teaching

13 Things I Have Learnt from My First 3 Kids To Help Me Parent The Next 2

As we parent each new child we gain more knowledge, we learn more strategies, we make more mistakes and we continue to come to the realisation that there is still so much more to know. Whilst nowhere near the completion of my parenting duties, I have managed to get 3 boys through the baby stage, toddlerhood and now have them firmly entrenched in their primary school years. With a new toddler enthusiastically making his presence felt, and the welcoming of a new baby later in the year, I embark on this ‘second round of early childhood’ with both an open mind and certainly a few lessons learned. So here they are…..13 of my top tips to help me get through the coming years.

Only ever buy exactly the same pair of socks for their entire childhood. As long as they inhabit the same house as you, this is the only answer I can come up with for preventing odd socks.
It doesnt matter how many times you say yes to a child….you will still be the worst parent EVER the one time you say no…so you may as well get it over with early and teach them that No means No, and start growing that thick skin!
Letting your child play with a toy gun, (whilst challenging your initial intentions of creating PC kids) will NOT turn your child into a homicidal maniac. (not so far anyway!) Oh and nor will letting them dress up as Batman, Superman, Buzz Lightyear or a Ninja Turtle. [Read more...]

Stop bailing out the kids – and give them the skills to help themselves

It is only natural when our children are faced with loss, failure, disappointment or rejection that we want to step in, take away the loss, ease the pain of failure, counteract the disapointment and reverse the effects of rejection . Nothing breaks our hearts more than hearing our kids lament that they had no-one to play with. Nothing can bring us down like seeing the look of complete devastation on a child who tried so hard, but still didnt make the team. We want to mend the friendshift rift, buy a replacement for the toy that just broke and somehow get them into the “A” team, because we know they really are the best. But are we really helping our kids, or merely helping to facilitate their dependence on us? Are we sending them the message that when things dont go to plan, simply wait for someone to step in and make the changes needed to suit their every whim. If we want to help our children build their resilience and independance therefore, we need to view these moments not as problems we need to solve, but rather as great opportunities for our children to learn and grow. [Read more...]