Hey ladies, welcome to the Mom to Mentor podcast. If this is your first time joining, welcome. If you are a repeat listener, thank you for your loyalty. And oh, by the way, welcome to 2026. We are continuing down the path of reminding you you are more than a mom, more than a nurturer, you are a mentor to your children. You are the first teacher they experience. This podcast is designed to encourage and motivate you, mom, as you continue down this journey of being a parent. And if there's some fellows listening, hey, you are also welcome as well. Although this is designed for moms, but you're welcome. You may be able to extract some of the information that I share and apply it to your own parenting skills. And again, any way that this podcast can benefit you with your parenting, I'm for it 100%. What am I talking about today? We're still planting character seeds, and I just think that's still a vital part of teaching our children about different behaviors that they're going to encounter throughout life and how to handle them. And I hear you, Mom. You're saying, you know what, I'm not a teacher and I'm not sure how to go about this. That's why I'm doing this to hopefully assist you with how you engage with your children and when you should engage with your children about specific topics. This can also benefit you, Mom, and also drive you to critical thinking when it comes to different behaviors. And once you apply these behaviors to yourself, then guess what? Now you're going to be an effective teacher to your children or to your child. What am I talking about today? We are talking about conflict resolution. I'm just gonna be very honest. I am so tired of people attempting to resolve issues through violence. I promise you there's an easier way. It really is. And let me remind you, moms, abuse is not okay ever to you or to your children. And let me also say this: nobody should be putting hands on anyone. That means, mom, if you have your boo in the house or the baby's father and you have a disagreement with him, don't lay your hands on him. Okay? Just don't. Either one, nobody should be laying hands on anybody, especially if you're an adult. Now, children, they require correction at times, and sometimes you have to use your hands to correct that behavior. But as adults, we don't touch each other. Learn to walk away. And that's what I want to talk about today. Another way to address those issues without violence, without physical touch, because these alternate solutions work. What is conflict resolution? It is the process of settling disagreements peacefully with two or more parties. The reason why this is an important topic is because you are allowed to get mad. Matter of fact, you are going to get mad. Sometimes you may get mad a couple times throughout the day. And guess what? That's okay. Because it's a natural emotion. It's going to happen. Whether you're out and about in public and someone walks in front of you, or if you're driving and someone cuts, you're going to get mad. Yeah. And some people result into road rage. And guess what? Sometimes it's just, you know what? I ain't even going to acknowledge that behavior. I'm going to keep moving. I'm going to call you a name, but I'm going to keep moving. So that it doesn't interrupt your entire day. How you respond to anger is the issue that needs to be addressed. So we just talked about what conflict resolution is and why do we need it? Because we're going to experience it on a daily basis. All right, so let's get down to giving you some tips on other ways to resolve conflict. Stay calm. Don't allow someone to push your buttons. Again, I just gave you a perfect example. You're out and about, you're driving, or someone disrespects you. Is it worth the response? Probably not. Are you a little irritated? Yeah. Should you move on? Absolutely. Because it's not worth messing up your whole day. Active listening. Listen to understand, not to respond. So if you're having conflict with someone, maybe your boo or your baby's father. And if fellas are listening, maybe your baby mama, hey. But we want to listen to understand why they're upset versus listening to respond. Because when we listen to respond, some things may come out of our mouths that we may regret later. But if we actively listen to what the concern is and just ponder it, you don't have to respond. Just understand, absorb what they're saying before you take that act of, okay, this is how I feel. Then you have a full-blown argument. The other thing, you want to remain calm. And when I say calm, I'm talking about your voice tone as well. Listen, when you're yelling at each other, absolutely nothing gets accomplished. All you're doing is screaming at each other. The next thing you're slamming doors and throwing things. Learn to respond in a calm, neutral tone with your voice, because that's going to help de-escalate the issue. I remember once upon a time, way back when I would interact with customers and they would be angry about a situation. So it would have been easy