Welcome back to become a calm mama. I'm your host,
Speaker:A Darlynn Childress. I'm a life and parenting coach.
Speaker:And last week I did an episode about being on the
Speaker:same page a we talked about how your co
Speaker:parent may not be able to emotionally regulate. They
Speaker:might be explosive. And I gave you some strategies of how to
Speaker:handle that or strategies around if your
Speaker:co parent isn't open to emotionally coaching your kids
Speaker:and, you know, approaching
Speaker:parenting from that behavior first. I'm sorry. Feelings first model
Speaker:and behavior second mama. And gave you some
Speaker:strategies of how to talk about that, how to, like, have conversations with your
Speaker:co a, and just decide, like, are you on the same page?
Speaker:And so I really kinda wanna revisit that for just a second before
Speaker:we get into how to handle it if our if your co parent doesn't
Speaker:follow through on limits and consequences in the same way that you
Speaker:would do it, the way that you would handle it. Maybe they're more shameful.
Speaker:Maybe they're more punitive. Maybe they're more permissive than you,
Speaker:and, you know, you're not sure how to handle that. So that's what this episode
Speaker:is all about. But before we get too deep into it, I just wanna
Speaker:remind you that having a conversation
Speaker:with your co parent about your parenting approach or your
Speaker:parenting style is really important. And
Speaker:going back to, you know, talking to them and just asking them, you
Speaker:know, hey, do we agree that
Speaker:feelings matter? Do we agree that we aren't going to
Speaker:use shame or fear or pain
Speaker:to manage our kids' misbehavior. And a
Speaker:lot of times I find that if you talk
Speaker:to someone about this, they will say, well, of course of course, I don't
Speaker:wanna use shame. Of course, I don't wanna use pain. Of course, I don't wanna
Speaker:use fear. Or they'll be like, oh, of course, I think feelings matter.
Speaker:Or maybe they don't. But most of the time people will say, you know, your
Speaker:co parent will say, yes. Of course. Of course. And then you go, okay. So
Speaker:we are in agreement, and now let's talk about how we're gonna
Speaker:approach how what, you know, strategies we're gonna use
Speaker:to parent our kids. So I just
Speaker:really important to have a conversation to figure out, are we
Speaker:on the same page in terms of our philosophy?
Speaker:And if we are, great, then you have a foundation
Speaker:to have conversations about, you know, whether you live
Speaker:with your co parent or not. Like, if this is a,
Speaker:divorce situation or where you, you know, you don't live together anymore,
Speaker:you're not in a romantic partnership anymore, and or maybe
Speaker:you never were. I don't know. But, you know, you're not together, but you still
Speaker:have kids together. So you are able
Speaker:to have the conversation with that other co parent
Speaker:regardless of whether you live together or not. Now, of course, if it's very toxic,
Speaker:if the a is abusive, if they, you know, manipulate things, like,
Speaker:you know, you're not gonna have these conversations with them. It's not important.
Speaker:You are doing your thing in your house and they're doing their thing in their
Speaker:house, And they are separate. You don't get to control what goes on in their
Speaker:house, and they don't get to control what goes on in your house. You are
Speaker:in different homes and different parenting philosophies, and that's okay.
Speaker:It's hard to let go, but it's okay.
Speaker:It's hard to worry and, you know, to, like, not worry about what's happening in
Speaker:the other house, but it is your job to manage your own fear
Speaker:and worry and frustration and control and let
Speaker:let it go and trust. Right? So a lot of things that I talked about
Speaker:in the last episode about you only need a parent
Speaker:to emotionally coach a human in order for them
Speaker:to grow up emotionally healthy and emotionally aware. That's
Speaker:all that's all you can do a that's all you need to do. And just
Speaker:trust that it's enough because it is. I actually thought about
Speaker:this after I recorded the last episode, how,
Speaker:you only need a person to teach you how to read. Like, you only need
Speaker:a person to teach you how to do math. Like, we have multiple teachers in
Speaker:our lives because of the way the school system is set up. But once you
Speaker:learn how to read, you know how to read. Like, once you learn how to
Speaker:add, you know how to add. Right? It it doesn't matter how many
Speaker:people taught you it. And that's the true thing with emotions. Once you understand
Speaker:what you're feeling and know how to talk about it and know what to do
Speaker:with those feelings, you're set. You know how to do it. So if you're
Speaker:the only person who teaches them that, that's plenty. Okay.
