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Kirk Martin
Hey moms and dads, don't you just.
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Kirk Martin
Being with your family around the holidays is awesome because they're always so supportive, right? Your parents are like, man, you're doing such a good job with that strong willed child. And the never make any bad comments. It's okay. It's not like that, is it right? Are you tired of having to explain why your child does certain things or tired of defending the way you're parenting your child to your parents or in laws or other family members? It's hard. It's already hard enough being a parent of a strong willed child and now you have to do it in front of other people who are judging you. And there's this constant source of tension, right? For parents of kids like ours, you either hear the whispers, right? You hear those whispers because your child is having a meltdown, right? And they're whispering like, well, if they would just discipline their child, they wouldn't have to do right? And that can tear your family apart. And it's just not fun and it's just not helpful. So in the spirit of the holidays, I want to give you some tools to help your family actually be supportive of you. So that's what we're going to talk about on today's episode of the Calm Parenting Podcast. Welcome. This is Kirk Martin, founder of Celebrate Calm. You can find us@celebratecolm.com if you need help. Reach out to Our child.
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Look, we are well aware of this.
Kirk Martin
We were the ones in the family that had the first strong willed child and all the other kids were the good kids. So obviously we were just awful parents and doing it wrong. And so reach out to Casey because he understands you. Casey c a s e y celebratecom.com Tell us about your child or kids, what are they struggling with? What are their ages? And we'll reply back as a family because this is our family mission. Quick mention, huge Christmas sale going on. Take advantage of it. Why? Because it's practical tools. It's insight and practical tools that will actually change your family. I'm just going to say this. We have a lot of people are like, oh, I love your podcast. I listen to the podcast, but we're not really, you know, we're making some changes. But I'm like, but you need all the tools, right? I get like 10, 12, 15 minutes on this. But in our materials I can go into great depth and I can give you 10 different options for each situation. Whereas with here, I'm just giving you a couple, right? So just take advantage of it. Tell your spouse, this is what I want for Christmas. You don't have to worry. You don't have to go to the mall. You don't have to do anything. Follow this link. It's on sale hobby. So you're going to save some money. And it's what I really want. I'll be overjoyed and happy. And if you even want to go even further, you could actually listen to the men's CD and start doing what this guy says and then it'll work a lot better anyway. So here are a few tips to use with your extended family. 1. I want you to be confident. I want you to be confident in telling family members, look, we want you to be involved. We want our son, our daughter to have close relationships. We want them to have fondness. Like, well, look, I'm just going to tell you what I told my dad because he would come in, career military guy. Like, I'm going to show you how to discipline. I was like, dad, you're his grandpa, right? His other grandpa passed away. He only has one when you are gone, I want him to have fond memories of you, to remember that you weren't the one who came in and disciplined and corrected him, that he had a grandpa who took him out places and spoiled him a little bit and bought him donuts. Because we won't, because they'll make the rest of the day awful. But you can go do it right? I want you to have that. I want you to have that close relationship. So I told my dad, let me handle the discipline and the tough stuff. I want you to enjoy him. I want you to spoil him, as grandparents should. But leave the discipline to me right now. Grandparents jump in because they love you and love their grandchild and they want to help. So give them specific things they can do in order to help. So here are a few. Be curious. Mom, dad, look, I acknowledge my son, your grandchild. He's challenging, difficult, I get it. But here's when he's at his best, and here's what he really needs. When you come and visit, will you be curious about what your grandson is interested in? Will you start affirming all the positive things that you see in him? Because you know why? Because he is an amazing kid. He's just not. He's just not living up to your expectations all the time. And he may not get the best grades, but he's a really smart, curious kid. I want you to be a grounding influence for him. Right? Find ways for your family members to connect with your child in ways that make your child shine. Right? If your child loves building things, and Grandpa or Uncle Joe are awesome at building things, have them work on a project together, right? Because now you've got grandpa or Uncle Joe with your son. He's like, man. And they can look and see. Man. You're really good at seeing in three dimensions, man. How did you fix that thing? How did you see that? That is awesome. And you put them in a position where your family members can see, man. Yeah, I know he struggles sometimes at the dinner table, and maybe he struggles in school, whatever it is. But, man, when my grandson is doing X, man, that kid is awesome. Come up with a special project they can work on together. You know why that's important? Because the holidays are filled with unstructured time, and that's really hard for our kids. But if there's a project that they're working on together that fills in with time, with some structure, and it plays to your child's strengths. Here's another one. When your family members inevitably ask about school or grades, you can say, look, here's where Ethan is shining this year. He's got a great critical thinking skills. This kid asks the best questions. He's good at debating. You know why? Because he's a really good thinker. You know what else he is? Persuasive. You know how many jobs you have in life where you need to be curious and push the boundaries and ask questions and be a good analytical thinker and persuasive lots of them. You know what? My son has so much energy. You know what he did with that energy? He built this really cool thing from scratch. You know what else I love about my son? Huge heart. You know what? The older the senior citizens, the old neighbors down the street were struggling with something. He went down and he volunteered to help them. He's volunteering at an animal shelter. He started his own little business. He can build a robot from scratch. He takes apart things. Doesn't always put together the right way, but he takes things apart right. And he's always looking at things and he's finding out how things work. He's tinkering with things. That's the kind of curious kid that I really wanted to raise. And I'm thankful that I got a curious kid.
