Modern Parents Messy Kids

We're all about finding ways to make family life better while keeping our sense of humor. Check out our famous MPMK Top Toy Awards, already viewed over 7,000,000 times!

  • Start Here
  • Travel
  • The Kids
    • Our Famous Toy Gift Guides
    • Play Activities & Art Ideas
  • The Home
    • In the Kitchen
    • Project Organize Your ENTIRE Life
      • Cleaning House
      • Meal Planning
      • Decluttering
      • Organizing
      • Schedules & To Do Lists
      • Daily Rhythms
    • The Holidays
    • Photography & Memory Keeping
  • Parenting
    • Parenting Discussions
    • Happy Family Habits
    • The Book Nook
    • Mom Health & Beauty

Parents: 4 Tools for Keeping Your Calm Right Now

June 10 by Steph (MPMK Founder)

With everything going on in the world right now, I'm finding myself with less emotional reserves to be patient and gentle with my kids (who really need it right now!). If you're feeling the same way, we've got a great guest post today from Mary L. Pulido, Ph.D., the Executive Director of The New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children  Psst - For additional tips on managing stress and trauma, please consider registering for Dr. Pulido’s upcoming webinar “Stress Management … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Parenting Tagged With: parenting styles, positive parenting

Parenting Styles: The Most Important Thing in My Purse

November 1 by Steph (MPMK Founder)

I thought I'd keep it short and sweet today and just sent one quick universal parenting tip: always keep a card game in your purse. Last week my son had his final cross country meet and it ended a little earlier than I anticipated. Though we weren't initially planning on it, I decided to take advantage of the rare opportunity to have some one-on-one time and pop into our local pizza joint. While that surely would have been connection enough for my son, the experience was … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Parenting Tagged With: best card games, best kids games, one on one time with kids, parenting, parenting styles, top card games

Parenting Styles: How I Re-Connected with My Kids

August 27 by Lara Lillibridge

I don’t think I sat on the couch for more than five minutes when my kids were toddlers—we were always on the floor playing trains, or at the table squeezing Play-Doh, or off on an adventure somewhere. Honestly, I thought I’d enjoy it more than I did. Oh, I could play Thomas the Tank Engine for 30 minutes just fine, but the whole day? Not so much.  I’ll admit it—I couldn’t wait for them to play independently. Parents often joke about kids’ short attention spans, but I will say that my … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Parenting, Uncategorized Tagged With: family time, parenting styles

Parenting Styles: Why You Should Learn Something New with Your Kid

August 6 by Lara Lillibridge

I awkwardly pulled the mesh helmet over my head in my first fencing class. It was hot. My glasses fell down my nose and my hair was in my face. My heart beat as rapidly as if I were standing in line for a roller coaster.   True confession: I never wanted to be a fencer.  When I was pregnant, I dreamed of Mom-n-Me ballet classes. I couldn’t wait for my kids to be old enough for the adult and child mixed beginner Taekwando class in the rec department’s catalog. The idea … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Parenting Tagged With: learning something new with your child, parenting styles

Parenting Styles: My Biggest Mistake with Family Game Night

July 9 by Lara Lillibridge

I was pretty excited when my eldest was old enough to play Candyland and Chutes and Ladders. I’d been waiting for years and years to reach board game age. Unfortunately, the two-and-a-half-year age gap between my kids meant that my youngest wasn’t ready—not by a long shot. Neither was he interested in leaving us alone to play a board game without his “help.” If you have a toddler, you know just how helpful they can be.  I came up with “baby rules,” which meant that the baby got to do … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Parenting, Uncategorized Tagged With: family game night, game night, games for kids, parenting styles

5 Ways to Get Your Kids Off Their Screens and Playing Outside

June 27 by Steph (MPMK Founder)

Despite living in rain city USA, I believe strongly in getting the kids outside as much as possible (also, the summers in Seattle are gorgeous). So today I've asked Lea to stop by with her top 5 tips for getting your kids away from a screen and outside to play. (And added a few photos of my family because I just couldn't resist.) Playtime is serious business. Just ask the American Council on Pediatrics. In their concerns about the effect of media on young minds, they encourage pediatricians … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Outdoor Play, The Make & Play Vault Tagged With: getting kids to play outside, outdoor play ideas, outside play, parenting styles, rainy day play, screen time, toddler play

Parenting Styles: 7 Tips to on How to Really Talk to Your Kids About Gender Equality

October 17 by Lara Lillibridge

Wow, it's been a rough few months and, if you're like me, current events have brought up a lot of questions on how to talk to my kids about all kinds of stuff. Today, our contributor, Lara, is here sharing her thoughts on how to address the topic of gender equality. I feel teaching gender equality is essential, even though (and maybe especially because) I have boys, not girls. Yet, I’m historically awkward when it comes to large and important discussions on character development. However, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Parenting, Uncategorized Tagged With: gender equality, parenting styles, raising girls

Parenting Styles: Remember the Best in Your Child and See It In Your Teen

October 8 by Kristin

This post is sponsored by the Center for Parent and Teen Communication.  All opinions (and memories!) are my own. Then The thing I remember most about Jake's birth was how scared I felt bringing him home from the hospital.  There's no guide book for being a parent. I wonder if first born babies sense the way new parents approach every task with uncertainty. The good news is that babies are resilient. They forgive us for putting the diaper on wrong or being a little too over protective … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Parenting Tagged With: parenting, parenting styles, parenting teens, talking to teens

7 Books to Get Your Kids to Stop Fighting All the Time

September 13 by Janssen

7 Books to stop your kids from fighting all the time - #2 is so helpful!

One of the things I want most for our family is a loving family culture, where unkindness and fighting isn't part of the daily makeup of our lives. But with three children all fairly close in age (they are each about two years apart), this can be a tall order. Probably just about every parent can relate to those moment where you can't take the bickering and teasing any longer and you just want to scream, "Can't you all just get along?!" I know I'm not alone in that because there are … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Janssen, Parenting, The Book Nook Tagged With: books on sibling fighting, how to stop sibling fighting, parenting books, parenting styles

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • …
  • 7
  • Next Page »

Get your kids' kit

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • xing

Finally Get Organized

Our Famous Gift Guides

MPMK's Famous Gift Guides

Find the Perfect Toy!

Copyright © 2021 · Parallax Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in