The Happy Human Life

“It’s been hard for me and my partner to get on the same page with the kids. We have different ideas on boundaries and discipline, and it's been causing a lot of tension between us. What can we do?” In this episode, we dig into the tip of: LEADING WITH VALIDATION. Understanding and acknowledging each other’s feelings and beliefs will always be the first step in finding common ground. Before we can even think about achieving a compromise, we first need to feel seen, heard, and validated. To do this, we recommend setting aside dedicated time to give your partner space to share what they're thinking without ANY judgment. For us… this takes the form of a weekly 30-minute “team meeting” where we discuss the issues that we tend to avoid. Though we’re not perfect at making sure it happens each week, it’s become a somewhat regular “check-in” that’s been helping us better align with and understand each other. Although it’s easy to feel defensive (or even attacked) during these kinds of talks, just know that expressing defensiveness will only push your partner farther away. It’s a challenge, but we need to do our best to avoid those kinds of reactions, and instead, focus on being an active listener who understands and empathizes. LEADING WITH VALIDATION will open the door to compromise. It’ll put you both in a position to co-create boundaries and strategies that work for the TEAM. Remember, the goal is not to win and get your partner over to your side. It’s all about letting go of control, being flexible, and compromise. ✨Looking for more support? Come grow with us in The Happy Human Collective, our education and support community. ✅ Explore our growing library of self-paced workshops, live virtual meetups, and group chat threads free for 7 days! Tap here to learn more. Thanks for listening. 🙂 -Jenilee and Greg

Struggle getting your kids to listen when it's time to get ready for bed? We hear you! It’s been a near-nightly struggle for us over the past 12 years with our four kids. So… our big tip… LEVERAGE PLAY. Transforming the bedtime routine into a fun and engaging experience will capture our kids' interest, but more importantly, their cooperation. As a quick example… our toddler loves to pretend that he’s Spider-Man. Climbing the stool to brush his teeth becomes an adventure of scaling a building, or when we move from the bathroom to the bedroom, we have a thrilling web-slinging ride. If you’re having a hard time tapping into play, let your kids lead! They are the ultimate play gurus, and by letting them take the lead, it just increases their investment in the whole process. Let’s try to let go of our adult inhibitions surrounding play and join in on the fun! Our kids want to play with us, and we can use the bedtime routine as an opportunity to have some fun together. ✨Looking for more support? Come grow with us in The Happy Human Collective, our education and support community. ✅ Explore our growing library of self-paced workshops, live virtual meetups, and group chat threads free for 7 days! Tap here to learn more. Thanks for listening. 🙂 -Jenilee and Greg

If you struggle getting your kids to listen and follow through with even the simplest tasks, then this episode is for you! It can be SO frustrating to feel like you're being ignored or to be met with constant whining, so in this episode, we discuss strategies to motivate your kids to listen without resorting to threats or nagging. We start by emphasizing the importance of LEADING WITH CONNECTION. We should recognize that our kids’ lack of listening is often a skill deficit, not an act of defiance. They aren't trying to annoy or hurt us, but instead, they’re likely just preoccupied or aren’t on the same timeline as us. So let’s try to approach these situations as a TEAM. We shouldn’t be there just to enforce rules. We should work together to tackle whatever problem there is. It can be SO helpful to start by involving ourselves in THEIR world before expecting them to involve themselves in ours… even if it’s just for a minute. Sitting with them and showing a genuine interest in what THEY’RE doing can make a huge difference in getting them on board with what WE want them to do. This kind of connection will open up the pathway for better communication, because when children feel seen, heard, and valued, they’re going to be more likely to listen. ✨Looking for more support? Come grow with us in The Happy Human Collective, our education and support community. ✅ Explore our growing library of self-paced workshops, live virtual meetups, and group chat threads free for 7 days! Tap here to learn more. Thanks for listening. 🙂 -Jenilee and Greg

Have you ever wondered how to handle situations where family members label foods as "good" or "bad" in front of your children? In this episode, we dig into the following question from our community: "My mother-in-law is always labeling foods as good or bad in front of our daughter. She came home yesterday telling me that Grammy said, 'All I eat is junk food.' How do we handle this?" Here’s our tip… Empower kids by educating them about the nutritional content of foods. There's no such thing as inherently "good" or "bad" foods. Instead, it's about understanding the macro and micronutrients that foods provide (or lack). By emphasizing education over stigmatization, we equip children with the tools they need to develop a healthy relationship with food so they don’t fall victim to the diet culture that so many of us were raised in. ✨Looking for more support? Come grow with us in The Happy Human Collective, our education and support community. ✅ Explore our growing library of self-paced workshops, live virtual meetups, and group chat threads free for 7 days! Tap here to learn more. Thanks for listening. 🙂 -Jenilee and Greg