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Kirk Martin
Food that help fuel the growth of.
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Kirk Martin
It's a quick easy win because I.
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Kirk Martin
Plus, my weight is down.
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Kirk Martin
When you sign up, you'll get a.
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Kirk Martin
Because that's. Remember, that's my goal. My goal isn't to have a child who gets all A's and B's or straight A's. It's to have a curious child who loves to learn. But perspective, see, that's giving perspective of everything's not just about school and grades. It's about thinking, process. You know what? It's that thing of like, yeah, you know what? Sometimes he blurts out in class. But you know what? I realize the reason my son blurts out in class is not because he's just disrespectful. It's because he has so many ideas running through his brain and he's afraid he's going to forget them. So he blurts out, I know it's not right to do, but underneath of that is a curious kid who wants to share his ideas. If I can shape that, mom and dad, grandparents, help me shape these qualities and funnel them into something positive. Now, you could ask your family, find a couple of these podcasts, short ones, right? Or if you've got the Calm parenting package or get everything package, let them listen to a couple audio programs. It's easy. You put the app right on their phone and share it with them and say, would you, mom, dad, here's what would really help me. We found that this approach really works best with our son and it works best for us. It would mean a lot to us if we could all be aligned and working together. And you can affirm. I know it looks different than the way you did it, and I do respect that. I'm asking you to work with us on this because we all have the same goals. That's a nice way to ask. And then the one mom who emailed in said, would you talk to my parents on a phone consultant? I'm like, absolutely, I will. And look, if I talk to any of your parents, here's what I'm going to do first, I'm going to affirm that what they did worked for them back in the day. I'm going to also affirm the reservations. You know, I think she's letting them get away with things. I'm going. I totally get why you would think that. Here's some insight into this child that maybe will help you out. And then I'll teach them how kids like yours operate best and then give them a game plan, right? Because people want a game plan. Now, look, there are some of your family members who are just critical. People who don't want to help and they don't feel good about themselves and they simply want to judge you. You probably can't help those people. You probably can't right now, right? You can love them, you can feel mercy toward them because it would be awful to be stuck in a brain. It's always finding fault with other people, right? That wouldn't be so hot. But you can just kind of not worry about them so much. But the ones who do care and just disagree with you, teach them. Gently teach them. But you can firmly teach them, too, and say, it's just not going to work. We try. Look, we always make that joke at live events. Like, how many of you, you have friends and parents who judge you. Like, well, you know what? If you just. If you were firm and consistent with your consequences, your child, and you're like, really? I never thought about that. I never thought about actually being firm and consistent. But you've done that, right? And so you tell your friend, look, we did the traditional approach. It backfires on him. It doesn't work. But what we're finding is this works. And I encourage you to have that discussion. Don't let this go over the holidays. Pull them together and say, affirm them first of, like, I know you care about me and you care about your grandkids and you want the best. We all want the same thing. And here's what I'm asking. And this is what I often do with dads. Look, what we're doing. What you're doing isn't working for the next four weeks. Could we try doing X and see how that works? Grandma and grandpa, uncles, for the next four weeks, will you try doing it a different way with our son? And let's see how he responds to it because he wants to be affirmed like all people do. So I encourage you to do that. If we can help you. If we can encourage you in any way, please let us know. Take advantage of the Christmas sale. If you need help. Reach out to caseyelebratecolm.com and we will help you out. All right, Love you all. Bye.
