Parenting is challenging, and as hard as we try to avoid making mistakes, we muck it up sometimes. Even when our hearts are in the right place, it’s tough to be a parent sometimes. The huge challenges in today’s busy world can bring a layer of chaos and confusion into the happiest of homes. If you feel stressed, overwhelmed, or downright hopeless at times, you’re not alone. Dr. Carla is joined by parenting expert Maggie Stevens, whose wisdom and uplifting tips will help make parenting more manageable and less stressful. Together, we will discover the best strategies for parenting with ease, balance, and joy.

 

Books by Dr. Carla Manly:

Date Smart: Transform Your Relationships and Love Fearlessly

Joy From Fear: Create the Life of Your Dreams by Making Fear Your Friend

Aging Joyfully: A Woman’s Guide to Optimal Health, Relationships, and Fulfillment for Her 50s and Beyond

The Joy of Imperfect Love: The Art of Creating Healthy, Securely Attached Relationships

 

Book by Maggie Stevens:

The Parent Fix: When Parents Change . . . Kids Change

 

Connect with Dr. Carla Manly:

Website: https://www.drcarlamanly.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drcarlamanly

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/drcarlamanly

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drcarlamanly

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carla-marie-manly-8682362b

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@dr.carlamariemanly8543

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@dr_carla_manly

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Listen to the podcast here

 

Empowering Tips for Parents Facing Stress and Overwhelm with Expert Maggie Stevens

Simple, Uplifting Insights to Help You Parent with Love and Balance–and Far Less Stress!

As every parent knows, it’s impossible to be a perfect parent or a perfect child. Life is challenging. As hard as we try to avoid making mistakes in the parenting process, we muck it up sometimes even when our hearts are in the right place. In this episode, we will be focusing on this audience’s question, which illuminates a big struggle for so many parents around the world. Here’s the question, “I’ve worked so hard to give my kids the loving parenting I didn’t get as a child yet things are out of control. My kids, ages 7, 9, and 11, are disrespectful. They talk back. I feel helpless and sometimes hopeless. Do you have any suggestions?”

 

 

I’m joined by a very special guest, Maggie Stevens, who will be sharing her expertise on how to create healthy parenting step–by–step. It’s not complicated. It’s nice and simple step-by-step interactions for parents so that they can feel powerful and effective when they’re working with their kids. Maggie, thank you so much for joining us.

I’m so glad to be here with you, Carla. You’ve got such a great topic, and you know so much about it yourself that I’m thrilled to be here and add anything I can to the show.

I know you will because you are not just a parent. You’re the amazing author of The Parent Fix. Before we launch into that, tell us a little bit about what makes you you.

Calling all parents! Feeling stressed, frustrated, or overwhelmed? This podcast is for you! Join Dr. Carla and parenting expert Maggie Stevens for an uplifting podcast focused on creating simple, can-do parenting strategies. Improvement, not… Click To Tweet

I didn’t realize this when I was in high school or college but I’ve figured out that I’m a nurturer, whether it’s plants in my gardens, my children, my grandchildren, or a stray off of the street. I have this bond that I need to help the underdogs find their way, have confidence, and feel good about themselves. There’s nothing more rewarding than seeing that from somebody. It came down through my line. My father was that way. His mother was that way. I would love to take full credit for it but it was a gift.

I love hearing that your father was a major influence because my brain naturally went to nurturing moms but you were one of the blessed ones who had a nurturing father. Was your mom also a nurturer or just your dad?

My mom was a nurturer but my dad was probably more soft and gentle, which is unusual sometimes for people to have that. He was a soft and gentle person who loved mankind and people. He was good with people, and he was especially good with his children. My siblings and I were very fortunate to have him as a dad.

How many siblings?

I have three siblings, 2 sisters, and 1 brother.

