Siblings and Non-Coercion: How Collaboration Created a Deeper Love With Their Kids

In this episode, we are joined by Amy Niemczyk, a parent (just like you!) whose family dynamic has drastically shifted since adopting the non-coercive, collaborative parenting philosophy. This is an excellent episode for parents who are searching for concrete tools for navigating kids’ physical expression (like biting) and resolving sibling struggles.

Amy and her partner are the parents to four young children who have been on this journey for just over three years. Amy shares how she struggled with letting go of screen time control as her seven year old autonomously navigated balance, and how she turned toward love and not shame to work through weeks of her three year old pinching her. Her stories go deeper than the parent-child dynamic, seeping into the sibling relationships as well.

Rythea and Cara are moved by Amy’s earnest and heart-felt admission of the changes she’s experienced with her children: how removing authority from her parenting paradigm revealed a deep love both with her children and within herself.

Key topics:

• The tornado faze
• Guiding kids toward their autonomy
• Collaborative parenting as a model for repair after rupture
• Non-coercive parenting as a deep act of self love and personal healing

Resources mentioned:

• Vivek Patel
• Rythea’s Facebook Parent-Support group
• Rythea’s parent-mentor sessions
• Cara's Relationship Toolkit

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We (Rythea and Cara) are white, cis-gender, straight, middle-class women living with financial and societal privilege. Our perspectives are limited. We are committed to featuring guests from diverse lived experiences to reflect the realities of a broader parenting community. 25% of proceeds from this podcast go to creators of color who have shaped our work.

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