Host: Kirk Martin
Release Date: November 28, 2022
Podcast Title: Calm Parenting Podcast
Description: Addressing the challenges of parenting strong-willed children, Kirk Martin offers practical strategies to mitigate power struggles, yelling, and defiance. Drawing from his extensive experience with children facing various behavioral and developmental challenges, Kirk provides honest, humorous, and actionable advice for parents and educators alike.
In the holiday season, families often gather, bringing both joy and added stress, especially for parents of strong-willed children. Kirk Martin opens the episode by addressing the unique challenges these parents face:
“Are you tired of having to explain why your child does certain things or tired of defending the way you're parenting your child to your parents or in laws or other family members?”
– Kirk Martin [01:20]
He empathizes with listeners who feel judged and underscores the additional tension that arises when extended family observes their parenting style.
Kirk delves deeper into the familial pressures faced by parents of challenging children. He highlights how well-meaning family members can inadvertently exacerbate tensions:
“It's hard. It's already hard enough being a parent of a strong-willed child and now you have to do it in front of other people who are judging you.”
– Kirk Martin [01:50]
He points out that unaddressed judgments can lead to strained relationships and an unsupportive environment, which is counterproductive for both the parent and child.
To combat these challenges, Kirk offers a suite of strategies designed to foster a supportive family atmosphere during the holidays.
Kirk emphasizes the importance of confidently communicating parenting strategies to extended family members. By setting clear boundaries, parents can ensure that discipline remains consistent:
“I want you to be confident in telling family members, look, we want you to be involved. We want our son, our daughter to have close relationships... but leave the discipline to me right now.”
– Kirk Martin [03:15]
This approach allows grandparents and other relatives to build positive, non-disciplinary relationships with the child, focusing on affection and shared activities.
When confronted about academic performance or behavior, Kirk advises parents to pivot the conversation towards the child's strengths and positive attributes:
“When your family members inevitably ask about school or grades, you can say, look, here's where Ethan is shining this year. He's got great critical thinking skills... He has so much energy.”
– Kirk Martin [06:10]
By showcasing the child's talents and positive behaviors, parents can shift the narrative from perceived shortcomings to the child’s potential.
Kirk suggests facilitating interactions between the child and family members that play to the child's interests and strengths. This not only strengthens bonds but also allows family to appreciate the child's unique abilities:
“If your child loves building things, and Grandpa or Uncle Joe are awesome at building things, have them work on a project together. He's like, man, you're really good at seeing in three dimensions.”
– Kirk Martin [05:30]
Such activities provide structured, meaningful engagement that highlights the child's competencies in a supportive setting.
To align the entire family with the child’s needs, Kirk recommends sharing resources like the Calm Parenting package. This ensures that everyone understands the child’s behavior from a supportive perspective and can act accordingly:
“Find a couple of these podcasts, short ones... share it with them and say, would you, mom, dad, here's what would really help me.”
– Kirk Martin [09:10]
Providing educational materials fosters a unified approach to parenting, minimizing conflicts and misunderstandings.
Not all family members will respond positively, and Kirk addresses strategies for dealing with persistent critics:
“There are some of your family members who are just critical... You probably can't help those people. You can love them, you can feel mercy toward them... but you can just kind of not worry about them so much.”
– Kirk Martin [09:50]
He advises focusing on those who are willing to support and understand, while limiting interactions with individuals who are consistently judgmental.
Kirk reinforces the value of community support, encouraging parents to reach out for personalized advice and to take advantage of available resources:
“If we can help you. If we can encourage you in any way, please let us know. Take advantage of the Christmas sale.”
– Kirk Martin [10:00]
He highlights the availability of tailored advice through direct communication, emphasizing that personalized support can make a significant difference.
Wrapping up the episode, Kirk underscores the importance of maintaining alignment with family members to create a harmonious environment for both the child and the parents:
“We all have the same goals. That's a nice way to ask.”
– Kirk Martin [10:20]
By affirming shared objectives and implementing structured strategies, parents can navigate holiday gatherings with greater confidence and peace.
For more practical strategies and support, visit CelebrateCalm.com or email Casey at Casey@CelebrateCalm.com.