for me to elevate my voice, but instead I said, uh-uh. So I lowered my voice. So then at the end, as I lowered my voice, they also lowered their voice. They started mimicking me. By the time the interaction was over, they would thank me because they were so upset saying, I appreciate you calming me down. And that's one thing you don't want to say. Calm down. No, just lower your voice based on that versus matching their anger because they have a right to be angry because it's a natural emotion. Collaboration. So you want to reach a consensus. Sometimes it's to agree to disagree. I'm just saying that was one of the things that I was taught. Midway my career, it's okay to disagree. Right now, all the politics and different things that are going on in this world, many of us don't agree with it, and some people do agree with it. And that's okay. That's fine. So when that happens, you know what? That's your point of view. I have my point of view, and we move on. And that's it. It doesn't have to be a big debate. We agree to disagree. And that's okay. Now we want to talk about win-win. Win-win is the situation benefits both of you. And again, respect each other for the differences. Going back to reaching that consensus. It's a win-win for both of you all. We move on. You like it, I don't like it. Okay. Now that you know that I don't like it, I'm gonna try to respect you for your opinion. And you respect me for mine. And we move on. Compromise, again, going back to the collaboration and the win-win willingness to give and take. That's what compromise is. Avoid the conflict, walk away. Matter of fact, a really good option. So if someone walks away and says, you know what, I'm not gonna get into this with you today. I'm just not gonna do it. Respect that. Don't be talking about, I'm talking to you, what you walking away for? No, because if that person is doing that, then they already know the benefits of conflict resolution and you can resolve things in a different manner. So allow them to walk away without you saying, hey, wait a minute, come back here. We I'm not finished yet. Because some discussions may not require response. So respect that person if they choose to walk away from that discussion. Accommodating, just say okay, and move on to resolve the issue. Again, that's what conflict resolution is all about. We don't have to resort to violence, ladies, learning how to walk away and be respectful to one another and recognize everybody has a difference of opinion, and that's okay to resolve an issue. Now you can teach your children the benefits of what it means to resolve an issue without violence, right? Because effective conflict resolution is crucial in both personal and a professional setting, as it helps maintain positive relationships, promotes teamwork, and builds trust. That's the big one. Building trust. So keep that in mind, moms, as you enter and navigate 2026. You are going to encounter conflict. Some of us more often than not, unfortunately. But have the mindset of saying, this is how I'm going to deal with conflict today. Yeah, I'm going to walk away. I'm just not going to address it. Or I'm going to address it later after I had time to calm down. Or if you're a yeller like I used to be, I'm going to just lower my tone and address people in a manner where they can hear and understand me without yelling. All right, ladies, that concludes today's episode. If you found value in this episode, tell another parent about conflict resolution. And if you enjoyed the Mom to Mentor podcast, share. And guess what, ladies? I've just modified my web page. I would love to get your feedback. I would love to hear what you have taught your child, what you have learned, especially if you learn something from this podcast. Share that with me so we can share with others and motivate and encourage them. That's what this podcast is all about. It is 2026. It's time to really put this podcast and these behaviors into high gear and really press the accelerator because it is needed now more than ever. So again, I appreciate you joining. I look forward to interacting with all of you in 2026. Again, don't forget to visit SingleMom's United Podcast.com. I am in the process of updating my URL, so be on the lookout for that. You can also visit my YouTube channel. Leave me some feedback. I want to hear from you. And I also promise one of my goals this year is to get guests on my show. So you'll need to go to my webpage and sign up to come on the show. And it's specifically for what you taught your child or what you are teaching your child or what you have learned and why you have found value. And all of these things have to be positive, right? I don't want someone coming on and saying, I taught my child how to cuss. Yeah, you're not going to be on my show. But if you taught your child how to be respectful, how to resolve issues, conflict resolution, if those things you are doing, I want to know. And we want to share that with others. You all have a great day and a fantastic month. Take care.