You’re a family of 6 with 4 kids, mom, and dad. It sounds like a beautiful childhood. With this question, so many parents feel like they don’t have the space to create this beautiful and nurturing childhood. Before we get into that, this is so off-topic. I can help it but I don’t want to. If we have that nurturing energy that I do and that you do, there’s something wrong with that. In our world, being a nurturer somehow means you’re going to be a doormat, people are going to take advantage of you and trot on you, and you are naturally going to be a people pleaser. What would you say about that?

To be a nurturer, you’re also a protector. We could be doormats but I’m sure you’re like this too, Carla. When we see somebody being hurt by another person, I have no problem stepping in and stopping what I see happening. I don’t feel that way. I feel strong, empowered, and also humble, which are three of the traits you need to be a nurturer. You’re not weak because you’re loving. You’re strong, and you have more power being this way. You get more done and can affect more people than someone who has a dominant bullying type of personality.

You brought tears to the corners of my eyes and my heart because I’ve never heard someone put it that way, “I’m a nurturer. To be a nurturer, you also have to be a protector.” It makes perfect sense when you illuminate it that way. For those of us who grew up with parents who were overly strict, dismissive, or not nurturing, or there wasn’t balance, it makes sense that if you had the joy of growing up with parents who were protective in the right ways and nurturing in healthy ways, then that makes you a very boundaried nurturer, a new term. That’s a good one. Let’s coin it.

We have this boundaried nurturer who is strong, empowered, and humble. You have this nurturing energy but you also have strength and humility, and you’re empowered. I’m glad I got off on that tangent because so many women and men will welcome this message. For parents of whatever gender, it’s not only okay to be a nurturer regardless of your gender but let’s embrace the nurturing energy and also add a huge dose of balanced protection to that.

You’re making me think of my first book, Joy from Fear. I was advised not to go into masculine and feminine energy but instead to talk about it in different terminology. I came up with the nurturing energy. It’s nurture and power energy. I’m now thinking of how applicable that is here. We as women don’t want to be just nurturers. We want that balance of power. No matter whether you’re male or you identify in some other way, it’s important, regardless of gender, to have the nurturing energy and the powering energy in balance because they both have a big role in being human and a parent.

That’s so true. As women, sometimes we think of ourselves as weak or feel like people look at us as weak. One of the things I’ve learned from being a mother and a grandmother and writing the book and doing lectures is that as women, we are strong. We are a very strong and powerful people. We have to remember that and keep our strength in check so that we don’t come across as mean or tough. There’s no need for that. We can still have our gentleness, our love, or that endearing part of women but never think that is a lesser power or a weakness because it is a strength. You have to be careful with that as a woman. We are powerful. We are not the weaker sex but we have such an addition to it by adding our love and empathy. It’s not that men don’t have it but lots of women come by it so naturally.

Women are very strong and powerful people, and we have to remember that. Click To Tweet

I love everything you were saying. I also love the nod going back to your dad that it’s not exclusively for women. We all have these qualities we can choose to nurture if we want and bring them forward. I have a question for you. I’m so glad that we have this bit of background because it’s so rich. If we go to the question of the day where it sounds like we have segued into it perfectly, here’s this mom. I don’t know if she’s partnered or not but she’s feeling lost. She’s feeling as though she’s trying so hard to give her kids the love that she apparently didn’t feel as a child. These kids are running amok and they don’t respect her.

You are smiling, which is so lovely because I can feel her pain and then I see your joy. I’m like, “We do have a good answer for this.” Please let me know. If you were her therapist, being an expert in this and the author of The Parent Fix, how would you coach her to come forward? It sounds like she might have the nurturing down pat but maybe not the empowerment and the boundaries. What do you think?

I smile because I had this conversation with my daughter about her and her children. It’s easy to smile when you’re through that stage in life. It’s not that you’ve conquered it but you get it. Sometimes it’s more difficult than we realize going into being a parent. I say, “Simplify love.” That’s all you have to do. You do that, and your children respond in the way that you go, “This isn’t what I was asking for. I’m doing my best here, and they’re not responding the way that the book says they will or the way that I feel that they should.” It is a very simple answer.