Speaker:So having that conversation,
Speaker:if a in a fairly decent relationship with the other
Speaker:parent, having a conversation and be like, what are our values?
Speaker:What is our parenting approach?
Speaker:And kind of figuring out, like, are we on the same page at a foundational
Speaker:level? A so I
Speaker:wanna give you some strategies to for if you decide you
Speaker:are. Okay. If you have a mutual commitment to calm and conscious parenting,
Speaker:to calm and connected parenting, then
Speaker:you can like, I'm gonna help you with that.
Speaker:A? And then I'm gonna help you at the end of this episode if you've
Speaker:realized that you don't have the same approach. Maybe they're more permissive or
Speaker:they're more authoritarian in in that way,
Speaker:then I'm gonna give you some strategies of how to handle the a
Speaker:limits and consequences if they do it differently from you. Spoiler
Speaker:a. If they do it differently, that's okay. They can do it their way a
Speaker:you can do it your way and it's fine. And I'll give you some ways
Speaker:to handle that. But first, let's talk about
Speaker:if if you are in a a relationship
Speaker:and your co parent is committed
Speaker:to the same type of parenting as you are. Right? We're gonna hold our kids
Speaker:accountable. We're gonna be a, but in a calm, mutually respectful
Speaker:way. We're gonna do a feelings first model and, you know, we're
Speaker:gonna work on our own emotional regulation. We're not gonna lash out at our kids.
Speaker:We're not gonna hurt our kids. We're not gonna shame our kids. We are
Speaker:gonna work on ourselves. So we're calm. We're gonna help them with their
Speaker:big feelings. We're gonna give them tools. And,
Speaker:we're gonna set boundaries and we're gonna follow through on them. Okay? That's
Speaker:the calm mama process. If you're both committed, great. Now,
Speaker:what happens when either of you are
Speaker:off track or if you notice that your kids are off track?
Speaker:Okay? So if you if you're on the
Speaker:same page, right, and you see that
Speaker:your children are or your
Speaker:Childress, like, behaving badly, I want you to notice the
Speaker:pattern. That's kind of the first thing
Speaker:whether you notice the pattern, you're like, hey. Our kid keeps, you
Speaker:know, not finishing their dinner or dinner's been a disaster
Speaker:lately or bedtime's a big mess or the kids are dillydallying
Speaker:every morning or they don't clean a, they don't do their chores,
Speaker:a doesn't seem like they're brushing their teeth, whatever. Okay? One of
Speaker:you will realize that there is a behavior.
Speaker:And from there, you start to talk about that
Speaker:behavior as a couple. And even if you're not a couple,
Speaker:like, as 2 people. Right? You're like, hey. I see this pattern. And in
Speaker:that conversation, it's really important
Speaker:to not get defensive, to not be like, well, I I'm
Speaker:working on it or, you know, just realize you're you both a.
Speaker:You both are committed to the same parenting philosophy.
Speaker:You're in it a, and now let's have a conversation about a behavior.
Speaker:So noticing a pattern and then start talking about it as a couple.
Speaker:Hey. What do you think is going on? Why do you think they're acting this
Speaker:way? What's happening underneath? And you're doing that
Speaker:connection conversation together a
Speaker:without your child there. You're like, why are they acting this way? Do they need
Speaker:more a, like power? Do they need more appreciation?
Speaker:Do they need to be seen and validated? Do they need more affection? Like,
Speaker:do they need to be connected with us physically? Are they looking for
Speaker:time with us? Do they need to be accepted?
Speaker:Like, do they need do they are they trying to express themselves, their uniqueness,
Speaker:their individuality, or is are they seeking safety? Are they
Speaker:feeling insecure? Do they want attachment? So those are
Speaker:the 5 emotional needs that we all have, and I did an episode
Speaker:on that a couple of months ago. We'll link that in the show notes.
