Soccer Field Meltdown: This Dad Did A Weird Thing & It Worked
It’s Saturday morning and dozens of parents crowd the soccer field, cradling cups of coffee and cheering their kids on. I’m standing next to my tough Italian friend, Lou, watching his very emotional son (10) race all over the field.
Lou says, “He gets so upset when things don’t go his way.” Hmmmm. Interesting. I wonder where he gets that from.
I was hoping we’d get to experience an embarrassing meltdown in front of everyone! And sure enough, it didn’t take long. I watch as his son begins to thrash about on the field as his team is losing. I also watch as Lou begins to twitch, stand with hands-on-hips, and his tone switches from encouragement to admonition. His tone is getting short. You can see the tension building.
I knew what was going to happen so I couldn’t wait! “Hey, Lou, wanna try something different today?”
“No, the kid needs to learn to control himself.” Huh. So I reply, “Yeah, but you can’t even control yourself, my friend.” He shoots me an annoyed look.
“Save your calm crap for someone else,” he snorts. Inside I smile, because I love guys like Lou. Because I WAS Lou for years at the hockey rink with my son
(Want to learn how to stop reacting and control yourself? Click here to listen to these two short podcasts.)
“So here’s what’s going to happen, Lou. You’re getting embarrassed now, which is your own immaturity. You’re going to demand your son come over here. You’ll grab his arm and ream him out so the other parents see you doing something. And it will only escalate until you both are spiraling out of control and look foolish in front of everyone. Worse, you’ll say some really hurtful things to the son you love.” I let it sink in and see him shift uncomfortably.
“That is, unless you’re willing to try the Calm Crap way.” He’s wrestling with it. Because he’s a man and has reacted the same way for 40 years. “So when your son comes over with his bad attitude, you’re going to hit the ground, start doing pushups and say, ‘Man, I’d be frustrated out there, too. Come on, wanna do 10 with me?’
“And you’re going to lead your son to a calm place and show him HOW to calm himself down. Motion changes emotion. And when he joins you, you’re going to say with some intensity, ‘That’s how we get back control, son. Can’t let the other team see you sweat. Good job! Now get back in there, hold your head high, and let’s play like Luke Skywalker with the Force behind you!'”
Lou shook his head. But then he did it. And you should have seen his son’s face–his father was proud of him, not disappointed and threatening him. Every time his son would slink around, Lou would hit the ground and do pushups. And one during a timeout, his son actually did the same, right on the field.
Will this solve everything? NOOOOOO! But it turned a potentially destructive interaction into a positive one. Without yelling or threatening or saying hurtful words. At the end of the game, I grabbed the 30 Days to Calm program from my car along with our 3 Most Popular Calm Crap CDs and handed them to Lou. “These are usually a few hundred bucks, Lou, but I’ll give them to you for $500 because you need them badly.”
Lou laughed and gave me a hug. “Thanks, man. I guess I need to change some, huh?”
“Just a little. By the way, I know you’re thinking doing pushups is stupid. But yelling at your son and calling him names makes you look even more foolish!”
What you’ve been doing isn’t working. Your strong-willed child will NOT change until YOU change. Are you ready to try something new like Lou? Focus on changing yourself instead of your child and spouse? If you are, then I will give you OUR 3 MOST POPULAR PROGRAM ($297 value) FREE as well. But you have to promise that you’ll work on yourself first. No cheating.
Summer Sale: Get Our 3 Most Popular Programs ($297 value) FREE. (Only 19 sets remaining)
Want to finally stop the yelling and lecturing? Get control of yourself with our 30 Days to Calm Program. And we’ll show you how to calm your kids for FREE.
You react when your kids push your buttons and just can’t seem to stop, even though you know you have to. You get on your kids constantly, lecturing and eventually yelling. It merely creates more power struggles and strains your relationships.
Only YOU have the power to create a new family tree and break these patterns so your kids don’t grow up and struggle with the same issues.
Want to learn how to stop reacting? Click here to listen to a practical 9-minute podcast and a preview of one of the 30 action steps.
Want to control your emotions? Click here to listen to this short podcast: “Stop doing so much and get control of your emotions.”
