Megan Whitesides Coaching

I was always terrified to have teens. I can honestly say that it's been way more fun than I ever thought. I have worked hard on myself, certified as a life coach, and been coached and continue to get coached A LOT, and have learned to love the way I parent and learned to love my kids for who they are. From 18 years of experience with my own kids, teaching for 19 years and 5+ years of coaching I have found these 4C's are the most beneficial in helping parents in their parenting and maximizing the relationship with their kids. I am teaching a class on each of these 4C's starting in October. You'll learn more about them and how to apply them. All of these in conjunction with coaching make parenting easier and more fun. PLUS it'll help you with your teens. Relationships contribute to our overall happiness. You have the power to create the relationships you want. 1. Connection ➡ Building strong bonds and presence. Learn how to be intentional with time and attenti...

I love this quote by Andy Smithson. "The sign of great parenting isn't the child's behavior.  The sign of truly great parenting is the parent's behavior." This is such a great quote to ponder.   How do I respond when my child is having a tantrum? How do I respond when my kids are fighting? How do I respond when my kid is annoying? How do I respond when my kid won't do what I ask? How we respond makes a HUGE difference in how things will go.  It is hard to stay calm sometimes, but it makes a big difference.  I want to offer a few things that may help you to stay calm. 1.  You don't have to take action right away.  It's very beneficial to wait until you and your child are calm to either talk or enforce consequences. 2.  Take a time out yourself.  I remember feeling so mad at my son that I wanted to throw him in his room.  When I take a min. to be alone it's so much easier to calm down. 3.  I say this to myself, "It's his job to b...

What to do when you don't know what to do. Parenting can be hard.  There are times when I don't know what to do when: The kids are fighting. My teen comes home late. My son is having a tantrum. My son is crying. My child can't sleep. I feel mad, annoyed, irritated, etc. and I want to threaten and have all these consequences, but I know in the moment I am reacting.   As much as possible I try to keep my mouth shut until I am calmer so I don't say anything I regret. So here are a few things you can think that will help you to know what to do. 1.  ALLOW whatever feeling you are feeling.  Sometimes I feel bad that I feel annoyed and am not as kind as I'd like to be.  I am actually resisting what I'm feeling and that makes it worse.  So just LET yourself feel whatever you are in the moment.   2. REMIND yourself that this is just a moment.  You won't feel like this forever.  Find a phrase you believe that helps you remember not to react i...

If you want to feel better and fight less with your teen use  MGI (most generous interpretation) .  I learned this phrase from Dr. Becky Kennedy.   When my son was ornery the other night and a little snippy with everyone.  I thought he's probably tired.  I mentioned it to him and he said yes.  I said, "I know you're tired, you'll feel better in the morning." When my son was getting ready for school and came out and said loudly, "you won't help me."  I noticed he was frustrated and asked why?  He was trying to unstick a bandaid that had stuck together.  I said, "I'll just get you a new one, let's get ready for school." When my son said, "we always have the worst dinners."  I thought he doesn't like this one meal and he's hungry.  I said, "I bet you're hungry if you don't want this you can make yourself some toast." I believe that most people are doing the best they can, that most people have good i...

One thing you can do that will change your life is to write for 5 min. a day. Sometimes I think I don't have enough time to write, but when I think it's only for 5 min. my brain is on board and I set a timer and go. What do I write about?  So many things. Just last night I was feeling a little overwhelmed and urgent to get so many things done so I set a timer for 4.37😂 and I wrote all the things I think I should, want, and have to do.  Once I was done I went to bed. Did this solve all my to do's, NO, but I sure felt SO much better and today.  I was able to look over that list and prioritize. Here are a few common journal prompts that I write about. What am I thinking right now? What kind of mom do I want to be today? What kind fo wife do I want to be? What do I want and need? What do I think about so and so (usually I'm writing about my thoughts about a specific child)? What do I enjoy doing? How can I make my life more fun and enjoyable? How can I strengthen my relat...

I believe it's our job as parents to teach our kids about their emotions.  I think society is getting better with it being more talked about. Here are three steps you can use to start talking more about feelings in your home and as a result have less yelling, fighting, and arguing. This can be so simple when kids are young you can use phrases like, "I notice you seem mad." "I hear loud voices in here." "You have some big feelings." "It's ok to cry." "You seem concerned." Just acknowledging the feeling is the   first step .  That's easy to do with our kids.   The   2nd step   is to ask your child if they were/are feeling more   worried or concerned embarrassed or shy. When we give them options we help them to put a name to what they are feeling.  Often they don't know what they are feeling so we offer suggestions and let them decide. Step 3   get some sort of feelings chart you can hang somewhere. I'm always surprised...