skip to Main Content
Episode 086. Raising Strong-Willed Children with Wendy Snyder

Episode 086

What kind of leader am I?

All my sisters who have a strong-willed child, please raise your hand. All my sisters with more than one strong-willed child, raise both hands (unless you’re driving). Those hands you have raised will be praise hands by the end of this episode. Our guest Wendy Snyder is incredible! I went into this conversation feeling like “yeah, I know about strong-willed children…three to be exact,” and came out feeling resourced and confident. I’m so so so excited to share her and her messages with you!

Our conversation is so cool because we talk about everything from details to philosophies. At one point she & I basically renamed Positive Parenting to Powerful Parenting and shifted our own perspectives and grew ourselves while we were sharing our hearts. That is a power of a conversation between moms who are passionate about figuring this motherhood thing out, sharing ideas and stories, and basically showing up as best we can even when we’re tasked with challenges like raising strong-willed children.

Wendy is going to show us how we can be both firm and kind leaders in our home and encourage us in such a genuinely supportive and informative way—I know you’ll love this conversation as much as I do!

Wendy’s Bio: Wendy Snyder is a Positive Parenting educator, family life coach & advocate. She is certified in Redirecting Children’s Behavior & The Joy of Parenting Program. Wendy founded her online business, Fresh Start Family, so that she could spread the message of positive parenting across the world. She is the developer of two online positive parenting courses (The Foundations Course & Jesus Guided Parenting) and also has a monthly membership program to further support families. Wendy helps families parent with great purpose and intention by creating healthy, respectful & cooperative relationships.

Be sure to check out today’s show notes for Wendy’s free guide to help you navigate & love life with your strong-willed kiddo! Click here.

In this episode, Wendy & I talk about:

  • Positive parenting—what it is (& isn’t)
  • What we did (& didn’t!) know before kids
  • How we can apply parenting
  • Cactus kids
  • Ending generational cycles
  • Curriculum for parents
  • The Foundations Course
  • We have choice when we have tools and a solid foundation
  • Dr. Rudolph Dryker’s Psychology
  • Family life coach—what it is and how one can help
  • When we are stuggling
  • Parenting from habit—and how we can break some bad habits
  • Support & community
  • Being shown how to parent instead of just being taught
  • The expectations we carry as parents
  • Busting through positive parenting myths
  • Finding the balance between firm and kind as parents
  • Parenting: connection vs. correction
  • Lead & influence instead of forcing our kids to comply
  • The power of humility & self-awareness
  • Finding the light, seeking the light, and guiding our kids toward the light
  • When we mess up
  • Yelling
  • Repeating cycles
  • Progress over perfection
  • Courage and bravery to parent in a way that aligns with your values
  • Having a kid that doesn’t fit in the box
  • A misbehaving child = a communicating child
  • Powerful Parenting! (What!?!?!? So good!)
  • Being honest with our kids when we mess up
  • Unconditional love—what that looks like and feels like
  • How to translate unconditional love to our kids so they understand it
  • Humility = power
  • Power kids thrive with responsibilities
  • “You get to be the president”
  • Empowering powerful kids to change
  • Assume the positive intent
  • Ask yourself: “What kind of leader am I?”
  • Influencing our kids to get on the same page instead of powering over our kids
  • Brene Brown: (different styles of power podcast Wendy referenced)
  • Motherhood is Leadership
  • Teacher’s Together: we’re teaching our kids, our kids are teaching us
  • Do parents realize they have a choice when parenting?
  • Curiosity as a parent
  • The Little Soul & the Sun book Wendy mentions
  • Moving away from the need to “fix”
  • These are opportunities for learning and not problems to be fixed
  • What flavor of tea are you? You don’t know until you are dipped in boiling water.
  • The natural development of life skills
  • The Five Basic Emotions: happy, sad, mad, hurt, & scared
  • Our quest for #honestmotherhood
  • Detachment…to get to attachment
  • Busting through the myths that we have to have control of our children
  • Busting through the myths that discipline must sting
  • One of the top questions Wendy gets: what happens when your spouse, partner, or co-parent isn’t on board
  • Follow your heart: you are in control of how you interact with your children
  • Learning to ask for what you want
  • Success stories of partners getting on board and learn alongside us
  • Is it ever too late to change your parenting?
  • A tip to get our power kids’ misbehavior to go down
  • Connection, integrity, community, leadership, positivity, peace, joy, curiosity, humility, power, teaching compassion, and choice
  • Wendy’s free guide & worksheet for positive parents

Wendy’s Links: Website, Instagram, and Facebook

Follow us on Instagram, @loribethauldridge and @elevatingmotherhood. Like, comment, and share that you’re listening to the podcast!

Be sure to SUBSCRIBE so you never miss an episode!

Love the podcast? Please let me & your mama friends know! Leave a review on iTunes to let me what’s serving you best. And share, share, share the show on social media, with friends & family, by word of mouth—whatever way you want to bring in your sisters to the conversation as we elevate modern motherhood together!

SPONSORS

Blossom & Root: Today’s episode of Elevating Motherhood is sponsored by Blossom & Root a nature-based, Charlotte Mason inspired homeschool curriculum company that has been gently guiding and supporting families for years! This thoughtful, age appropriate curriculum begins at the preschool level with options all the way up to 4th grade with more grade levels being released each year.

Blossom & Root is the homeschool curriculum my family uses and loves! The information and ideas are easy to follow, fun, and engaging. If you’re new to homeschool or looking for an inspired homeschool curriculum to help you lovingly teach and guide your children, I highly recommend Blossom & Root. Using this curriculum has brought so much connection and joy to our homeschool days—I love it! Blossom & Root has generously offered a discount for listeners of Elevating Motherhood: use the code LORIBETH10 at checkout for 10% OFF your order.

For more information about Blossom & Root, head over to www.elevatingmotherhood.com/homeschool

Primally Pure: Thanks for Primally Pure for supporting today’s episode. Primally Pure, is one of my favorite companies. They excel at creating safe, natural skin care products made with quality ingredients. Primally Pure has become my go-to brand for clean, non-toxic face cleaners, creams, and even home scents. I’m in love with their Palo Santo Collection. They’re also the makers of my favorite all-natural (& effective!) deodorant. (I love their blue tansy one…my husband Chris loves their tea tree scent. It also comes in lavender, charcoal, geranium, lemongrass, & unscented). They have a really great quiz on their website right now for you to find out more about your skin and what might work well for you. Primally Pure has also generously offered a discount code for Elevating Motherhood listeners: be sure to use the code: LORIBETH10 for 10% OFF your first order. For a list of my favorite products & more information, head over to www.elevatingmotherhood.com/primallypure

LINKS

Love the Show? Leave a review on iTunes!
Connect with Lori Beth on Instagram: @loribethauldridge and @elevatingmotherhood
Visit Today’s Sponsors: Blossom & Root + Primally Pure
More About Your Host: Lori Beth’s Blog