Speaker:So you're a just getting curious. You're like, what's happening with our kid? And a
Speaker:lot of times, if you do that as a as, you know, as a couple
Speaker:or as a co with your co parent, you might realize that
Speaker:this is more of an emotional issue that your child
Speaker:maybe needs some some skills around managing their
Speaker:feelings or maybe they need to get that emotional need met Become way. Maybe they
Speaker:need to get power in some other part of their lives. Maybe they need to
Speaker:be appreciated more. Maybe they need a little more connection, affection. They need a
Speaker:little more wrestling or hugs or whatever it is. Maybe they need to be
Speaker:told that they're good and worthy and lovely love
Speaker:loving and lovely. And, you know, they need to be a.
Speaker:Or maybe they're feeling insecure and they need some more, soothing and
Speaker:attachment. You need to do a little bit more connection with them.
Speaker:A lot of times if you meet the emotional need
Speaker:of a behavior, you can kind of
Speaker:the behavior lessens. It decreases. They become a your child will become
Speaker:more compliant Become remember feelings drive behavior.
Speaker:So your child is maybe looking for some emotional
Speaker:need to be filled. You've meet it or they you teach them how
Speaker:to meet it a then they don't act out. Okay?
Speaker:You calm also start to look at what skill might be missing. Maybe
Speaker:they don't know how to be okay with disappointment. Maybe they don't know how to
Speaker:self soothe. Maybe they're not being socially aware of how their behavior is
Speaker:affecting others. So then if that's the case, you might need
Speaker:to decide a rule or a limit in your in
Speaker:your family. Like, what's our rule for this? And then
Speaker:talk about it together. If you can
Speaker:see your child's behavior as a skill gap,
Speaker:like, oh, wow. They're really struggling with disappointment or being told no.
Speaker:So let's tell them no more often and let them work
Speaker:through the feelings of disappointment. Oh, maybe
Speaker:they, you know, need autonomy or
Speaker:power, so let's give them some power over their clothing choices
Speaker:or the books they read at bed or, you know, where they sit in the
Speaker:car, something like that. And then, you know,
Speaker:set some boundaries around that. Like, you're welcome to have this
Speaker:level of power as long as you're compliant in this other
Speaker:area. So you can pick your seat in
Speaker:the car as long as you get in the car
Speaker:Become, you know, I don't as long as you as long as I don't have
Speaker:to remind you to put your socks and shoes on, something like that. So you
Speaker:kind of tether the things together so that your children
Speaker:learn this, you know, grow in the in the skill
Speaker:or in the, you know, value or the emotional regulation
Speaker:that you're trying to teach them while holding them accountable with the
Speaker:boundary or where a limit. So it can be really helpful
Speaker:instead of seeing a behavior that your kids have and just
Speaker:arguing about it with your with your co parent and blaming each
Speaker:other and being like, well, this is your fault because you're not doing this. And
Speaker:they're like, well, this is your fault because you're not following through on this. And
Speaker:it's just like, you just feel like you're arguing about your kid's behavior all the
Speaker:time. Instead, pause, try to figure
Speaker:out what pattern is this, what's going on underneath,
Speaker:Is there a skill missing? And then what are our rules around it
Speaker:or what limits are we gonna set? Now
Speaker:this can be challenging as a couple to figure out. So if
Speaker:you're listening to this and you're like, I want to do
Speaker:that, and I don't know how to facilitate those kinds of
Speaker:conversations with my partner, that is a really good time to
Speaker:get a coach to, like, to hire me, and we can do a few sessions
Speaker:together and work on it. Right? So you
Speaker:can just reach out for a consultation with me, and we'll work it out
Speaker:together. So it it is
Speaker:important as a couple if you're on this if you already are committed and you
Speaker:keep having a conflict about a behavior and you're in a clash to have
Speaker:this conversation. And then if you can't get over it, then reach
Speaker:out. Now
Speaker:that's a a preventative or sort of
Speaker:a pattern. You're looking at it like, okay. We keep arguing
Speaker:about this behavior. Let's actually get on the same page about it, and let's move
Speaker:forward. What happens when you're in the
Speaker:moment and your co parent
Speaker:who you know is committed to the same values as you,
Speaker:and they are, like, kind of
Speaker:being like, you know what? If you don't listen to me, I'm not giving you
Speaker:TV for the week. Or they start yelling at your child
Speaker:or that they you know, they're in a parenting mama, and they're
Speaker:in a power struggle, and they're fighting with their your kid, and you
Speaker:can see it happening. Like, you are so clear
Speaker:that this isn't gonna go well and this is a disaster. And
Speaker:you're the co parent is, like, making a mess of it. And you're,
Speaker:like, probably wondering, okay, what am I supposed to do? Do I intervene or do
Speaker:I not? Do I back my co parent up or do I not?
