What is Parent Coaching Anyway?

Such a good question! I will tell you that before I started down this path, I didn’t realize that parent coaching was a thing. Truly. One day as I was contemplating my next life chapter, thinking about what I’ve always been passionate about, what my work has always connected to, and what I think I’m pretty decent at doing – it all came down to parenting. I googled it, and lo and behold, parent coaching is indeed a thing!

Since then I’ve done a great deal of research (I will forever be a librarian), taken a certification program through the Jai Institute of Parenting, connected with a network of fellow coaches through the Parent Coach Club, and worked to find my niche in this world.

I often say that educators enter the field either because they loved school and did really well at it, or they hated school and want to create a better experience than what they had (I actually stand in both camps). Much the same can be said for parent coaches. I didn’t have terrible parents – not by a long shot – but they will readily admit that a lack of parenting during some significant developmental stages showed up in my (much) less than stellar behavior throughout my adolescence. I recall being aware, even in my teens, that much of my behavior was an attempt to get someone to parent me. I wanted limits and boundaries and kept pushing to try to find them, but nobody stepped up to challenge me.

What I know for sure is that my parents did the best they could with the information and tools they had. But all that they had was what they had experienced from their parents, and that may have been lacking in some significant areas.

I took my first child development course in 8th grade, continued that course of study in college, and my first job out of college was in child care. I had my first daughter when I was 24, my second at 25, and my son at 29. I quickly realized that to do this parenting thing well, I needed some additional tools and sought out parenting classes where I mastered what my middle daughter referred to as “naturalogical” consequences. I’ve spent the past 30 years in education and see firsthand the evidence that many parents need support and education that we don’t teach in schools.

I wanted to do better for my kids than was done for me, and I certainly made my share of mistakes, but flash forward and my kids are now 32, 30, and 26 and successfully adulting. I’m incredibly proud of the people they are, the contributions they are making to this world, and the connections and relationships they have fostered.

I now have a unique opportunity to support parents – especially parents of teens – in doing the most challenging job we receive very little education or training to do. So, what is parent coaching anyway?