Positive Parenting for Military Families | Mr. Dad

Shaunti Feldhahn, author of The Kindness Challenge. Topic: 30 days to improve any relationship. Issues: three simple acts that make a huge difference in any relationship; 7 ways you may be unkind and never realize it; 8 types of kindness and which might be the best fit for you; practical ways to preserve when kindness is tough; hw kindness in marriage leads to benefits in the bedroom. Shonda Moralis, author of Breathe, Mama, Breathe. Topic: 5-minute mindfulness for busy moms. Issues: The difference between mindfulness, meditation, and mindful breaks; connecting with yourself during the day; connecting with your family during the day; connecting with the world.

Regina Pally, author of The Reflective Parent. Topic: How to do less and relate more with your kids. Issues: How the brain is wired for empathy, reflection, nurturing, and attachment; learning to trust yourself and your instincts. Genevieve Shaw Brown, author of The Happiest Mommy You Know. Topic: Why putting your kids first is the last thing you should do. Issues: Feed yourself as you want to feed your kids; make time for your own friends; get a healthy night’s sleep; don’t let your style take a backseat to your child’s wardrobe; treat your spouse as kindly as you treat your kids; take yourself to the doctor; exercise even if you don’t have the time, and more.

Alma Gottlieb, co-author of A World of Babies. Topic: Differing childcare styles in eight non-US societies. Issues: Parenting around the world in the 21st century; differences between US styles and those in other countries; challenges faced by parents in traditional societies, welfare states, and war-torn areas. Jennifer Lehr, author of ParentSpeak. Topic: What’s wrong with how we talk to our children—and what to say instead. Issues: Despite our best intentions, a lot of things we tell our kids does more harm than good; how to avoid words and phrases that manipulate, objectify, micro-manage, distress, invalidate, and threaten.

Chrissie Lee Kahan and Aaron Michael Kahan, coauthors of Navigating the Road of Infertility. Topic: An honest and poignant account of one couple’s struggle to start a family. Issues: The need for more open discussion of infertility; how IVF, artificial insemination, failed adoption, and other setbacks affect couples; coping with those setbacks; and more. Julie King, co-author of How to Talk so Little Kids Will Listen. Topic: Strategies and stories that will help you improve communication with your preschooler. Issues: The importance of recognizing and acknowledging kids’ feelings—and how to do it; tools for engaging cooperation, resolving conflicts, and handling discipline; handling your own feelings—including anger.

Andrew Smiler, author of Dating and Sex. Topic: A guide for the 21st-century teen boy (and his parents). Issues: Dating and hookups; receiving—and giving—consent; differences in teen sexual behavior between the 20th and 21st centuries; role of the media in shaping expectations about sex. Sarah Granger, author of The Digital Mystique. Topic: How the culture of connectivity can empower your life—online and off. Issues: Connecting is just the beginning; managing children’s computer use; managing your own computer use; the importance of actual face-to-face interactions in the digital world; recognizing and overcoming tech addiction.

William Marsiglio, author of Dads, Kids, & Fitness. Topic: A father’s guide to family health. Issues: More and more dads are taking on an active role as caregivers, but men are also disproportionately likely to neglect their own healthcare, diets, and exercise routines. This book explains why dads need to be involved in their children’s health—and how to do it. Sam Weinman, author of Win at Losing. Topic: How our biggest setbacks can lead to our greatest gains. Issues: How we win from losing (and sometimes lose from winning); inspirational stories from famous people on how they coped with loss and use it to propel them to even greater success.

Sharon Meers, coathor of Getting to 50/50. Topic: How working parents can have it all. Issues: Why two careers are better than one; busting myths about work, women, and men; how your husband solves the work-life riddle; success doesn’t require 24/7; what women gain from working motherhood. Maureen Dawn Healy, author of Energetic Keys to Indigo Kids. Topic: Raising and resonating with today’s new children Issues: Recognizing “indigo” children (highly sensitive, hyperactive, creative, but defiant); harnessing and redirecting that special indigo energy; triggers that set off bad behavior; why punishment may make problems worse.

Melissa Atkins Wardy, author of Redefining Girly. Topic: How parents can fight the stereotyping and sexualizing of girlhood. Issues: How to redefine girly in your home; getting friends and family on board; navigating kids’ play; how to avoid stereotyping girls and boys; saying no to sexed-up toys and too-sexy-too-soon parties. Jennifer Hanin, author of What to Do When You Can’t Get Pregnant. Topic: Options for couples facing fertility issues. Issues: Advances in natural products for women; new supplements, medications, and treatment protocols; the latest in egg freezing, vitrification, gender selection, and genetic testing.

