Can you sometimes see your child's aggression coming, but just don’t really know how to respond to stop it? Deep breathing might help to calm a child, but it can be pretty hard to encourage them to do it once a fight-or-flight response has been triggered! And resorting to yelling, threatening "consequences", or “time out” … Continue reading Responding playfully to kids’ aggressive urges with faux fighting
Have you heard of power reversal play? When instead of being the bigger, stronger, wiser one, as we often appear to be, we play the part of the less competent one? The bumbling fool, even? Kids are so often the smaller and weaker ones. They are learning so much everyday, often not knowing how to … Continue reading What “The Book with No Pictures” can teach you about power reversal play!
"Can we goooo noooow?". We were sitting at a cafe. My son had finished what he was having, and hubby and I still had our cups of chai to drink. I felt my tension rising. I just really wanted to be able to relax and enjoy my drink. We had intentionally left the phones behind, … Continue reading “Can we goooo noooow?”
Playing games with our kids can be a great way to pass the time when there's nothing else very interesting going on. But whether you're sitting in a cafe or on a long car trip, I Spy can get old pretty quickly. Here are 8 alternatives to get you laughing and connecting, which will not … Continue reading Tired of I Spy?
When life gives you lemons (especially super gorgeous ones from the farmers market!), make lemon and honey jelly lollies! They are healthy and my son loves them! I also discovered that they are great for easing coughs. Much to my son’s dismay, I ate the last two through the night when I was coughing and … Continue reading When life gives you lemons …
This morning I was feeling a little sleepy and out of it. My son and I are both sick and were up early. So I started talking like a robot! And I immediately started to feel lighter and more connected. I love having really simple ideas on hand to get playful. And I’m convinced that … Continue reading Struggling to be playful with your kids?
I’m a big fan of self-care! I guess as parents, we can’t afford not to be. In order for us to care for our children in a conscious, connected and compassionate way, we need to care for ourselves in that way first. I’ve found that yoga really helps me to let go of my "to … Continue reading What helps you connect deeply to yourself?
I am feeling so grateful to my husband for listening to me yesterday morning as I talked and had a big cry. I had been waking in the middle of the night with some feelings the last few nights, and struggling to distract myself from them enough to fall back to sleep. Then yesterday I … Continue reading Listening to an adult’s tears helps them to release stress and connect
I had a couple of mums say they'd like to print out the images from my last video so they can stick them up around the house to act as reminders for calming themselves and guiding their responses in those challenging moments! So here are the .jpgs for you! Downloadable via my Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.555128831351995.1073741831.367895096742037&type=1&l=c7d7029e5f
A quick video with some helpful things we can say to calm ourselves in the heat of the moment and help our responses hold more understanding and compassion. While the video is aimed at responding to children, that statements can be applied to any situation in which we are experiencing other someone else's behaviour as difficult. … Continue reading Video: 9 Things to Gently Say to Yourself When Your Child’s “Difficult” Behaviour is Pushing Your Buttons
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