In an attempt to prevent a scene, parents use all the tricks to coerce their child in to following their instructions. They bribe and barter, they punish and threaten, or perhaps they simply whisper quietly and tell them “You’re okay,there’s no need to cry.” Sometimes these tricks work, though often what materialises is an even bigger outburst, either there and then, or saved up ready to be released in an explosion at a later time. Continue Reading
Preschool can be a wonderful place for toddlers to grow their inner abilities, nurture their creativity, and develop those skills of friendship and interaction. There are a lot of preschools that can offer the perfect balance of hands on learning and fun experiences for little children. But how to choose which preschool is right… Continue Reading
This is a guest post By Suzanne. Some days it can feel like the only word you ever use is “no”, turning you into ‘the big green ogre’ and leaving your kids in a grumpy haze. But though you’re only saying it for their own good, do your kids really understand? Could there be a… Continue Reading
We all want positive, respectful relationships with our children—and we want our children to
grow up experiencing the same. Using the power of pause is a simple tool that has the
profound ability to transform our relationships, from infancy on. Continue Reading
Creating and using family rules can be a positive and family oriented activity. Family rules do not need to be a long exhausting list of “can’t dos” to be effective either. Here are some ideas to consider when writing up family rules: Continue Reading
why do so many people in charge of caring for and motivating children continue to use reward charts? Some things are inherently motivating to children, like loving attention, food, approval, affectionate touch, smiles and eye contact. However, these are precisely the things we should avoid using as rewards and punishments with our children if we want to show them our love is unconditional. Continue Reading
It takes a lot more finesse and attention to help create safety in the exploration than it does to simply shut it down. Making mistakes with livable consequences are great ways to learn. The bummer about shutting down all crazy explorations is that kids will lose their own internal sense of how to create safety within the adventure Continue Reading
Toddlers and hitting is a common challenge for parents, so much so it’s often referred to as a behavior problem. But really, getting toddlers to stop hitting often comes down to understanding the reasons toddlers hit, understanding how hitting make us parents feel. They way we react to children hitting can either fuel the problem or lead towards better connection and helping our child learn different ways to express their feelings.Often the more negatively we feel about the hitting the more we might inadvertently prolong the problem. Continue Reading
Peacefulness helps us to learn to cope with stress and bring what is out of balance into harmony. We begin to create an atmosphere where peace is felt and experienced in our presence. And we become open to listen to our own feelings and actions and model to our children what matters to us. Continue Reading
Most parents that use time out do so with good intentions and sometimes, a time out can give parents and children a chance to take a break from each other to cool off. However, non punitive parenting tools such as Time In are really effective in helping children develop life long skills such as regulating emotions and making decisions. It’s a mistaken but deeply ingrained notion that children need to feel bad about their behavior in order to change it. Learn more about time in and time out. Continue Reading