Jane Nelson, coauthor of Positive Discipline Parenting Tools. Topic: The most effective methods to stop power struggles, build communication, and raise empowered, capable kids. Issues: The hidden belief behind a child’s misbehavior and how to respond; the best way to focus on solutions instead of on the negative; how to teach your child to make mistakes and follow through on agreements; how to foster creative thinking. Steve Nicollerat, founder of Coach Baseball Right (coachbaseballright.com) Topic: Engaging and keeping kids interested in sports (and baseball in particular) Issues: The decline in youth sports participation over the past decade; what’s driving kids away from sports; the role of coaches; the role of parents; how we let the focus move from having fun and learning life lessons to stats, performance, and trying to make the pros.

David Henderson, author of My Teenage Zombie. Topic: Resurrecting the undead adolescent. Issues: Understanding the nature of a teenage zombie; facing our fears of zombies; face the anxiety of confronting; resurrect your teenage zombie to a life worth living. Joy Masoff, author of Oh, Ick! and John Austin: author of Labcraft Wizards. Topic: Making science fun. Issues: Snot sandwiches, burp factories, and other science experiments guaranteed to gross you out; Dragon eggs, stacking water, and other magical projects and experiments; encouraging girls to get involved in math and science; how scientists and writers collaborate to create engaging, fun activities.

John Miller, author of Raising Accountable Kids. Topic: How to be an outstanding parent using the power of personal accountability. Issues: What is personal accountability; learning to ask the QBQ: the question behind the question; understanding that parenting is a learned skill; modeling accountable behavior; the benefits of accountability. Michele Borba, author of The 6 Rs of Bullying Prevention. Topic: Best proven practices to combat cruelty and build respect. Issues: A framework for reducing peer cruelty; concrete methods for increasing positive behavior and promoting kindness; strategies for mobilizing parents and students; guidelines for forming a bullying prevention team and creating an anti-bullying policy.

William Levin, author of Parenting without Fear. Topic: Raising balanced children in a healing world Issues: Recognizing the guiding signals from our children’s nature in their early years; how we can move into natural partnership with our children’s nature and our own; recognizing and disengaging from the shamed and fearful beliefs that obstruct those natural partnerships. Jessica Lamb-Shapiro, author of Promise Land. Topic: One woman’s journey through America’s self-help culture. Issues: Overcoming phobias and fears; walking on hot coals; coping with grief at the saddest camp in the world; the trouble with the Law of Attraction; the best and the worst of the self-help gurus.

Eric Jensen, coauthor of Turnaround Tools for the Teenage Brain. Topic: Helping underperforming students become lifelong learners. Issues: Research-based, classroom-tested strategies to strengthen students’ mind, body, and help them become exceptional lifelong learners; how and when to use workarounds; how the brain changes; how increase your student’s effort, build a better attitude, and improve behavior. Lauren Sandler, author of One and Only. Topic: The freedom of having an only child, and the joy of being one. Issues: What are only children really like? Debunking stereotypes and myths about “onlies”; the benefits to children, relationships, and society of having–and being–an only child.

Gary Mayerson, author of How To Compromise With Your School District Without Compromising Your Child. Topic: Combatting bullying and how to get effective services for children with autism or developmental disabilities. Issues: Special concerns of kids with special needs; determining the services you need; working with the school district to get what you’re entitled to under the law; why bullies target kids with autism and other developmental disabilities; the importance of encouraging bystanders to confront bullies. Caitlin Flanagan, author of an article in the Atlantic magazine, “How Helicopter Parents Cause Binge Drinking.” Topic: Why the way some white professionals raise their children is exacerbating an alcohol problem on some U.S. college campuses. Issues: The difference between college drinking in the 1970s and today; the difference between “good parents” and “get-real parents”; how top colleges reward intensity and how binge drinking is a perfect form of that quality; why black students drink less than students of any other race.

Jennifer Weeks, author of The New Age of Sex Education. Topic: How to talk to your teen about cybersex and pornography in the digital age. Issues: Why pornography isn’t always a bad thing; how a parent’s beliefs about sex and sexuality influence how they do or don’t talk to their child about sex; connection between texting and sexting; how to know whether your child is having a problem with sexual identity. Devorah Heitner, author of Screenwise. Topic: Helping kids thrive and survive in their digital world. Issues: The differences between “digital natives” and “digital immigrants,” assessing your own digital literacy; becoming a tech-positive parent; friendship and dating in the digital age; how much screen time do kids really have? the “forever” nature of the Internet; where do we go from here?