“Connection parenting is parenting through connection instead of coercion, through love instead of fear.” Pam Leo

If you are tired of the temper tantrums, the whining, the shouting and the general mayhem in your house, you need to take this class. You will learn WHY kids have temper tantrums and how you can avoid them in the future. Learn why TIME OUT is not the best discipline and learn a new way to work with your kids that does not cause disconnection and punishment but will create a close, loving relationship with your children.

We all know that raising kids is our biggest challenge and our greatest joy. I truly believe that in each moment, we are doing the best we can with what we know. We never intentionally set out to hurt our children’s feelings or to damage them emotionally. Our own parents did the best they could with the knowledge they had, too, yet so many adults complain and still suffer from the wounds of our upraising. If you would like to raise children who don’t have to recover from their childhood, then you need to join me for my Connection Parenting workshop beginning January 11.
What: Connection Parenting Workshop
When: 7 Tuesdays beginning January 11 from 6:30 to 8:30
Where: This Side Up Family Fun Center in Plano  1100 Capital Avenue, Plano, TX 75074
Cost: $35 per person/ $50 per couple plus Connection Parenting book ($15)
To Register: Call 214-681-8542
Pam Leo, creator of the Connection Parenting Workshop says, “Connection parenting is an ideal, a navigation star we can look to for guidance. Whenever we question how to respond to a child we can ask ourselves, will this response create a connection or a disconnection. We feel connected when we feel listened to and loved. We feel disconnected when we feel hurt and unheard.”

Yes, our children push our buttons. Yes, we make mistakes. Yes, we yell at our children on occasion. The goal of Connection Parenting is to understand how to reconnect with our children, to learn how to respond rather than react in the heat of the moment and how to cultivate a nurturing relationship, most of the time. None of us is perfect, but we all want to be the best parents that we can.
If you start using the tips and tools that I will teach you in Connection Parenting when your children are young, you will create a lasting, solid relationship based on love and respect; you will avoid the terrible teen years and you will raise confident children who know how to say no to bullying, to drugs and other scary situations that they will face.

What do you want for your child? For yourself? I know what I want and I know what I have created with my own children: a loving, open relationship based on trust and respect. Start 2011 off right, recapture the joy of parenting and build a bond with your children that will last forever.

And the best part ? I am donating all funds raised from this class to This Side Up! Family Fun Center, a new non-profit whose mission is to help families THRIVE! You can learn more about this amazing new organization at www.ThisSideUPFamily.org.

Dr. Minette Riordan is the publisher of North Texas Kids magazine but she is also a Certified Coach for Parents. This workshop is based on the work of Pam Leo, author of Connection Parenting. Dr. Riordan feels that out of all the work she did to become a parent coach, Pam Leo’s class was the one that change her perspective on parenting and revolutionized the way she raises her children. She is passionate about sharing this information with other parents and educators and speaks often to local parenting groups. For more information about Connection Parenting or Dr. Riordan, visit her at www.MinetteRiordan.com or email her at minette@minettteiordan.com.