Parenting Tips
Post Natal Depression: Signs and Symptoms
Here at Laura’s Place, we’re involved in a lot of discussion about Post Natal Depression (PND). It’s a topic that comes up frequently because it seems to affect so many.
Having a baby and adjusting to life as a mother can be the most significant life-changing event many woman will ever experience. Adjusting to this change as well as coping with the demands of a new-born baby can make some women more likely to experience depression. Read the rest of this entry »
Bedtime Problems
Tracy and Brad came to see me at ‘Laura’s Place’. They were experiencing problems with their two boys, aged 7 and 5 years at bedtime. The boys came up with all the excuses in the world as to why they didn’t need to go to bed from not being tired to needing an extra hug!
Does this sound like something you have heard in your house?
Poor Tracy was exhausted by this as she was often on her own at bedtime for the boys. She was up and down the stairs all evening, going between the boys and their various requests. By the time Brad walked in the door Tracy was very stressed and the boys were still awake. Read the rest of this entry »
My children are always fighting, what can I do?
Jack: “He started it, he hit me.”
Lachlan: “Well I hate you, you stink!”
Mum: “Lachlan! Don’t talk to your brother like that!”
Lachlan: “You always take his side, it’s not fair.”
Bickering, fighting and arguments between siblings are a normal part of growing up.
However, as a parent, one often feels worried about this and may think that it is a sign that their children dislike each other, or have an unhappy relationship. Read the rest of this entry »
Can you turn off the TV or computer in your home?
Is turning off the TV something that you dread doing because of the arguing and tantrums that will follow?
You might be surprised to learn that you are not alone in your battle!
Kylie came to see me at Laura’s Place. She was having major problems with her two eldest children aged 4 and 7. Television and computer use was the main source of arguments every day. Getting her children ready for school or asking them to do their homework was becoming a nightmare and she dreaded it.
Kylie also had a one year old and was feeling more and more that she was fighting a loosing battle at home.
Does this sound familiar?
Games for the car
If you’ve got lots of car travel to do with kids on board, here are some fun games to keep the kids entertained and happy.
Playdough
Playdough will keep the little kids entertained for hours.
Knead, pound, flatten, roll and squeeze the day away – working with playdough is lots of fun and helps little ones develop fine motor skills. When you throw a rolling pin, some plastic cookie cutters and a few child-friendly kitchen utensils into the mix, you’re set for hours of entertainment.
What is Emotional Resilience?
I once read a wonderful description of what emotional resilience means; emotional resilience is the ability to bungee jump through life. The pitfalls are still there but you are protected from becoming overwhelmed by the elastic bungee cord around your ankles which bounces you back from hard times to safety.
There are many times in children’s lives when this ability helps, whether it’s facing challenges at school or at home, dealing with changes within the family or even moving house and adjusting to a new area.
Family Meetings: Infuriating but Effective
Sonia and Luke came to see me as they felt that they were fighting a losing battle at home with their 3 children, aged between 7 and 13 years old. They reported that everything was an argument between the kids, from who had been on the computer longest, which TV program to watch, bedtimes, chores, who sits in the front of the car and who fed the rabbit last time!
They felt that there was no communication in the house, just shouting.!
Personally I am a great believer in the saying that ‘the family that eats together stays together.’ The amount of people in for dinner in my household can range from just my husband and me, to all four kids, plus any number of the kids friends that are around. No matter how many of us are in for a meal we make sure that we sit down around the table to eat.
However this is easier said than done! Lives are busy; people need to eat at different times due to work/ sports / dancing etc commitments.
Band Aid Parenting
How do you survive the long school holidays?
With my four kids the long holidays were a mixed blessing, on one hand it meant that all the complex organisation of after school activities with the logistical nightmare of finding two of the kids doing different activities at the same time but in different locations, gave way to a relaxed atmosphere with less limits and lazy days.
All that was great for the first week or two, after that came the arguing between each other, over the smallest thing and constant cries of I’m bored, Mum! Around this time I would find myself saying the sorts of things that I remember my Mother saying, I also remembered that I swore I would never say these things. Read the rest of this entry »
Behaviour Problems, common questions answered.
Q. My new Partner and I have moved in together and I have 2 children aged 5 and 7yrs. They have gone from being well behaved to such awful behaviour that I am embarrassed and I am scared that he will change his mind!
A. The key to this one might be the fact that your Partner has moved into your home now and therefore is around more and perhaps the children are feeling threatened or lacking in ‘Mummy attention’. Try to set a time when you spend some time with the children on a one to one basis. Do this regularly, daily if you can, this will help with consistency during this new phase of their life. Kids don’t like sharing Mummy at the best of times, but with a new partner they may resent the attention you give him. If children feel that they are not getting enough positive attention then they go for the negative type instead, any attention from Mummy is better than no attention!
