Are You Working Harder Than Your Kid Is?

Marin Mommies presents a sponsored article from Alexander Traugott, M.A., a parent coach and youth mentor at Bear’s Cairn.

You want your child to handle hard things and worry whether they’ll be okay. Some kids hold it together at school, then unload at home in screen standoffs, meltdowns, contempt for siblings, and slammed doors. Others withdraw or shut down. Either way, a child’s distress ends up running the household.

So, you tiptoe, negotiate, rescue, and work harder than they do. You end up depleted and resentful, then ashamed of how you handle it, of what you feel toward a child you love, and of who you’ve become as a mom.

Whether this is the first crack or the end of your rope, you didn’t cause it, and your leadership is the most available lever for what happens next. Alexander of Bear’s Cairn coaches parents to stop managing and start leading, with warmth and high expectations. He sees growing up as an initiation, and parents as the guides who walk them through it.

Most parent coaching never meets your kid. Alexander’s was built alongside them, at home, on the climbing wall, and in the backcountry, and it rests on a master’s in holistic counseling psychology and years inside a whole-family program.

Start with his free Parent Leadership Compass: bearscairn.com/parent-coaching