Adults who use "time out" have the positive intention of setting limits and encouraging children to follow the rules. They know it is important to hold children accountable for their behaviors and use "time out" as a consequence of the choice the child has made. Join Thomas and Valerie as they discuss how “time out” is being misused and the real purpose for a time out.

It’s parent/teacher time. Yes, it’s time to go to school and talk to the teacher directly about your child and how he is responding to the curriculum, the teacher and his peers. Whether you are looking forward to this opportunity or not there are some important things to take into consideration to help make this venture to school a productive one. Listen as Valerie, an educator for over 20 years, explains what every parent needs to know about Parent Teacher conferences.

Halloween trick or treat bags are about to bulge with every kind of candy imaginable. Our children are soon to be bombarded with candy from every direction.

Are you contemplating blending two families together? Are you planning on marrying someone with children? If so, then listen to Thomas and Valerie discuss ways to make a more satisfying and nurturing blended family.

How many of you are interested in raising a 30 year old Nintendo player who lays around your house all day eating cold pizza and sucking up diet soda? If you are like the many parents who attend Thomas and Valerie’s parenting workshops, creating a 30 year old video game player is not your goal. Join them as they discuss ways to make yourself dispensable as a parent.

Are you tired of doing the same old ritual on New Year’s Eve? You know how it goes, find a baby sitter, decide on a place to have dinner, choose between parties or a dance and determine who will be the designated driver. As the evening progresses you drink alcohol, wear a silly hat and hoot and holler when the clock strikes midnight. There is another New Year’s Eve alternative you might want to consider, one that can help your family grow closer. Listen in as Thomas and Valerie talk about seeing New Year’s Eve as an ideal time to celebrate connectedness, reflect on the past year, and look ahead to the future.

The Holiday season is upon us and school break is about to begin. Soon it will be time to load the family in the car and head over the river and through the woods to Grand Mother’s house or to another destination that promises fun for all. Perhaps you’re thinking of staying home this year and inviting the relatives over to your house. Maybe you’re planning on spending some much needed R & R on a family cruse in the Bahamas. Whether you plan a short trip, a long trip, or no trip, how you prepare the family can make or break this year’s holiday season. Join Thomas and Valerie as they discuss 10 tips that can help you make this year’s family holiday the best ever.

Thomas and Valerie talk about school violence and kids. They talk about the tragic Sandy Hook shooting and how to talk to your kids.

Many parents search endlessly for a consequence that will get their child to do what they want them to do. They believe that for a consequence to work it has to cause some kind of discomfort for the child. In their endeavors parents turn to the one thing their child likes the most and they take it from them. For some this is withholding sports. Join Thomas and Valerie as they discuss the dangers of withholding sports as a consequence.

One of the most common reasons couples seek marriage therapy is differences in sexual desire. One person in the relationship has a higher libido and feels rejected by the constant refrain of "no", while the one with lower libido feels emotionally battered from constantly having to fend off advances. Fortunately, as a Certified Sex Therapist I can tell you that desire differences can be resolved. Join Thomas and Valerie as they discuss tips for resolving intimacy desire difference.

Do you struggle daily with getting yourself ready in the morning with children who just don’t seem to cooperate? Would describe your morning routine as chaos? Maybe you describe the bedtime routine in much of the same way? Well, if you’re tired of arguing, nagging and struggling with your kids to get them to go to bed at night or wake-up in the morning than this show is for you. Thomas and Valerie share crucial steps to ending morning madness and indispensable techniques for reducing bed-time hassles. Join their conversation.

Valentine’s Day is upon us once again and thoughts of love are in the air. People everywhere are searching for the special way of saying I love you to that significant person in their life. But what does it really mean to be in love. There is a difference between loving someone and being in love with someone. There is also a difference between being in a relationship and being in love. So for the next two weeks I’m going to bring some clarity to the topic of love and relationships, next week I’ll discuss the five elements of being in a relationship. Listen to Thomas and Valerie discuss the five key components of being in love and discover how you can tell if you’re really IN LOVE.

Educators and Psychologists agree that a key component to raising responsible children is praise. Yes, children do irritation, annoying, frustrating behaviors but they are not always misbehaving. There are times when they do what they are asked to do; they follow the rules or play together quietly or do their chore without being told. And when this happens parents know that it’s important to praise their kids. But what parents don’t realize is that the most commonly used form of praise has the potential to be harmful and can result in creating a praise junkie. Join Thomas and Valerie as they discuss the three types of praise.

Did you know that April is the month of the young child? This is the month to celebrate young children who are at the age of birth to five years old. Now, most parents are pretty good at celebrating the development that their child goes through from birth to about two years old. It is after that time when parents begin to struggle. The terrible two’s and those toddler years where your child starts to demonstrate a whole host of behaviors that you wish they would not do. They whine and cry to get their way. They bite and hit and kick. Thomas and Valerie help parents put an end to any unwanted behavior and better celebrate these toddler years with a parenting technique that is called The One Minute Behavior Modifier.

One of the biggest worries parents face is their child’s involvement with alcohol and drug use. Several months ago we were all concerned about bath salts. Today a new way to get high is sweeping across the hip hop world and right into our homes. It is called Sizzurp or Purple Drank or Lean. Sizzurp is a combination of cough syrup, sprite soda and jolly rancher candy. The active ingredient in the cough syrup is promethazine, an antihistamine that depresses the central nervous system and codeine, a pain reliever and respiratory depressant. Codeine is in the same family of drugs as heroin and morphine. This concoction that kids are drinking is highly addictive. It’s like using heroin without the needles. What can parents do to keep their kids away from this kind of stuff?

This week marks the anniversary of the Virginia Tech shooting that happened on April 16, 2007 and the shooting at Columbine High School that took place on April 20, 1999. When you couple those two events with the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary almost four months ago, it is clear that more needs to be done to stop the violence. Since the Sandy Hook tragedy there has been over two thousand, two hundred and forty-five gun related deaths in our country. Lawmakers can establish gun regulations and back ground checks as a way to curb violence but the answer is not going to come from the White House. It is going to come from your house and mine. The most important step we can take is in how we parent our children and what we teach them about aggression and tolerance. Today I’m going to give you the five steps parents can take right now to reducing aggression in their children.