It’s with each individual child. You have to look at the child and their behavior and then ask yourself, “Why would the child be acting like this? What is causing my child to treat me with disrespect or tease their younger sister?” Maybe it’s stealing the car. Maybe they’re doing things that are not happy or good behavior. Don’t blame yourself. This is not anything you did. Your parenting techniques are correct if you’re loving that child and doing the best you can. Remember one thing. I’ll jump around a little bit. You are the best parent for that child. You are their mainstay. Don’t ever forget that. Don’t ever belittle yourself or feel like you’re not doing good enough. That’s the number one step.

Let’s hope I don’t take you off course because I can feel so many parents, probably me at times, saying, “I’m the best parent for these kids. They’re talking back to me. I must be a bad parent.” Let’s take it to this Mom. If she’s beating herself up and saying, “I’m doing it wrong,” is it simply a matter of course-correcting and saying, “Maybe I need help and support but what I have that my child needs is my gift of love to them.” Is that what you mean? Is that the place to go, “I might need resources. This is my child, and I love them in a way no one else can.” Is that the tip?

The tip is your love is the very best thing you can give to that child. It’s your home of having a safe haven and your being of adoring this child. If you did everything else wrong, that’s the number one thing you need to do right. Pat yourself on the back. You’ve done that. Doing that does not mean your children will behave perfectly. It never means that. It also does not mean that you are doing a bad job as a parent. It means, “If there’s a problem, we need to figure out how to fix it.”

 

 

You’re going to learn so much from these children you’re raising. Look at it more as a learning lesson on not beating yourself up that you’re not doing it right because none of us know how to do this right. On the first time through when raising kids, your kids will introduce you to things that you will think, “I didn’t ask for this,” but you will learn more.

The key is don’t take it internally, especially with teenagers. Teenagers can make you feel like a terrible mother with some of the things they will say and do. You’re not a terrible mother. You’re there for that child, and you will figure out how to make this work. That’s like a job at work. If a problem comes up, you’re there to figure it out. You’re the adult. You will figure it out. This is the main topic. Do not beat yourself up over it. Realize, “I have to find the solution to the problem.” Does that make sense?

It makes perfect sense. I love how we can boil it down to shame, blame, and guilt don’t do any good. All we want to do is say, “There’s a problem. I’m trying. I love my kids. Let me not shame, blame, or guilt trip myself. Let me figure out the next best step forward.”

That’s why it’s good to have other moms with kids around the same age who are friends that you trust and can share your child’s worst moments because they may have gone through that. They may say, “That’s normal. That’s fine. My child did that to me.” Shame or hiding is the worst thing. Bring it out in the open. Talk to other parents about it. Talk to Carla about it. Contact me. Ask questions. That’s how you solve the problem. Don’t beat yourself up over it. You’re solving the problem. You’re okay, your child is okay, and there is a solution to it.

I am so with you. Before we move to step two, I want to say that in the shame, blame, guilt thing, you are using energy when you’re shaming, blaming, and guilting yourself. Instead, use that energy to say, “I love myself. I love my kids. I want to find the next best step.” Use the energy in a way that’s going to get you out of the rut you’re in instead of making that rut deeper. What is step two?

I get a lot of flack for this. Step two is lower your expectations when your children are concerned, and then they will exceed those expectations. When your child feels pressure from you to behave or perform a certain way, it’s pressure on them. Let them take that pressure off your shoulders and put it on theirs. Let them come up with what they want to achieve. Don’t look at other people’s children and think, “Why aren’t my kids like that? Why aren’t they doing that?” That’s one of the number one ways to make you feel bad about what you’re doing as a mom.

Not only would it make the parent feel horrible but then the child feels horrible and learns to get into that very toxic comparison cycle, “I’m not like Joey. I’m not like Melinda or whomever,” when they’re not like that other person. Let’s focus on you being your best you.