Speaker:So my recommendation as
Speaker:long as the co parent isn't being explosive or
Speaker:hurtful, don't get involved.
Speaker:Let it play out. Be that
Speaker:compassionate witness noticing what's going
Speaker:on with your co parent, what's going on with your kid, where's the conflict
Speaker:about, what is it that the child really needs here, How could the
Speaker:co parent soothe here? Without saying anything, you're
Speaker:almost like like a coach in that a, except you're
Speaker:not coaching. You're just watching. And think about, like,
Speaker:basketball, how, you know, the coach might be just watching
Speaker:a game and then later going back and saying,
Speaker:oh, okay. Here's what my team needs to be doing to change
Speaker:this. I've never, like, been a sports coach or
Speaker:anything, but they always show how they watched the films back. Like, they look
Speaker:back at the previous game or games from last season, and
Speaker:they learn from that. So I want you to be
Speaker:that neutral about it as if it's like you're just watching
Speaker:and taking notes, but not to criticize your co parent
Speaker:just to be like, Their behavior
Speaker:isn't aligned with our values. Why? What's happening?
Speaker:And just being really, like, kind and compassionate in your heart. A like,
Speaker:woah, they're in it. This is a this is a shit show. Calm like,
Speaker:woah. Okay. I'm just gonna be a present witness here.
Speaker:Now like I said last week, if you have this relationship, you could be like,
Speaker:do you need to tap out? You know? Like, do you want me to take
Speaker:over? But I almost don't want you to do that. I
Speaker:like, if they're being explosive and hurtful, yes. But
Speaker:if it's just a parenting moment that's got away from them a
Speaker:little bit a they're trying to get some control back and they're kind of being,
Speaker:like, threatening or or briby or something
Speaker:like that. I just want you to watch. Okay? And
Speaker:then later, when everybody's calm, kids are in bed
Speaker:weekend, a, watching kids are watching TV or they're playing happily at the
Speaker:park, say, hey. Can we talk about what happened, you know,
Speaker:the other day, like, at bedtime or that that morning, like, what
Speaker:happened? And if your co parent is
Speaker:like, what? No. You know, they're defensive. Might not be the
Speaker:right time. So you calm say, hey. I do wanna revisit it because it didn't
Speaker:feel aligned. There was something off for me, but I want and I wanna
Speaker:talk to you about it, but it's not I'm not trying to, like, criticize you
Speaker:or blame you or anything. I just kinda wanna problem solve that or,
Speaker:like, troubleshoot it. So you're inviting them into a
Speaker:conversation, and then the kinds of questions that
Speaker:you ask to evaluate a situation
Speaker:is going back to the Calm Mama process. This is what I do. I'm like,
Speaker:okay. Were was I calm or were they calm? Like, was
Speaker:my partner calm? So I can just say to Kevin, like,
Speaker:were you upset? Like, what was going on for you? Were you, like, in your
Speaker:feelings? You know? And I'm not
Speaker:judging. I'm just kinda a, yeah. What was that like for you? What was going
Speaker:on for you? And then kind
Speaker:of go into connect. Did what was going on with the kid? Did we connect
Speaker:to their feelings? Did we value do we narrate what was happening for them?