You invest in yourself to finally stop the yelling, lecturing, and power struggles. YOU GET OUR 3 MOST POPULAR PROGRAMS ($297 value) FREE. These are the same CDs that have changed over a hundred thousand families:
(1) Enjoy Your Strong-Willed Child: Stop Power Struggles from Morning to Midnight
(2) Discipline That Works: Get Kids to Listen the First Time
(3) Casey’s Straight Talk for Kids: Get the Power & Freedom You Want
See below for complete descriptions and audio samples of these three programs.
*Available this summer only as Instant Downloads so you can listen ASAP, without shipping costs, while traveling, on your Smartphone, computer, tablet or other devices.
You’ve struggled with this for years. It took me 22 therapy sessions and $3,350 to learn these steps. We’ve consolidated this and made it simple, practical, and easy to apply. The regular price of this program is going to be $300. But during this SPECIAL SUMMER SALE, you get a step-by-step guide to calm for the price of one trip to the therapist: only $150. PLUS you get an additional 9 hours of practical strategies and GET OUR 3 MOST POPULAR PROGRAMS FREE ($297 value).
30 Days To Calm: Stop Yelling, Lecturing, & Reacting (1 CD + 1 PDF Workbook + 45-page Q&A)
This is the same exact process Kirk used to change and become the Calm Guy. He provides 30 specific, concrete strategies to:
- Stop the lecturing and yelling for good to create a new family tree.
- Stop reacting when your kids, spouse, and friends push your buttons so you are in control of yourself.
- Break the old patterns that cause you to worry about your kids’ future and feel like you’re not a good enough parent.
- Get control of your time instead of feeling rushed, on edge and anxious. No more drama. No more anxiety.
- Deal with daily pressures of morning rush, traffic, homework, bossy parents, social media, over-scheduling your kids, and more.
You will learn how to control yourself…instead of controlling everyone else. Finally. Includes a downloadable Workbook and 30 action steps (one per day) to break those old patterns.
Bonus: Features a 45-page Q&A with answers to your toughest questions and strategies to overcome your toughest triggers.
SUMMER SALE: GET 3 PROGRAMS FREE with your purchase of 30 Days to Calm!
Get 9 hours of practical strategies and answers to your 100 toughest questions. Listen alone, listen WITH your kids, or have them listen alone. You will learn dozens of very practical, concrete strategies to stop defiance, disrespect, yelling, sibling fights, power struggles over screen time and homework. Plus your kids listen to Casey’s Straight Talk For Kids and learn to control themselves.
Stop Power Struggles with Your Strong-Willed Child (2 CDs, 2 hours). Kirk will show you how to cultivate a deep, trusting relationship with a strong-willed child who:
- Only wants to do things on his terms.
- Doesn’t care about consequences or anything you care about.
- Resists or shut downs when you try to talk to him.
- Would rather suffer and do things the hard way than do what you ask.
- Gets upset quickly over changes in plans.
- Feels different than his siblings and classmates.
- Gets the entire family revolving around his drama.
CD 2 Track 04: You can’t let strong-willed kids walk all over you. But tough discipline should always lead to a closer relationship. Listen how to do this even when your child is defiant.
Straight Talk For Kids (3 CDs, 3 hours)
Kids listen as a teenager (Casey) shows them how to deal with daily disappointment, anger, frustration, peer pressure, siblings, and homework.
- Kids feel understood, confident, motivated, and purposeful.
- Casey teaches kids how to communicate with parents respectfully to earn trust.
- Casey gives dozens of practical tools to handle sibling fights, organizational skills, focus, and social skills.
Discipline That Works: Get Your Kids to Listen the First Time (2 CDs, 2 hours)
Kirk will show you 25 ways to discipline without yelling to stop the fighting, lying, tantrums, whining, complaining and more. Learn to give directions ONE time… NO more repeating things!
- Give directions one time. No more repeating yourself, yelling or bribing!
- Stop lying, hitting, interrupting, tantrums, whining, and complaining.
- Teach kids how to control themselves. A must have in every home.
Listen to a sample track:
If you have any questions or need help selecting the best CD/DVD sets for your family, please call us at 888-506-1871 or email Casey@CelebrateCalm.com. And yes, you will actually speak with us!