That’s so true. It gives you confidence as a mom or a woman to think, “I’m unique in this way. I’m good at this. Maybe my kids will be good at this. Maybe they won’t.” Lower your expectations to think we all have to be the same because none of our families look the same. None of our children look the same. None of us look the same, and that’s okay. You have to be okay with who you are inside, not somebody else’s family.

None of our families look the same; none of our children look the same; none of us look the same, and that's okay. You just have to be okay with who you are inside, not somebody else's family. Click To Tweet

I want a little clarification because I can imagine some reader’s minds are going, “That means I should let my child be on the phone whenever they want and lower my expectations around that. I should let my child go out in shorts that are the size of a handkerchief. I should let my child bully my other child. That’s lowering my expectations.” Is that what you mean?

Not one bit. I thank you for bringing it up because that’s why I get flack so many times from parents for saying, “Lower your expectations.” You have your beliefs, morality system, and what is okay with you. One of the most important things and one of the things we very rarely do is sit down and have a family council session with your children so you can talk about what’s bothering you, what’s bothering them, what needs to change, why that needs to change, and how you’re going to change it.

You talk in this family council or whatever you want to call this meeting that you have with your kids once a week or every day. It’s up to you to decide. You sit down and discuss what your goals are, why you have them, what your low expectations are, and why you have them. You give your children a chance to talk about that. If it were the daughter’s dressing, or she walks out of the house in the most obscene clothing or immodest clothing, you can talk to her about why she shouldn’t do that, what that does when a young teenage guy her age sees her looking like that, and what he thinks about that.

Sometimes as parents, we don’t have these discussions with our kids and explain the most common reasons why we don’t stay on our cell phones all day. There’s tons of research about that and screen time for kids. If you’re a mom that’s on your phone all the time, your kids are going to be on their screens all the time. It’s common sense. Think about the problems that are going on in your house or the behaviors you want to see change.

You have to be careful with these family councils in that you’re not spending the entire time belittling your kids or telling your kids everything they’re doing wrong but you can say things like, “Tell me how you feel about this because this is how mom feels. This is why I feel this way. How can we solve this problem? How can we together figure out a way to make this work?” It may be, “Mom needs a little more help around the house.” She makes up a list with the kids, “How do you think you could help mom?” When the child comes up with their solutions, it’s amazing to see how much more involved they’re willing to be.

When the child comes up with their own solutions, it's amazing to see how much more involved they're willing to be. Click To Tweet

You can get their help instead of you saying, “I want this bathroom cleaned. I want it done now.” The child may do it. They do a terrible job. They’re angry at mom. It doesn’t have to be that way in the house. You can sit down as a family and say, “Here’s what I need. Can you help me? What can I do to help you?” If you have this family council, it solves so many problems of kids talking back, anger, and expectations, “I’m not getting what I want so I’m going to take it out on you.” Does that make sense?

It makes so much sense. I’m laughing at myself. When my kids were little, I created chore charts, and they did the chores that I requested. It didn’t have a high success rate. Now, I hope I’m quite a bit smarter than that. What you are saying is instead of doing a top-down approach, do the teamwork approach. You’re still the boss. You’re still the parent but you want to bring the children into the fold so that they can express what their feelings are, what their needs are, and what their preferences are.

There’s a lot of research that backs this up. When you give children choices, they come forward in a far more collaborative, positive, and energetic way than when they are forced to do something. We’re all a bit like that. It’s not just children. We like the power of choice. What you’re saying is if your kids are being disrespectful, maybe start calling. I don’t think it’s ever too early or too late to call family meetings. This isn’t the time to chastise kids. It’s a time to collaborate with them.

