When I was younger (much, much younger), I used to dream of becoming a parent one day. I dreamt of the typical white picket fence, two children (a boy and a girl –>I’m very fortunate that my dream came true) and that I would be a stay at home Mom. When I would dream, I had VERY rose coloured glasses on, because I was naive and really had NO CLUE just how challenging parenting could be at times.
Please don’t get me wrong! I LOVE being a parent and it is truly the most rewarding ‘job’ on the planet BUT….with it comes your fair share of challenges (that seem to change almost daily).
Not many people enjoy the discipline side of parenting, but there are times when setting clear expectations and consequences and following through are very important when you are a parent.
One incredible Mom, Cindy Williams, created The Red Card Blue Card Game by necessity when her son was five. I met with her last year, over tea, and heard her entire story. She was a single parent, struggling to find ways to reach her son, who at the time, was out of control. The game that she created for her son yielded such incredible results, it really was a no brainer for her to create a version to share with other parents. And so, The Red Card Blue Card Game was created.
Thie card game is so popular, that Cindy received a Mompreneur award for it this year! Congratulations, Cindy. This award is well deserved!
What if there was a way to make discipline more fun?
You definitely would be among many parents wondering how on earth they can achieve this!
I will NEVER forget, as long as I live, the first time I ever yelled at my daughter. I was not the yelling type and am typically quite a patient person, but that particular day, I was pregnant, tired and had been drawn to the end of my rope (not that it is any excuse!). I literally stopped mid-way through my yell and cried. I dropped down to my knees and hugged my 3 year old daughter. Once I calmed down, I apologized and luckily kids are quite resilient and forgiving and we moved on with our day. BUT, that day still haunts me and floods me with emotions when I think back to that first yell. And I am sad and ashamed to admit that it wasn’t the last time that I yelled either. As the years progress, my parenting patience barameter has decreased. I’m not sure why, but it must be the many frustrations and challenges that we face as parents day in and day out that slowly eat away at you, can you relate?
The main positive feature about this game for me was that it helped me stop yelling and feeling flustered! Instead of yelling, I was given another way to react, by handing my child a card. We set out VERY clear expectations as a family and very clears steps for how we would follow through and with this system, our children knew what to expect which immediately decreased the meltdowns that we were experiencing.
This system changed the way I was parenting and I am truly thankful for that.
I am thrilled to be able to give one lucky person the opportunity to win a copy of this game to try out in their home. I hope that with the use of this game, you too will have an “ah-ha” moment and that some of the struggles that you may be facing in your parenting journey.
Prize: 1 Red Card Blue Card Game
Open to: Canadian Residents
Giveaway Ends: June 4, 2015 11:59pm ET
My little cousins often have tantrums
I feel like I am screwing it up every time so I need help 😛
the toughest is watching your own child having difficulties parenting.
being on the same page with my hubby
I definitely struggle with yelling at my kids. I often feel like they just think they’re always in trouble and we seem to get nowhere. This game seems like a great tool and I would love to try it!
My biggest struggle is yelling – I tend to be a yeller when I get frustrated.
I would love to win this for my daughter who has little ones who are going through a hard time and acting out because of the situation.
it’s hard being fair i find with both children
I struggle with giving in all the time and backing down on punishments because I feel sorry for them.
i would struggle with between being fair and nice
rafflecopter name is aarone mawdsley
I have a hard time when they fight and getting them to knock it off.
We are struggling with yelling and actually getting the kids to listen
kids not listening to me! need to find a better balance where they listen!
I seem to do a lot of yelling with no actual results. It’d be nice to have a visual cue as to when they’re misbehaving so they understand
yelling. lots of it.And it doesn’t work. The yelling needs to stop but so does the lying on the childs part
i struggle with not being a helicopter parent.
My kids actually listening to me 🙁
I struggle with the act that some aspects of our parenting sometimes DONT WORK – we utilize gentle parenting and positive guidance, and get some flack from relatives ….we defend our choices, but sometimes it smacks us in the face, when we have a hard time.
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I struggle most in the morning trying to get my kids out the door. They don’t listen until I repeat myself a thousand times or raise my voice.
For me, it’s hard getting the kids to obey without arguing over every single detail. I swear they’re all going to grow up to be public defenders.
Having patience when they are overtired and acting out.
Bedtime can be a struggle…this is really neat.
Patience at the witching hour.
The whining stage are little one is currently in.
My 3 year old likes to say no to everything.
Having patience when they are overtired and fighting
little man doesn’t like to get moving in the mornings. then he cries, because big sis gets to play. she got up and got ready quickly.
I have trouble with making unrealistic threats that I can’t always follow through on.. Such as we are on our way camping and say if you two don’t stop fighting we will turn around and go home, knowing that we would not turn back.
Oh yes, this is a common challenge amongst parents. Hard not to make the threats, but so important to only threaten things that you are willing to follow through on.
Parenting would be so much easier if I didn’t have to deal with BEDTIME! At that point they have lost the focus to clean up and I’m overwhelmed by the mess and the things that need to get done.
this will be perfect
I have trouble motivating my children regardless of the method of discipline.
when my kids fight I am not very patient .
I struggle the most with discipline, I have 4 kids and honestly their ages all vary from ages 3, 7, 7 and 9. It’s very tiresome and I don’t know how to discipline one younger child to the olde child. All my children do day in and day out is bicker bicker bicker and whine. I work full time and my hubby works part time as if that’s not stressful enough thrown into the mix of things. The discipline has put a strain on our marriage. We do-parent well I just don’t agree with how he deals with the discipline he yells and it really annoys me, I stay calm and do time away, or take toys away which he hates. Neither has worked well. Now I’ve written book on your blog.
I am very interested in this, I struggle with my little guy listening to me, and then asking mommy because she MAY have a better answer. We have spoken about it and we are on the same page to always ask what did mommy or daddy say… but it is hard.
I struggle with the getting my son to listen 🙂
getting her to eat her food