·         A child who doesn’t have a healthy diet?  A child who battles you over food?

·         A child who doesn’t sleep causing you to lose sleep, too?

·         A child who doesn’t seem to be ready to potty train, but you are ready to be done with diapers?

·         A child who is so easily frustrated that temper tantrums rule the family?

·         A child who does not listen or obey?  Do you need to get control of your children?

·         A concern that your child is not developing socially?  Does your child have trouble with playdates?  Do you need better ways to support your child so that your child has a better time with peers?

·         A family life that involves too much fighting amongst the children or the adults?

·         A work schedule that keeps you running, running, running from work to childcare to home and back again in the morning with no quality time or energy leftover for you, your kids or your mate?

·         A lack of enough effective discipline techniques that you can readily use so that you don’t have to resort to yelling, timeouts, or spanking all of which leave you and your child frustrated and in tears?

·         A lack of experience with young children?  Are you frustrated just getting your child dressed in the morning?  Are you expecting too much?  Or are you lacking the right tools to get your child to be more cooperative?

·         A concern for your child’s well-being?  Do you know what to expect of your child physically, socially, verbally, emotionally at this age?  Are you concerned that your child may be delayed developmentally?

·         A lack of effective communication tools?  Do you know what to say?  Do you know how to say what you mean and mean what you say when you talk to your children?

·         A lack of support raising your child?  Do you have to parent alone?  Do you not have any one to bounce parenting ideas off of?  Do you feel like the parenting burdens fall solely on your shoulders? 

·         A lack of a good parenting role model to follow?  Are you trying to change the parenting legacy in your family?  Do you want to parent your child differently than the way you were parented, but you are not sure what it is you should be doing?

·         A lack of enough time to get everything done that needs to be done?  Are you squeezing in too many household chores, too many children’s activities and too much “homework” that the end result is a frazzled parent?

·         A lack of a parenting partnership with the other parent, or the caregiver, or the grandparents?  Is it too difficult getting everyone to agree on discipline, schooling, or the amount of time the child spends doing homework, chores, reading?

·         A concern that you are not the kind of parent you thought you would be?  Do you think you are too easily frustrated? Do you lose your patience too quickly?

·         A lack of joy when you and your children are together? Do your children know the best side of you?  Do you children ever see you laugh, let alone smile?  Do you and your children have fun together?  Are you making happy memories as a family?

·         A concern that you may be suffering from a mental or physical health issue?  Do you want to talk with someone who will encourage you to make the doctor appointment who will answer your questions?  Do you need a referral to a mental health professional?  Do you need some guidance about how to navigate the mental health system? 

You are not alone.  Facing the challenges of parenting a young child well is oftentimes pretty daunting; yet, many parents today face these obstacles alone.  Some parents don’t have the benefit of knowing that many other parents are going through the same thing.