 

 

I want your opinion on this piece because I had read some research about it. When it comes to a consequence if this parent says, “Next time when you don’t do the chore that you signed up for doing that you thought was a good chore, what do you think the consequence should be?” I’ve heard that the research shows that when the child comes up with their consequence, it’s often as tough if not tougher than what the parent would have come up with.

That is so true. Knowing that consequence makes them think a lot more before they make a mistake or do something they know will bother their parents. It makes such a difference in parenting. You’re not just being a friend to these kids. You are still their parent but it makes them think about what they’re doing. That’s what your whole goal is in raising your children. It’s to teach them correct principles so they can govern themselves. Not only does it create a much calmer atmosphere in the home. You’re teaching your child.

Your whole goal in raising your children is to teach them correct principles so they can govern themselves. Click To Tweet

It makes perfect sense because for our readers to realize that when a child comes up with something, then they’re more likely to be internally motivated. Coming from this place of, “I want to get a B. I want to have a clean bedroom. I want to do this,” rather than an external motivation, which is, “Mom and Dad said I have to do this. If I don’t, I’m going to be putting time out, restricted, or whatever is happening.” It sounds like that’s what you’re saying. Teach the child to be internally motivated. That’s far more lasting as far as a strategy for parents. You get that child hooked with an internal motivation.

It saves the relationship. It saves you from having to be the heavy that comes down on them all the time. You let them do it to themselves. You don’t have to. If you have a child that is talking back to you on a regular basis, listen to their words. I know it’s difficult. As a mom, you have to almost have a shield. When they say hurtful things, you let them bounce off.

It’s more looking at the child and thinking, “Something is hurting them. Something is wrong. Let me figure out what that is.” They do love you. They lash out because they feel safe around you. I know it’s hard. I know it’s difficult. Every mom goes through this. When the child says something awful to them, it hurts but let it bounce off. Remind yourself, “They love me. I’m the adult here. I’m going to help them work through this.”

If your child is talking disrespectfully and says, “I hate you. You’re the worst mother ever,” and you put up your shield and let it bounce off you, then what would the mother say? “Could you tell me why you’re speaking to me that way?”

Yes or, “I’m sorry you feel that way. I love you.” You can even be honest and say, “That hurt me. Why would you say that?” There are a lot of things but usually, the child is hurting when they say something like that. Do listen to why. Maybe there are some things as a mom you are doing that are hurtful to that particular child. That may be some of it. Listen to what they’re saying. If it’s mean and hurtful remarks, let them bounce off. Try to show more love toward them afterward. This is hard. It sounds so easy, pleasant, and nice. This is not easy but you will have much better success with that child by not reacting to whatever it is that they’re upset over.

Readers, I hope that makes sense. If the child is saying something unkind, horrible, and hurtful, you don’t have to stand there and take the abuse. We’re not advocating that. We’re simply saying, “Don’t internalize it. Don’t take it on and get curious about where it’s coming from.” As Maggies say, it’s okay and appropriate to say, “That’s hurtful. Why are you doing that?” What would you say, Maggie? I would say that it’s okay to say, “It’s not acceptable to talk to me that way,” if the child is swearing at you. That’s healthy to have good boundaries and say, “This is not okay to talk to me this way. It’s hurtful. It’s upsetting. I want to know where it’s coming from. Would you please share with me what’s going on for you?”

That’s perfect. Your calming influence or the way you said that was so perfect. I can tell you’re a therapist. The way you calmed it right down and brought it back to the child disarms them. If it’s very extreme and you need to remove yourself from the room for a few minutes, that’s better than sending the child to the room. That’s my personal preference. Sometimes I say, “That hurts. I need to move away for a minute.” You can calm yourself down and then be able to do it. Carla beautifully said, “Where is this coming from? What’s hurting you?”

You and I have a similarity here. I wouldn’t hesitate to do it in this life as well but when my kids were little, I would take timeouts and say, “Mommy needs a timeout. Mommy is going to go and have some quiet time.” I put myself in timeout so that I could chill and reset. Parents, you get to put yourself in timeout. That’s okay because we don’t want to react to our kids. We want to be able to respond to them from a place of balance and be curious. I could talk to you for hours about this. Let’s move to the third tip. What’s the third strategy?

