Moms and dads who need a little help getting on the same page as their partners can turn to a new book from Vicki Hoefle. In Parenting As Partners: How to Launch Your Kids Without Ejecting Your Spouse, the popular author and parenting coach provides a step-by-step approach to creating a plan that will help couples strengthen their marriage and raise happy and emotionally healthy kids. Hoefle, who recently relocated from Vermont to California, offers straightforward exercises that help parents explore their own childhood experiences and relationships, leading to a better understanding of how the past shapes the way they parent. Hoefle's experience working with families for more than two decades informs her recommendations. "My goal is to help couples resolve the very real tension and conflicts that arise when two people have different ideas on what is best for the kids," Hoefle said, "and to show them how to navigate their differences with respect, cooperation and compassion."

Parenting as Partners: How to Launch Your Kids Without Ejecting Your Spouse, Routledge, 190 pages, publication date: May 11. Hoefle will be speaking at multiple locations in Vermont, including St. Albans, Middlebury and Burlington, in early May. Visit vickihoefle.com/speaking2 for details.