Speaker:Do we name any of those big feelings for them? Do
Speaker:we already and then going to limit set. Do we already have a limit around
Speaker:this? If not, like, what would you have wanted it to be? Should we
Speaker:set a rule? You know, this seems is this a pattern? Is this something
Speaker:we wanna fix? Like, would that help you if we a of set up
Speaker:a limit? And then if they did
Speaker:follow through and they set a consequence, like, they gave,
Speaker:you know, some sort of, like, you're not having TV for a a, or I'm
Speaker:not giving you candy, or no more new toys, or you have to get rid
Speaker:of that toy, or whatever they've said,
Speaker:asking them, like, so do you still agree with that? Like, was that a, or
Speaker:do you think that aligns with our values? Do you think it's something we can
Speaker:actually follow through on? Like, if you're, like, gonna go
Speaker:to Disneyland or 6 flags or something and then, you know, on a on a
Speaker:Saturday a then on a Monday, they're like, if you keep doing that,
Speaker:we're not going to 6 flags. And then they keep doing it, and then your
Speaker:kid your husband's like, we're not going. You can revisit during the week and
Speaker:be like, honey, are you sure that this is
Speaker:in alignment of what we wanna do? How do we really not wanna
Speaker:go? Can we recorrect? Can we course correct here
Speaker:a, you know, find a different way to set a limit and follow
Speaker:through on it for this behavior in the future.
Speaker:So you're kind of evaluating and just giving
Speaker:them a chance to reflect, in a very loving and
Speaker:neutral way. So these two ways, these
Speaker:two conversations are, like, getting on the same page and staying on
Speaker:the same page. So you have these preventative
Speaker:conversations, these what are the behavior problems that are driving us
Speaker:create, crazy? So that's getting on the same
Speaker:page. And then staying on the same page is when one
Speaker:of you is not on track, isn't in alignment,
Speaker:isn't showing up with the same values, you
Speaker:let it play out a then you're like, hey. Let's talk
Speaker:about that. I that didn't feel right. That didn't go well.
Speaker:What do you think? Do you think it went well? I wanna
Speaker:say Kevin and I have been parents for almost
Speaker:20 years, and we have had a lot of these conversations.
Speaker:A lot of after the kids go to bed or on the weekends where we're
Speaker:like, what is going on with these people?
Speaker:And why is it not feeling good? And, like, what's happening? And we kind
Speaker:of come up with some rules and some limits, and we use the
Speaker:limit setting a. And then we're like, okay. So this is our plan. We get,
Speaker:like, a game plan. Like, we literally sit together or stand or
Speaker:whatever and get on the same page. We make a
Speaker:plan. And then we stay on the same page
Speaker:by sometimes not being and recorrecting,
Speaker:course correcting. So I want to normalize
Speaker:it for you that not every moment with
Speaker:your co parent is gonna feel good. It's not gonna
Speaker:always feel right, like, they're gonna be off track. You're gonna be off track,
Speaker:but it's the afterward or the, like, the pre
Speaker:conversation or the post conversations that really
Speaker:do that fine tuning and moving you as a couple
Speaker:or as a co parent team towards your goals of
Speaker:raising kids who are emotionally healthy and personally responsible.
Speaker:Right? That's our goal. So how are we gonna get there? Emotionally healthy,
Speaker:personally responsible. Now
Speaker:when you can't get on the same page, okay, what
Speaker:are you supposed to do? When you have a a
Speaker:co parent who's like, no. I'm not into
Speaker:it. I do not think that emotional health matters.
Speaker:It doesn't it's stupid. Right? Some people believe that.
Speaker:Like, they don't they just think it's kinda bullshit,
Speaker:and that's difficult. Right? It is challenging if you're
Speaker:partnered with someone who's your values don't align with your kids,
Speaker:but maybe you really still dig each a, like, a
Speaker:ton, you know, and you are in a a, and
Speaker:you you can be you can disagree.
Speaker:Okay? It doesn't have to be the exact
Speaker:same approach. Each
Speaker:person is in an individual relationship with
Speaker:another person. So your co parent
Speaker:has a relationship with their child, and they are teaching their
Speaker:child how to be how to be in the world and how to be in
Speaker:a relationship with them. And that's their prerogative. They're
Speaker:their parent. And, you
Speaker:know, as as long as they're not, like, really
Speaker:physically hurting their child or really, really shaming or pain you know,
Speaker:being in pain about that, then they
Speaker:get to do that. They can be strict and
Speaker:firm without emotional coaching. That's how
Speaker:most of us were raised. It's it's not great because we wanna
Speaker:have a good relationship with both of our parents as adults. Right?
