What's in your parenting toolbox?

When I work with parents as a home visitor, I use the analogy of a toolbox to discuss various aspects of parenting.  As an interventionist, my job is to give parents tips and strategies, what I like to call "tools," to use at home to help their child's development.  When I am facilitating a parenting class or speaking to a parenting group, I often share tools related to discipline, organization or general family life. 

My passion in life is to empower parents to explore these tools and so they can figure out which ones work best for them and their child.  The more tools you have in the toolbox, the more prepared you are to fix or address potential problems.   Some parents may use a variety of tools throughout the day, others have a handy all-purpose tool while many of the others collect dust. 

So why am I writing about this?  I guess I want to be clear to all about my intentions in becoming a Mentor Mom and starting this blog.  My goal is to help you fill your parenting toolbox.  As a result, I'm going to write and share suggestions covering a variety of different issues related to parenting.  Some will be hands-on or action oriented in nature, others will be more educational.  I want to become your personal "google" regarding parenting issues letting you pick and choose what you walk away with.  Just keep in mind that although a particular tool may not be of use now, you may want to tuck it away for the future (we need all the tools we can get when we are raising teens!).

It is up to you to decide which you will put in your toolbox and those you will not.  You know you and your child best.  If I suggest a strategy and you need to tweak it, go for it.  What works for one family often will not work for another. 

I take no offense if you walk away with only one tool or none at all.  I take no offense if you disagree with a suggested tool.  As a matter of fact, I encourage you to share your thoughts as there are probably many others who feel the same way.   

Whew, that was some serious stuff, huh?  Sorry about that.  Back to lighter topics next time.  In the meantime, I hope my intentions are now clear and that you will continue to keep coming back.  I have been overwhelmed and humbled by the number of visitors and total number of page views of this sight in such a short period (nearly 800 in just three weeks!).  Thank you so very much for your interest and support.  And stay tuned...I've got some EXCITING stuff coming up over the next couple of months :)

In the meantime, I would like to ask anyone who has a particular parenting question or is having difficulty with a specific situation or behavior at home to e-mail me.  With your permission, I would like to respond the question via a post on my blog.  So question away!