

Monday was a beautiful day as far as the weather was concerned and both children were content with occupying themselves for the duration of the morning. However, mid afternoon came and they were beginning to show signs of boredom. We are lucky and live near the seaside. It was cold but dry so we wrapped up and took the new stunt kite,...  (More...)

Noel,

My name is Amber. I am a young single mother of four. I have a 6 year old, a 3 year old, and 2 year old twins. We rarely got outside our home to do anything b/c everything seems to be too much of a hassle getting all of the kids ready and ,of course, I’m worried about them behaving. Well, after reading your article about having FUN with your kids, I decided to go somewhere that their behavior wouldn’t be a factor. We have a 3 mile walking trail around a local lake, so we loaded up all of our bikes and went for a ride. It got us out of our house and the kids haven’t stopped talking about it since. They tell everyone we see and ask every day if we can go ride our bikes again. It has been raining all week so we haven’t been back yet, but we are all anticipating it. Thank you for your inspiration!

Amber

Hi Noel,

“thank you” should be the first words you hear from me, for the articles you sent me and the thinking for parenting.

For the last nine months and may be for the next several years, there always was and there always will be something more than a little stressful for me to experience in each week of the month, each month of the year!

So what?

Like you said, “…The question is where do you go from here to make the best of what you have at present… think about what desired outcomes you do want. Don’t expect to get there in one day, but look for tiny little steps that will gradually take you there. and then do what it takes to get there.”

We(me and my wife) are having a hard time parenting a little boy with a little problem, reading your articles makes us fell better. we did enjoy them.

yours sincerely

Andy

EXCELLENT.

Just a note to let you know I’m sincerely enjoying my subscription to this. It’s really helping me as a Mother. I am very very impressed! Keep up the good work and God bless.

Carrie

Hi there Dr Swanson!
Further to reading your literature last week, I have to say that on the whole, we have had a massive improvement in our family life.
Your important point of ’stepping back, and understanding why a child behaves as they do’ is a revelation. Combined with the techniques of ‘Supernanny’ Jo Frost, our son is slowly starting to improve his behaviour.
Whats more, my son and I are beginning to enjoy a loving, mother and son relationship.
Many thanks, i look forward to more of your emails.
Debbie Nelson

Hi Noel ,
I just simply love yr articles … they always give me a direction .
With regards
Shalini