Speaker:We want to have our kids grow up and like us.
Speaker:And I'm sure that your partner wants that too,
Speaker:but they may not a. That's why it's good to have these
Speaker:conversations of, like, what do you want your future relationship with our
Speaker:kid to look like? Because if you raise a kid in an
Speaker:authoritarian way,
Speaker:they end up feeling very emotionally disconnected
Speaker:from their parent. They feel like their parent doesn't really give a shit
Speaker:about them. Even though their parent is very focused on the behavior
Speaker:and they wanna see performance and success a they want their kid to,
Speaker:like, quote a be good, the
Speaker:child grows up feeling like my parent cares more about what
Speaker:I do, not who I am, cares more about what I
Speaker:say, not how I feel. And that means
Speaker:that long term, the child and that
Speaker:parent probably won't have a very connected a.
Speaker:And that's okay. That's
Speaker:the life that your co parent is choosing to create
Speaker:with their child. Is there room for repair? Yes.
Speaker:Always. You can always shift gears
Speaker:and parent your kids differently even if they're grown. Some of you
Speaker:listening have kids who are in college or even out of college. And
Speaker:you're like, well, I was really too strict. I didn't do not a lot of
Speaker:emotional coaching, and I have a lot of regrets about that. No
Speaker:problem. You can reset. You can start
Speaker:to connect emotionally, see your kid for who
Speaker:they are right now. That's fine. But while you're
Speaker:parenting in you know, if you're in a relationship now and your kids
Speaker:are are younger or whatever, and you see your
Speaker:co parent showing up in ways that you wouldn't act and
Speaker:doing things that you wouldn't do and saying things you wouldn't say,
Speaker:You can have a conversation about it, but also I want you to just know
Speaker:that's on them. That's their course
Speaker:trajectory in that relationship. So it
Speaker:doesn't mean that your kid is messed up forever.
Speaker:You you are gonna emotionally coach a, and you're gonna do what you're gonna
Speaker:do and, you know, set your boundaries and set
Speaker:communicate your limits and teach your kids how to be in a relationship with you
Speaker:and give them all sorts of great, great teaching.
Speaker:So you can kids can grow up to be well
Speaker:rounded and successful emotionally, physically,
Speaker:you know, financially, academically, all the ways that we want our kids
Speaker:to be successful even if they have a parent that's harsh
Speaker:or really dis emotionally disconnected.
Speaker:Now, what do you actually do
Speaker:as the parent who's co
Speaker:parenting along somebody who maybe is very punitive.
Speaker:If your co parent is like, if you don't
Speaker:listen to mommy, I'm not you can't watch TV all
Speaker:week. Or since you, you know, you hit your brother,
Speaker:that's it. I'm not, you know, I'm you don't get to play, you
Speaker:know, soccer all week or whatever. If your
Speaker:co parent comes up with a consequence
Speaker:that is like, if
Speaker:they come up with a consequence and they're the one who's gonna follow through on
Speaker:it and they're the ones who are in charge of that part of their kid's
Speaker:life, great. Just let it be. That's what it's like. That's your kid's life.
Speaker:They're learning how to be in a relationship with their parent
Speaker:and this is what it means and this is what the consequences are. It's
Speaker:okay. But if that means, like, say you
Speaker:are the person who's taking them to soccer all week or you're the person who
Speaker:typically lets them watch TV while you make dinner or a, and then your
Speaker:co a like, no TV all week. And they create
Speaker:a consequence that then you have to follow-up on and you don't agree with the
Speaker:consequence and it affects you, you can say
Speaker:no. You can say, a. It
Speaker:is okay for you to set up consequences in this family,
Speaker:you know, for that you can follow through on. It's not okay
Speaker:for you to set consequences that then I have to follow through on.
Speaker:That doesn't work for me. I don't agree with this
Speaker:consequence. I don't agree with how you handled it, and I'm not gonna
Speaker:follow-up on it. So you
Speaker:can say you need to find a consequence that you can
Speaker:enforce when you're around. So this
Speaker:is, I hope I'm explaining it well, but imagine your
Speaker:co parent is like, no sugar for the week.