The third strategy is to remember that you are learning along with your child. This is a process. Nobody can be the perfect parent as you cannot be the perfect wife, woman, worker, or coworker. You are in a learning process. Try not to beat yourself up over not knowing what to do. Most of the advice I give is common sense. It’s not difficult to figure out on your own.

Constantly tell yourself, “I’m learning this. How can I be better?” It’s not, “I’m a bad mom.” Any verbiage you hear yourself in your mind saying over and over, “I’m bad at this. I’m not good,” try and wipe that off your list and replace it with, “I’m learning to be a good parent here.” You can say that to your child. I remember watching my teenagers’ faces as I said that because it changed the conversation from, “I’m the one responsible here,” to, “I’m learning as a parent here. Help me.”

That fits with the first principle that we talked about. This one is to be able to have that lifelong learning attitude because kids, at every developmental stage, are different. Even if you have 2 or 3 kids, in each one of their stages, there might be similarities but those kids are going to be different. You get through this phase, and then it’s nonstop. That’s so important to be able to embrace the idea that it’s an imperfect science at best. We can get a lot right when we lead with love and hopefully get very little deeply wrong.

That is so true. That should be the basis of your home. If you can have that safe haven, they know Mom will react with love. They know how she’s going to react. You will find out maybe more than you wanted to know about your team. They will tell you things. Think about it. When you talk to a friend, a therapist, or a counselor, you know they’re going to react in your camp on your side, and they’re there to help you get through whatever it is you’re going through, it creates such deep friendships and bonds. When your kids have long left your home, you will be friends. They will come to you for advice. Start it when they’re young and going this whole way through the process so that they know what to expect out of you creates deep relationships.

Tip three ends up being a very big tip. It jumps back a bit to the tip one about not being hard on yourself but then it comes through with this lifelong learning piece. Reach out for support. I’m also picking up something very important. When we are in the thick of something, we often don’t have common sense because we’re getting activated. We are confused. The kids are screaming. Things are going wrong. Don’t beat yourself up about that because we have all been there.

When we are activated or when we are in the thick of something, we can’t see the forest for the trees. That’s when we get to reach out to a therapist, mom, sister, girlfriend, or support group because what seems obvious maybe in hindsight at the time is so out of reach. It doesn’t even dawn on us sometimes. That’s what makes us such imperfectly and wonderfully confused human beings.

Everything you said was perfect although we’re not perfect people. Sometimes I would be up all night worrying about something with one of my children, or I hadn’t done right or said something right. I would go out for a walk or run the next morning. It was amazing how my head cleared, and I see what needed to be done. Not all the time but sometimes you need space in between, and you will get answers. You will get clarity that you think, “That’s what I needed to do.” It is perfectly okay if you’ve made a mistake or you’ve yelled at your child, and it hasn’t gone well to go to them and say, “I am so sorry. I handled that poorly.” Remember, apologies and love make all the difference. Children are so forgiving.

Thank you for bringing that up. I know we have to wrap up soon but I am so grateful for this piece that you brought up because we are often so hesitant to give apologies but when we teach our children the language of a true apology from the beginning, that’s the piece of humility. It also creates trust. It also creates, from my paradigm, this element of, “I’m imperfect, and I know it. I’ll get it wrong. When I get it wrong and you call it to my attention, I will apologize with humility and sincerity.”

This is the meat of the true apology. I will say, “I’m sorry. This is what I did incorrectly, and this is what I will do in the future or try very hard in the future to do differently. What do you need from me so that you can feel safe and loved again?” When we handle an apology in that way, we have come forward. We have allowed ourselves to learn and then given that child or whoever is across from us the ability to say, “That person gets it. They may have hurt me but their chances of them hurting me in the same way again are greatly reduced. They get me.” What do you think about that strategy?

