Introducing Brenda Nixon

Brenda Nixon is a parenting expert who has written a book called Parenting Power in the Early Years: Raising Your Child with Confidence Birth to Ave Five. (She’s also a contributing writer to several other books.)This book is described as a “multi-vitamin–petite in size, but potent in benefit.

Brenda (I feel like I can call her Brenda since the book is so neighborly, so friendly, so moms-sitting-in-the-kitchen-chatting) covers a lot of ground dealing with issues from separation anxiety, the binky blues, and thumb-sucking–and so much more. She offers insight and tips to “Embrace the First Year,” “Survive the Toddler Years” and “Maneuver the Preschool Years.” This book is a quick read, full of practical advice.

So, who is Brenda Nixon? She is the mother of two daughters, has a degree in Religious Education and is a professional speaker and writer. And, she’s answering a few questions today on my blog.

Tell me a little bit about what you do for a living.

I travel to speak at parenting and childcare conferences, schools, churches, MOPS groups, parent expos, or anywhere I’m invited if the audience lives or works with kids. I belong to a couple of speakers associations and continue to read and learn as much as I can to continually improve my craft and service to others.

Since there’s a marriage between speaking and writing, I also write books and magazine articles about child behavior and guidance. If a person is going to speak to audiences about a topic, it’s natural to put those words on paper and publish. Most of my colleagues do both speaking and writing.

With my education background, I’m contracted to teach Ohio Health & Safety curriculum to childcare providers, and I am adjunct faculty at an Ohio university.

How much travel does all of that require?

Sam’s Lake dvd

Speaking invitations have taken me from Virginia to New Mexico to Iowa. I’m still hoping for that invite to Hawaii. Business takes me out of my office about 8 times a year. Now that our kids are grown, my husband and I have more freedom to travel together, so he occasionally comes with me to work my booktable.

What topics do you address?

Number one topic: discipline. Close behind that are toilet teaching, understanding temperament, and boosting a child’s school success. Depending on the program planner’s request, some want my Kindergarten readiness talk and others just request a review of normal child development. To keep things interesting and fresh, each presentation is unique; some use power point, some use role-play, and some have silly jokes. When I was in Iowa recently, the event planner asked me to close an early childhood conference with “Women Are Winners” — a motivational, lighthearted talk about all the work women do. It’s based on the Proverbs 31 poem in the Bible’s Old Testament.

Those are just a few of my presentation. I posted a menu of topics on my website so event planners don’t have to think up a topic, they can just select.

Finally, all work and no play isn’t healthy. Tell us something personal about yourself like your hobbies.

Hmm, good question. I don’t have a declared hobby, but cultivate myriad interests including garage sales, gardening and landscaping, volunteering with the Humane Society, bicycling, playing with my dachshund, Opie (I’m co-authoring a book of devotions for dog lovers), and learning about and watching hummingbirds. I also read anything that interests me, from Cesar Milan’s book on dog behavior, to Stephen King’s book On Writing, to child development research and parenting magazines, to religious publications. I favor devotional books by Oswold Chambers and Max Lucado.

Thanks for this opportunity to share with your readers. It’s been fun, and I hope helpful to everyone.