Speaker:And then you're like, well, no. I have planned to make,
Speaker:you know, banana bread on Wednesday and take it to the park and give it
Speaker:to all the kids or whatever. And you're like, I'm not
Speaker:gonna, you know, follow through on their consequence.
Speaker:It can feel like you're lying or undermining or you're not being
Speaker:honest if you just, you know, don't do it.
Speaker:So instead of just, being passive aggressive about
Speaker:it, communicate. You need to go say to your partner, hey, I'm not doing
Speaker:that. I'm I'm in charge on Wednesday a I'm not doing
Speaker:that. So you kept to come up with a different consequence.
Speaker:So you're not telling them don't consequence our kids or don't follow through on
Speaker:your behavior, your limits or boundaries. Just don't
Speaker:involve me. Okay? I want
Speaker:you to feel strong enough to be like, no, I'm not doing that.
Speaker:It affects my rhythm. It affects my plan. It affects my routine. I didn't set
Speaker:this up. We did not talk about it. We're not this is you.
Speaker:You need to find a different way to, you know,
Speaker:follow through on this. Now
Speaker:some of you are like, I don't wanna tell
Speaker:my partner that. They're gonna get pissed.
Speaker:Yeah. That's part of being in a relationship with a with a peer,
Speaker:with an adult. If you're not gonna agree on
Speaker:your approaches, if you're not gonna agree on your philosophies,
Speaker:that means they're gonna do their thing and you're gonna do your thing,
Speaker:and they can do their thing. You're not telling them not to. You're just
Speaker:saying you need to make that happen when you're,
Speaker:like, in charge of them. It's the last thing
Speaker:we need is for a co parent who's being harsh and punitive and
Speaker:not following, like, not following the approach we're following a
Speaker:then asking us to do the dirty work,
Speaker:so to speak. It just isn't gonna feel good
Speaker:to you. It's not gonna feel aligned. You're gonna end up
Speaker:being passive and not following through on it because it's not gonna
Speaker:feel good. And then you're gonna be like, well, daddy said or mommy
Speaker:said that you can't have this, but I'm gonna give it to you anyway.
Speaker:And now all of a sudden you're pushing you're showing the children that
Speaker:you aren't aligned. I want you to privately
Speaker:be misaligned and make a
Speaker:plan privately and then come to the kids and say, I know daddy
Speaker:said that about sugar, but he and I have agreed that we're you're gonna do
Speaker:something different to make that right or or that consequence we're shifting
Speaker:that a. And it's gonna happen, you know, this weekend with
Speaker:daddy or it's gonna happen this weekend with mommy.
Speaker:So you're still on the same page to the kids. You're like, no. No. We're
Speaker:not aligned. We're just changing it a little bit and and doing it slightly different
Speaker:than what we said we were gonna do. But you're still gonna he's daddy's still
Speaker:following up. Mommy's still following up. So
Speaker:you are being really honest and
Speaker:talking about things and talking them through.
Speaker:It sounds like as I do this episode, I'm like, god. There's so many
Speaker:fucking conversations I'm telling you to have, which is annoying,
Speaker:but it's kind of what is required. It doesn't
Speaker:have to be a 100,000,000 conversations. This when you have them, make
Speaker:them intentional. If you
Speaker:are sitting with something that doesn't feel right, think
Speaker:about it and then say, hey. I need to talk to you about something. And
Speaker:then have a conversation that is focused on a specific,
Speaker:a specific topic. Like, instead of being like, well, that was rude. You were so
Speaker:rude. That was don't talk to our kids like that. Those
Speaker:you already have a 100 conversations with your co parent. I'd
Speaker:rather you have fewer a higher quality,
Speaker:more intentional. So you might need to go back and listen to this
Speaker:episode to really kind of break it down. I'll break it down for you now.
Speaker:But thinking about, first, the
Speaker:conversation that has to take place is what
Speaker:are our values as a
Speaker:parenting unit? Are we
Speaker:foundationally on the same page? Are we
Speaker:philosophically on the same page? Do we agree
Speaker:that our children's emotional life matters
Speaker:as much as how they act?
