Every child is different—and so is the way they respond to discipline. How you parent impacts how your child learns boundaries, responsibility, and emotional control. Here’s a simple guide to how parenting styles shape discipline and how you can adjust to better support your child.
4 Parenting Styles and Their Discipline Approaches
Authoritative (Balanced and supportive) o Sets clear rules and explains them. o Focuses on guiding, not punishing. o Try this: Help your child make a plan after a mistake instead of just punishing them.
Authoritarian (Strict and controlling) o Enforces rules without discussion. o Often uses punishment. o Watch for: Anxiety or rebellion in sensitive kids.
Permissive (Lenient and avoidant) o Rarely sets rules or follows through. o May avoid conflict. o Risk: Kids lack structure and may push limits.
Uninvolved (Detached or inconsistent) o Few rules or expectations. o Minimal supervision or guidance. o Consequence: Kids may feel insecure or unsupported
How to Adjust Based on Your Child’s Needs
• For Anxious Kids: Use calm tones, predictable routines, and gentle corrections. • For Strong-Willed Kids: Offer choices within limits and enforce consistent boundaries. • For Independent Teens: Let them help set rules and learn through natural consequences.
5 Smart Discipline Tips for Any Style
✅ Watch how your child reacts—adjust when needed. ✅ Stay connected and respectful. ✅ Set clear limits, but allow flexibility. ✅ Model calm, respectful behavior. ✅ Evolve your approach as your child grows.
Final Thought
Discipline isn’t just about control—it’s about teaching. The best approach grows with your child, helping them become confident and capable.
Publisher’s Book Summary: Many of us did everything we could to prepare for becoming moms, but there just wasn’t any way to know what might lie ahead. Most of us have, at one point or another, looked around and wondered if we are alone in our parenting challenges. Hope for Moms offers a heartfelt guide for mothers navigating both the joys and heartbreak of being a mom, sharing Anna McArthur’s personal journey through parenting difficulties such as learning disabilities, LGBTQ+ identities, and adoption. Structured around a triage plan that helped the author prioritize her family’s needs, it includes practical insights, quotes, and reflection questions to support moms in their journey of resilience and soul care. With gentleness and humor, McArthur provides reassurance to mothers, reminding them they have the strength to not only survive motherhood, but thrive.
McArthur provides reassurance to mothers, reminding them they have the strength to not only survive motherhood, but thrive. If you’re a mom who feels overwhelmed by the curveballs life has thrown your way, you aren’t alone—yes, it’s tough out there, but so are you!
Anna McArthur is a mom to four kids, including two recent college graduates and twin girls who are high schoolers. She is a blogger, newspaper guest columnist, and contributor to parenting magazines and websites, including Her View from Home and the Motherly Collective. Anna’s essays have recently been published by Grown and Flown and Business Insider.
A graduate of Clemson University and Columbia Theological Seminary, Anna lives in Athens, Georgia, with her husband, Bryan, and their teenaged girls, who are much cooler than her. Anna loves to read, garden, hike, and eat dips for dinner.
Hope for Moms: It’s Tough Out There, but So Are You Written by: Anna McArthur
A book written from the heart by a mom who has faced social-emotional challenges, physical disabilities, and financial distress while raising her family. Any parent will attest to the fact that parenting is one job that comes without a playbook or set of rules. McArthur shares her difficult journey in the hope that her experiences and difficult lessons will benefit other families.
She reminds moms that it is okay to accept help from others, to stop expecting perfect kids, and to be realistic in your hopes and dreams. Instead, understand that moms cannot protect themselves or their children from heartaches or disappointments. The author reminds the reader that raising a family is hard for all of us.
All parents make mistakes; it is more important to keep trying. Stop comparing your parenting style to others. Find the things that make your family unique. Do not compare your family to others. As children grow older and become more independent, moms must learn to listen more than talk. The best solution is to keep an open mind and keep learning.
I highly recommend this book for new parents as well as those facing challenges.
GIVEAWAY
Enter for a chance to win a paperback copy of Hope For Moms: It’s Tough Out There But So Are You by Anna McArthur.
Pip the Bird: For Early Speech & Language Development
Written by Rachel Florence Meyer
Illustrated by Kathy Lee
A wonderful picture book collaboration by a mom and a speech therapist. The protagonist is a little bird named Pip, who assists his fellow animal friends to avoid danger when a gardener comes in the yard with a lawnmower,
The rhymes are crisp and sharp with lots of action words in bold print. Children are encouraged to read aloud. I appreciate the interactive guide for parents and teachers up front before the story begins. Illustrations contain wonderful details and facial expressions.
