Joyful Parenting

How to bolster emotional wellness and build better relationships

Erin Leyba LCSW, Ph.D.

Mindfulness Hacks for Busy Parents

Feeling stressed? These creative shortcuts help parents stay mindful, happy, present, grateful, and positive without taking more time out of their packed days.

3 Sweet Ways to Catch Your Kids Being Good

Acknowledging your kids' positive behaviors spreads joy, creates warmth, reinforces positive behaviors, and models sweetness.

The Overlooked Factor that Helps You Bond With Your Kids

Science suggests that family routines calm stress and promote bonding. Adding rituals, or “the sweetness, fun, or warmth that accompany routines” makes them even better.

5 Great Ways to Respond to Kids' Whining

While it's easy to react to whining, deemed "the most annoying sound in the world," with frustration or anger, research provides insight into some of the most effective responses.

5 Powerful Winter Solstice Practices for Parents

The more you clear space and work toward closure, the more you make space for all the good waiting for you around the corner of the new year.

16 Fun Games to Play with Toddlers & Preschoolers in the Car

Car rides can be meaningful ways to engage with toddlers and young children. They can help strengthen a playful bond and grow children's vocabulary and skills.

25 Simple Self-Care Tools for Parents

Many parents are exhausted and overworked. These ideas offer ways to engage in self-care, renew your energy, tune into feelings, and strengthen relationships in 10 minutes or less.

2 Minute Ways Couples Can Avoid Drifting Apart After Baby

By consciously pursuing two-minute actions that bond, repair, or boost a relationship, couples can help prevent a "silent drift apart after baby."

Not Naughty: 10 Ways Kids Appear to Be Acting Bad But Aren't

Understanding that many kid behaviors that appear to be naughty are normal responses to conditions, stressors, or developmental phases helps parents address them with compassion.

9 Micro-Behaviors That Feed Your Closest Friendships

Research suggests the benefits of friendship come from your 5 closest friends (not your 150 acquaintances). Here are 9 gestures that nurture close friendships.

10 Ways to Use Walks to Teach and Bond With Young Kids

Walks are a perfect way to help children learn concepts and have memorable experiences related to science, language, math, senses, nature, joy, and the community.

How Parents Can Leverage the Power of Intention

Setting specific, clear intentions can help parents create rich, meaningful relationships with kids and partners. Here are 3 creative ways to apply intention to family life.

The Surprising Effects of Parents' Sleep Deprivation

Sleep deprivation inhibits parents' ability to manage their emotions and reactivity to negative stimuli. It may also interfere with their verbal and nonverbal expressions of joy.

The Missing Piece for Many Parents: Time to Reflect

Stress, exhaustion, and overwork may be edging out the time parents need to synthesize, abstract, and articulate the parenting lessons that they glean from their experiences.

7 Exercises That Reduce Stress Better Than "Trying to Relax"

Sometimes willing yourself out of a stress cycle just doesn't work. Here's what can.

5 Simple Yet Powerful Ways to Get Kids to Cooperate

Parents have to move kids through tasks like chores, potty, teeth-brushing, etc. Here are 5 tools to strengthen cooperation, reduce resistance, and promote bonding along the way.

4 Powerful Ways to "Set the Vision" for Your Family's Day

How parents set the tone helps determine if their families will see the day as a disaster or a delight.

8 Ways Parents Can Stop Beating Themselves Up

Many parents beat themselves up over near-universal issues that are usually not their fault. Research suggests ways for parents to get good at mustering self-compassion.

The Surprising Present Young Kids Want During Holidays

Want to give children something special for the holidays? Let them help you with your Christmas tasks.

7 Ways Parents Can Build Joy in 15 Minutes or Less

Research suggests that 15-minute bursts of focused time can help parents build more joy, strengthen their relationships, and recharge their batteries.

Use Holidays to Boost Your Relationship, Not Stress It Out

Here are some research-based ways people can not just protect a partnership from holiday stress, but also use the holidays to make it even stronger.

This Holiday Season, Choose What You're Going to Savor

Research suggests that the effects are different when you just do something versus when you savor that something.

Thanking Others Is Actually Good for YOU, Research Confirms

If you've ever asked yourself, "Why should I say thank you when no one says thank you to me?" here are a few good reasons.

4 Stunning Things Thank-Yous Do for a Partnership

This one "booster shot" helps partners stay happier & more satisfied, stay together longer, and protects from the negative effects of arguments. So why is it so hard to keep up?