HOW TO TALK: Parenting Tips

I bought this and because we have Family Sharing enabled my husband should have access to the full version for free by going to my purchases area in the App Store. But (maybe because he initially downloaded it by name) the free trial is all that will show up and the Restore Purchase button does nothing.

Whether you’ve read the book or not, this app helps you navigate challenging parenting situations with ease. Easy to use and great refresher on fundamental parenting skills that can be hard to remember in the moment.

I got the book but haven’t been able to read past chapter 1. Chapter 1 helped me a lot so I want the rest of the techniques to use when I need them. Listening to podcasts and YouTube videos fits better with my busy day. This app is along those lines. I get to see all the important info right away and start using it while I get a chance to finish the book. I’m also waiting for my spouse to catch up on chapter 1, so this app has been incredibly useful.

We were on a family trip and we found Julie’s pocket parenting app very useful. We left a bookstore and we were headed home, a 10 minute drive. Our 5-year old son felt thirsty, but we had no water in the car and neither of us wanted to go back into the store for water. We tried some of our usual tactics like empathizing about his thirst (Ugh! I’m thirsty too! I wish we could drink water now!). Unfortunately, we also alternated with the reality that we weren’t planning to go back and so, he would have to “just deal” with thirst for ten minutes (You’re not actually dehydrated! You need to learn how to wait!). Basically we were going nowhere and his frustration was mounting. By now, I was frustrated also and said to my husband, “Are there any tools from the how to talk book we could try?” It turns out he had downloaded this pocket app so I took a look on his phone. It had a very simple menu and I tapped on the very first option which stated something like “I need help with difficult feelings “. Then another menu popped up to select the feeling your child is experiencing so I asked my son, “Are you angry, disappointed, or frustrated ?” He said, “I’m frustrated !” I tapped on “frustrated” and another menu popped up with a list of things to say to acknowledge the feeling. I literally read aloud the three text statements listed in the app, substituting our scenario for the one in the example and it really worked ! He started to calm down and asked if I could tell him about a time when I was frustrated also. I shared a story of when I was a kid and we had gone for a hike but my brother gulped all the water early on. I was irritated that there was no water for me, and even more frustrated that my father told me to just get over it. My husband shared a very funny story about a time when he wanted to buy chips but his mother said no. He had decided “if we aren’t getting chips, we aren’t getting anything” and began putting all the groceries from the conveyor belt back into the cart, but by mistake had removed groceries belonging to the next person in line also! There were lots of giggles from the back of the car. At this point, I thought we were out of the woods but our 7-year old daughter went on to say, “Well, let’s not remind him about the WATER because it seems like he’s moved past it.” This of course led us back to the original problem because our son was now reminded of his thirst! I looked down at the app and there was one option that said, “This helped

I loved this book, and I love this app too. I feel so understood by the authors, trying to do this job of parenting with respect. Their methods really speak to me and help make me the parent that I want to be. Thank you so much for creating this!

I’ve read the book and even took a course with the author, and yet I was thinking about writing my own flow chart to help me remember the tools. Great tools!! So you want to remember and practice them. This app does exactly what I needed it to do so I cam quickly reference a strategy. I used it last night to reflect on my day with my three year old and plan for better interactions the next day. Definitely a must have.