It’s beautiful. We talked about women being humble. The ultimate humility is being able to say to someone, “I’m sorry.” Most of the time, people don’t mean to hurt you, especially your parent doesn’t mean to hurt you. As a parent, if you go to your child that way, you’ve not only let them feel your love but you’ve taught them how to give that love to others and pass that on. We do need in our world a little more humility, a little more love, and a lot of apologies.

The ultimate humility is being able to say to someone, “I'm sorry,” because oftentimes, people don't mean to hurt you. Click To Tweet

When I apologize that way, I can feel I’m growing and learning because I’m going, “I get it. I mucked it up here. I could do better here.” I’m up-leveling because I gave a true solid apology. I’m becoming a better human being whoever I’m with, whether it’s a kid or whatever. Once you get into the art of apologies, you realize, “This is pretty cool. It doesn’t mean I’m a stupid person. It means I’m an imperfect human who has the desire not to hurt others and who is willing to grow to do less hurting and more loving.”

You’re learning and trying to be better. What we’re all trying to do is do our best.

Let’s hope we’re all trying to do our best. That’s the ideal. I could go on for so long. Thank you so much. I didn’t even get to half of what I wanted to talk with you about but there’s another time perhaps in the future. Where can our readers find you?

My book is published by Familius.com. You can go there. I have my website. That is ParentFix.com. I came out with a workbook that goes along with The Parent Fix book. It’s so new. We have not gotten it on Amazon yet. If you’re interested, this workbook makes it so easy because it takes you step-by-step on writing down what you’ve done and how you’re going to change. I had a therapist and she helped me do it. I love it. I’ve even gone through and done it all myself. Until I get it on Amazon, you would have to contact me by email, which I’ll go and give out to your readers. It’s [email protected].

Thank you so much, Maggie. Readers, here are a few bits and such beautiful words of wisdom from Maggie that I need to fit in because they’re so precious. It’s a three-pronged approach. If you don’t take anything else from this episode, I love these pieces that came from Maggie’s pre-show worksheet with me. The first is to be adaptable. Go where your child is. In other words, meet your child at their level. That’s tip one.

Tip two, be available. Spend as much time together as possible. We’re talking quality time here. Step three, be loving. Let your child know how much you love them every day as much as possible. Here’s a wrap–up quote from Maggie, “Improvement, not perfection is the goal of parenting.” How would I do, Maggie? Did I sum that up well enough?

You did great, Carla. I so appreciate you. I love the way that I can say something, and you can take it to the next level and make it a reality for people to understand.

You make it easy. Thank you, Maggie, for being with us. It’s such a joy and such a pleasure. I so appreciate your wisdom and for sharing your time.

Thank you, Carla.

 

Important Links

• Maggie Stevens
• The Parent Fix
• Joy from Fear
• Familius.com
• [email protected]
• https://www.drcarlamanly.com
• https://www.Instagram.com/DrCarlaManly
• https://www.Twitter.com/DrCarlaManly
• https://www.Facebook.com/DrCarlaManly
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About Maggie Stevens

Maggie, author of The Parent Fix, graduated from Brigham Young University with degrees in Sociology and Youth Leadership. Professionally Maggie works with youth groups, parent groups and educators offering parenting help in today’s world. Maggie works with CBS, NBC and ABC affiliates nationwide presenting parenting segments. In San Diego, Maggie works with the San Diego Unified School District. Many of Maggie’s parenting segments can be viewed on the KSL Studio 5 website.

Maggie volunteers the majority of her time to The Parent Fix Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving family life. The health of any society lies in the strength of its families. Strengthening families will strengthen communities and nations. Maggie is a proud mother of five children and fifteen grandchildren.

Fresh off the press: The ParentFix Workbook (not yet available on Amazon) To order, contact Maggie at [email protected]