Vicki Jenkins

Apr 06

Family Home Evening | Bring Power, Principle And Purpose Home

By DrPaul M-Power

Today, we’re going to discuss with you a topic that brings power, principle and purpose home. We call it Family Home Evening. This is going to rock your world. Paul: Vicki, we’ve had a practice in our family that I’ve realized in recent years (after the kids are grown) has been a really powerful practice. We have been implementing this in some of our parenting groups and the programs that we are doing for positive parenting. Some people call it different things, it could be family council, family together time, family night. I have one family that calls it family drum circle. It’s a meeting that you hold on a consistent basis, we recommend weekly. There are other things you ought to do daily, like family dinner, for example, but this is a meeting that you’ll hold once a week for a couple of very specific purposes. Implementing this as…

Apr 03

Love0

Why Is Family Dinner Time Important?

By DrPaul M-Power

Vicki: What is the importance of family dinner? Paul: Well you get to eat. Vicki: That is definitely one of them. There is a lot of research that shows that one of the most important things to do is to be at the crossroads of your children. Meaning, when they are coming and going in and out of the house. Paul: Especially if you can’t be there at the time like when the kids are coming home from school. Vicki: Even if you can, family dinner still is really great for a few reasons. There is some research that shows in those families that have consistent family dinners, there’s an increase in the child’s grades. Paul: It improves their grades? Vicki: Well, there is a correlation. There is also a reduced risk of drug abuse when they have consistent family dinners. Paul: Maybe I can say weird about correlation….

Mar 26

Love0

Why Is Communication So Challenging?

By DrPaul M-Power

Paul: Vicki, you’re a communications expert. There’s probably a lot of reasons why communication is so challenging in a marriage. There are a lot of reasons. How about we do the top 5? Vicki: Sounds good. Paul: You good? Should we start with the fifth? Vicki: Yeah. Let’s talk. Paul: Number 5. People are different. This is good, actually though differences create conflict. Any time you bring two people together they have different preferences or backgrounds or programming and ways they communicate. Differences are important to relationships because they give meaning to the relationship. They make us relevant and interesting to each other, but that can create conflict as well. That conflict often emerges in the communication patterns. Vicki: Reason number 4, language is tricky. Picking the right word, finding the right emphasis. But here’s the thing that I think is so important to remember. I recently read a study…

Mar 25

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Should A Husband Listen To His Wife?

By DrPaul M-Power

There’s a lot of reasons why you’re here today, Vicki. Should a husband listen to his wife? Vicki: Hmm, let’s talk about it. Paul: This could be a very short article, seriously. Vicki: Should a husband listen to his wife? Paul: Duh? Only, only if he wants a better marriage. I had a couple, I kid you not, just this past week. His main complaint was, “She won’t listen to me. I am trying to fix her problem and she won’t listen to me.” And I’m thinking, “I know what her problem is.” Vicki: Oh, my goodness. Paul: I just came back from a conference not too long ago with doctors John and Julie Gottman. I just respect these people so much. Dr. John and Dr. Julie Gottman have done some of the most influential research on couples that I’ve ever seen. They have made a big impact on the…

Mar 18

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Is Screen Time Dangerous For Kids?

By DrPaul M-Power

Our parents never had to deal with this question when we were kids because the world has changed. Is screen time dangerous for kids? Paul: There is actually a lot of studies coming out that are showing that yeah, there are some negative effects of too much screen time. But you know what? I think it’s important to recognize it’s not the screens that are the problem. But they are kind of like fire. I like this analogy. You know, Vicki how there was a time when our kids were little when there was a little fire that erupted? Vicki: [Laughs] Paul: Do you remember this? And fire is dangerous, right? It can burn down your house. It can consume a forest or even an entire community. We’ve seen this in the news from time to time. So, is fire a bad thing? No. Fire is a powerful thing. We…

Mar 17

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How To Improve Relationship With Parents

By DrPaul M-Power

Working with teens can be a real challenge. This post is for teens, to let them know how to improve their relationship with their parents. Paul: You know, Vic, when I’m working with families about this, the place that I always want to start is with an understanding of parent psychology. Vicki: Parent psychology for the youth? Paul” Yeah. Wouldn’t it be helpful? If you are a young person, think about it. Wouldn’t it be helpful to know how your parents are thinking? What is going on in their mind? Vicki: Is that possible? I’m curious, what is parent psychology? Paul: Okay. So, this is interesting because we’ve done a lot of videos on our You Tube Channel, Live On Purpose TV, for parents about the three stages of moral development. This is parent psychology. Parents think in a very predictable way and judge where their kids are depending on…

Mar 16

Love0

Four Hacks For Rambunctious Kids

By DrPaul M-Power

Do you have busy energetic children? We’ve got 4 hacks for rambunctious kids. Paul: I love that my job is to illuminate the obvious. Some obvious things are totally unnoticed and I think this is important to notice. Children’s work is? Vicki: Play. Paul: Right. So, here is hack number 1: Play with your kids. Get down on the floor with them. Don’t be afraid to interact with them on their level. I’ve found at least in my practice, and Vicki, maybe you can back this up in the kids that you have worked with, that sometimes kids become a little more hyper, a little more rambunctious when they are trying to get the kind of attention that they are really craving. Vicki: Definitely! Paul: As parents, we have other things to worry about. I mean, we need to take care of the house and earn some money to pay…

Mar 03

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Use This Method To Get Your Child To Listen And Behave

By DrPaul M-Power

Paul: We have a method to get your child to listen and behave. Let’s jump on the first part of that. The listen part. And Vicki, you can help us out with this because you are a communications expert. You work with kids all the time. How do we get our kids to listen first of all? I think we need to change the quality of our communication. Vicki: Right. So, mean what you say and say what you mean. Paul: Exactly. I like the way I’ve heard this put before that you turn your words from garbage into gold. What effect are your words having currently on your kids? Does it feel like they are treating your words like garbage? Like they don’t pay any attention? They don’t care what you say? Maybe we could increase the quality of what you are saying so that they know what to…

Dec 23

Love0

How To Have Patience With My Toddler

By DrPaul M-Power

Hey, Vicki. Cammy wrote in asking, “How do I have more patience with my toddler?” I’ve got some ideas. Do you? Vicki: Yeah. Let’s talk about it. Paul: Cammy, we got your back. Stay calm. We can break that down into a tool. So, let’s start with C in calm stands for care. Meaning self-care. Vicki: This is so important with toddlers. Paul: You have got to sometimes just take a step back when you are starting to get frustrated and impatient with your child. Make sure that they are safe and that they are cared for, for a minute, then step aside. Do whatever it takes. Take a bath. Do some reading. Go for a quick walk as long as the child is safe, right? You are just going to get a moment to take care of yourself. Paul: One of the barriers that you’ll come up against especially…

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