Speaker:So how they feel and how they act. Do we care about both those
Speaker:things? Because
Speaker:this model that you've been learning by listening to this podcast is a
Speaker:both model. It's feelings first,
Speaker:behavior second. So we are
Speaker:doing following through on behavior and we're setting boundaries and we're
Speaker:letting our kids experience the impact of their behavior through
Speaker:consequences. So we are doing that and we're
Speaker:emotionally coaching our kids. We're giving them language to talk about their
Speaker:emotions while also managing our own emotions.
Speaker:So you wanna ask your co parent, hey. Do you align
Speaker:with these? And then when you are aligned, you are on
Speaker:the same page. If you find yourself misaligned, you can
Speaker:connect back. If you have this conversation and you
Speaker:find out that you are misaligned and that's how it is, you guys have
Speaker:different philosophies, that's okay.
Speaker:They get to set up boundaries and limits how they set them up.
Speaker:You get to set them up the way you set them a, but the
Speaker:decision or the agreement needs to be he
Speaker:or she follows up in their way and you follow-up in your way.
Speaker:And each of you are taking responsibility for how
Speaker:you how you parent.
Speaker:So the takeaway here is your co
Speaker:parent, they get to choose what they want
Speaker:their relationship with their child to look like. You can
Speaker:have conversations with them if they're open to it,
Speaker:but you don't get to control how
Speaker:they behave with your kid. You
Speaker:just don't. So you you get to
Speaker:control how you behave with your kid.
Speaker:You can if you're in a committed relationship and you both love each other and
Speaker:you wanna talk about it, you can. You can hire me a we I can
Speaker:help you get on the same page if you can't quite figure it out.
Speaker:But if you really realize, like, okay, we have different values here. They're
Speaker:not into the whole emotion thing. This is typically what I see.
Speaker:They're not into the whole emotional thing. Okay. Fine. They
Speaker:can have boundaries. They can follow through, and they calm do it on their
Speaker:a when they're in charge, and you'll do it when you're in charge in
Speaker:your way. And that just is an agreement you make.
Speaker:No matter what, you are responsible
Speaker:for how you set boundaries and how you follow through with them.
Speaker:You you are responsible when you're with your child to
Speaker:emotionally coach them and help them understand their feelings and
Speaker:giving them tools to manage their emotions in healthy ways.
Speaker:These are your commitments. Your co parent does not need to make the
Speaker:same commitments. So when you do your job,
Speaker:when you do the things that you've committed to, your kid benefits.
Speaker:You're always progressing forward in
Speaker:if you are keeping with your own values. Even if your co parent doesn't
Speaker:parent the same way as you, you are moving your child
Speaker:closer to emotional health and
Speaker:personal responsibility without shame. Super cool. Right?
Speaker:I hope that this gives you some strategies, but, really, I hope you
Speaker:feel a little bit more freedom. Like, okay. They can do their thing. They
Speaker:can be harsh. They can be punitive. You know, they can say critical things. I'm
Speaker:gonna emotionally coach my kids. I'm gonna let my co parent follow through on their
Speaker:consequences, and I'm gonna leave it be
Speaker:and trust that my kid's gonna be okay. I'm not gonna freak
Speaker:out. I'm not gonna get mad. I'm gonna have conversations and
Speaker:then I'm gonna let it play out. Yeah?
Speaker:It's hard. It's hard. It's hard to parent alone. For those of you
Speaker:single parents who don't have a co parent, you know, it's super
Speaker:challenging. It's exhausting. You don't have anyone to to bounce ideas
Speaker:off with. You don't have anybody to, like, tap in and out with. It's
Speaker:hard. And it's really hard to co
Speaker:parent because you don't have all the
Speaker:control and that can be really overwhelming and
Speaker:frustrating. But you do have all of
Speaker:you single parent co parent with someone on the same
Speaker:page, co parent with someone on the same page. All of us
Speaker:have a lot of agency in how we parent our
Speaker:kids. So trust yourself,
Speaker:trust your kid, and keep going.
Speaker:Alright. I hope you have a great week. And if you want any
Speaker:support from me, reach out, book a consultation, and we calm
Speaker:talk about next steps and how to work together.
Speaker:Alright. I hope you have a great week.