
Raising a child is incredibly difficult work. Not only are we contending with a small human who has an entire personality complete with plenty of opinions, but we have our own adverse experiences and traumas creeping into our already high-stress situations.
And that’s just a bog standard situation–we haven’t even begun to break down the additional effects of scenarios like:
Single parenting
Parents/kids with physical or neurological disabilities
Financial difficulties
School stressors (on parent and child)
Work stress
Child being LGBTQ+ (in a world that isn’t ready to accept them)
This list is truly endless. Parents, what I want you to understand here is that whatever your unique situation is, you deserve support. You. Deserve. Support. Even if you have enough money to live completely comfortably, have full-time childcare support or are able to stay at home, have a happy marriage, and your child never has meltdowns–you still deserve to have parenting support.
I’m guessing though, that if you’re reading this, probably things aren’t quite where you want them to be. Maybe you’re struggling with accepting some tough truths about parenting, or your child is having meltdowns (or you are?), or there are just some behaviors you’re seeing that are outside of your ability to manage.
But how do you know when it’s time to call in the cavalry?
I’ve boiled it down to a simple three point checklist, and I’m not even going to make you scroll through the whole post to find them:
You’ve tried all your own ideas
You’re used to “the new normal”
You feel embarrassed/ashamed
If you can check any of those boxes, you’re going to want to continue reading. I’ll explain some more.
Have you gotten my How Do You Parent workbook? It's FREE!

You’ve tried all your own ideas
How to know if this applies to you:
You consistently cycle through the same 3-4 techniques to get your kids to listen or come out of a meltdown, but you’re never sure if it’s going to work or make things worse. Your problems occasionally resolve themselves after time has passed, but now you’ve got new struggles. Or, everything is just snowballing.
One of my favorite analogies to make with new clients is, “If you asked me to build you a building, it’s not going to go well. I’m not an architect! That building will fail. Similarly, if you haven’t learned how to parent, how can you expect yourself to do the job comprehensively without any training?” I strongly believe that we haven’t done a good job of adequately preparing parents for being parents. Yes, it’s a tale as old as time, but the times are constantly evolving, and so are we. We need to do better. You deserve better.
So what that leaves us with are parents who care a whole lot about supporting their children, but few skills to do it. I have seen, time and time again, parents who are reaching for any tool that might do the job, and end up using tools that damage the relationship they’re trying to build.
You’re used to “the new normal”
How to know if this applies to you:
You have gotten so used to accommodating your child’s behavioral needs that it no longer seems odd to you.
You’re going to have to be really honest with yourself for this. It’s like when you don’t see someone for a long time, and when you do, you can see immediately how different they look: their hair, their weight, new signs of aging. But for the people in that person’s day-to-day life, the changes have been subtle enough that they don’t notice anything.
So, be a stranger in your own life: Are you doing a delicate dance to keep everything together, and pretending it’s fine? Do you often say things like, “Oh, he’s just in this phase right now…”? Are you noticing that you’re doing double the amount of work to get the same results? Are you the one that’s paying the highest price in order to keep the greater balance?
That’s not sustainable, and you deserve support.
You feel embarrassed/ashamed
How to know if this applies to you:
You feel the eyes of the other parents at the playground on you and your child when they behave “out of line”. Maybe you even make a show of disciplining your child in front of them so they see that you’re trying your best and you don’t let your kid get away with everything.
You might even actively avoid going to the playground or other public places where children gather, or dread birthday parties. Maybe you listen to your friends talk about their kids, and you can’t relate and feel singled out, or even jealous. And underneath all that, you question if you’re even a good parent, because you’re trying harder than anyone else you know, and it’s not half as good as what the other parents have.
Dear parent, you are not alone. And there is help. You do not have to live in this shame spiral. Like I said, I’m no architect. But what I do know, better than anything else in this whole world, is how to help parents and children find their way to happy and healthy relationships.
Have you ever felt embarrassed or ashamed of how your child was behaving?
Yes, often.
Nope, never!
Meh, sometimes. It's not a big deal.
What is parent coaching?
Here's the thing: most parents aren't even aware that parent coaching exists. Until now, all of my clients have been connected to me via word-of-mouth. I would help one family, then they'd share all their success stories with their friends and one of them would contact me, and so on and so forth.
All of these parents had a few things in common before they realized they were ready to hire a parent coach:
they didn't know they needed help
they didn't know help was available
they didn't know what kind of impact help could have
My goal is to provide the guidance and resources needed to understand the root cause of issues that you might be experiencing. From there, we develop a plan that works for you as individuals, and as a family.
By working together to help identify the pain points you're experiencing, I can help you shift from operating out of fear and uncertainty and into a place of confidence and joy. This is the heart of it for me: seeing families thrive.
So, are you ready to hire a parent coach?
How do I hire a parent coach?
Here's what I suggest:
Look for someone who's values match yours (have you seen my core values?).
Take a look at some of the content they've made. Read a blog or two, and maybe look at their social media. See if what they're saying lines up with what you're wanting to achieve.
Book a free consultation. Talk to them and see if there is a good vibe or connection. See if they're a good listener, or if they're familiar with the situation you're going through.
Once you've found the right person, you're golden. Now you can move forward with your trusted person gathering more tools for your toolbox, and start seeing results!