Highly recommended for parents and teachers of toddlers and preschoolers.
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The Curly Crow Goes to the Balloon Festival Coloring Book for Kids
Published by Nick Aragon
This book is part of a series for primary grade children. In this story, children are encouraged to be brave and stand up to face their fears.
The author takes a unique approach. The main characters are members of a Crow family who live in New Mexico in a dumpster adjoining a cafe. They share many adventures. As the story unfolds, readers learn that the family has been invited to pilot a hot air balloon at the festival. Curly has a problem. She is afraid of heights. Slowly, she learns how to face her fears. Readers not only receive an important life message, but the story includes coloring pages, allowing readers to express their own creativity.
I would recommend this unique book to parents and teachers of children in the primary grades.
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Toothbrushing with Maggie & Mommy (Sparkly Smiles Series)
Written by Heidi Rocha, RDH
Illustrated by Nonni-Ayanna Gobern-Roach
This is the first book of a series written by a Dental Hygienist. The picture book with large, easy to read print and engaging illustrations features a little girl named Maggie and her mom.
Mom visits Maggie’s preschool and uses her stuffed dinosaur to demonstrate the proper way to brush teeth. This book will be appreciated by parents of preschoolers and pediatric dentists. There is a bonus activity chart to record progress and a find the hidden object page. The book is even approved by every little child’s friend, The Tooth Fairy.
Highly recommended, especially for parents and teachers of preschool children.
This book is an excellent tools for preparing toddlers for the preschool experience. It will work for children about to enter a typical nursery school or those with special needs in an inclusive or stand-alone special needs early intervention program.
As an educator with experience in both settings, I appreciate the way author and illustrator include children from multicultural backgrounds and those with different types of disabilities whether they be physical or learning disabilities. Children are shown with educational adaptive tools like picture boards and braille books. Support staff are depicted working alongside the classroom teacher. Typical activities like independent choice centers, circle time, outdoor play, and singing songs are portrayed.
A young child will get a good idea of what happens when entering any type of preschool classroom.
A good resource for parents as preparation or teachers to use on the first day of school.
Grandma, It’s Me!: A Children’s Book about Dementia
Written by Y. Y. Chan
Illustrated by Pearly L.
So many families contain an elderly member suffering from dementia. This book goes a long way toward explaining and humanizing the difficult situation.
The protagonist is a young girl named Riley. It follows her diary entries over a period of time. One day Riley notices that her grandmother is forgetting things. As time passes, grandma wanders off and forgets the names of family members. She needs constant care and that is a burden on the family. Chan shows how to combine love with patience as the family must constantly adjust their situation.
This book is a great resource in explaining dementia to young children. I liked the multicultural images, the characters, and the abundant resources included. Readers receive a list of questions and reflections about what they read as well as activities to download.
This book is highly recommended not only to parents and teachers but also counselors who work in mental health facilities or in schools with children.
Bug is lazy. He does not like dressing, eating, brushing teeth, cleaning his room or any of the activities necessary in everyday living. At first, his parents do everything for him. That gets old, and he gets a rude awakening.
A funny and cleverly illustrated book to wake messy kids up fast.
Toothbrushing with Maggie and Mommy(Sparkly Smiles Series)
Written by Heidi Rocha, RDH
Illustrated by Noni-Ayanna and Gobern-Roach
This is the first book of a series written by a Dental Hygienist. The picture book with large, easy to read print and engaging illustrations features a little girl named Maggie and her mom.
Mom visits Maggie’s preschool and uses her stuffed dinosaur to demonstrate the proper way to brush teeth. This book will be appreciated by parents of preschoolers and pediatric dentists. There is a bonus activity chart to record progress and a find the hidden object page. The book is even approved by every little child’s friend, The Tooth Fairy.
Highly recommended, especially for parents and teachers of preschool children.
SUBSCRIBE TO THIS BLOG TO GET NEW BOOK REVIEWS EVERY WEDNESDAY AND FRIDAY.
Mommy Has a Monster on her Back!: A Story about Chronic Illness
Written by Liz Long
Illustrated by Ethan Roffler
The author and illustrator have succeeded in creating a beautiful picture book with an important message for young children.
This book is done in soft pastels and features words in bold that play on the different feelings engendered by chronic physical or mental illness. The illness is compared to a monster on mommy’s back. Some days are easy and others hard but mommy learns to deal with the illness and the child sees the need for resilience and acceptance. By using humor and analogies, even a preschooler can understand chronic illness.
Highly recommended for families and counselors who deal with chronic or physical illness.
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May 1, 2025
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