Finding parenting classes for parents isn’t easy. I mean, we all know that kids don’t arrive with an instruction manual. It’s not really fair: a child comes along and we are dumped in the deep end. Parenting can be very challenging and that is why it is important to choose your parenting classes wisely. Here are a few tips for you:
Does the person taking the classes have a degree? Then do NOT listen to them. I’m serious here! Let me tell you why. Universities might be great when it Read more
Something happened today. And it actually made me a bit angry and a bit sad. I wanted to invite a mate of my son’s to go away for a couple of days and rang someone to ask if they would allow their son to go away with us. Nothing wrong with that.
I chatted to the parent, but the parent said to me “I don’t think my son would like to go away with your son because your son picks on my son and teases him too much”. BIG GULP!!!! So there I was on the end of the phone, trying to Read more
Well it’s school holidays here. That means at any one time I will have double the usual amount of people in my house. Last night instead of 3 kids I had six kids. The boys watched DVDs in the lounge and the girls were watching DVDs in the bedroom. When they all joined together for the inevitable five minutes of wrestling, the youngest one got hurt. But that’s what happens to a little girl when she has three big brothers.
So how do you cope with six kids in the house at once, I hear y Read more
Something funny happened at our house last week. At least I thought it was funny…
My daughter, Rebekah was in my bedroom chatting to me, then she went back to her room. I suddenly thought of something important that I could add to the conversation so I called out to her “bla bla bla”. I have forgotten the exact words that I said but that’s not important. What is important is what Becky said in reply.
She called back to me and said , “Mum, if you want to talk to m Read more
Lately I have had many parents asking me how they can better understand their children. So I wanted to take a few minutes to explain about the five love languages. I guess you either know about them or you don’t…
There is a famous author called Gary Chapman, who has written a book called “The Five Love Languages of Children”. In this book he talks about what we as parents can do to make our children feel loved. Now these things are not just related to children; they can be used with spou Read more
Ever wondered why some people are good at child discipline and others aren’t? Just like everything in life, there are strategies you need to follow in order to have a good outcome with your children. Allow me to share a recent incident in our family:
My 10 year old daughter Becky left a book at school. Not just any book. It was a library book that we had borrowed together form the public library. It wasn’t our property. That meant if she lost it someone would have to pay to replace it. And w Read more
Should we punish our kids? If so, how often and what for? Firstly, let me explain a difference to you. I discipline for three things: disobedience, disrespect and defiance. Anything else just doesn’t count as far as I am concerned. We need to concentrate on the major issues in life instead of focussing on the little things that don’t really matter that much.
Let me tell you a funny story: my 17 year old son recently got suspended from school for 20 days for doing a back somersault off Read more
Should I negotiate with my children? That’s a question I hear many parents asking. That’s a very good question. And to answer it, let’s look at how the world operates.
You want a day off work. You go to your boss and say “please can I take Friday off work as a flex day? If you let me, I will have such and such done on time and I will meet all my deadlines, I promise”. Your boss has two choices. He can say “OK, that’s fine, I will allow that to happen”. Or he could say “no, I r Read more
I’m sure I am not the only mum in the world who has to deal with nagging from my child. It is quite normal to have kids that nag. However it’s what we do with the nagging that is important.
I was chatting to a mother just this week who was telling me that her daughter wanted to go to a fancy dress party as Tinkerbell. The mother didn’t have anything in her house remotely appropriate for the occasion. But the daughter wasn’t happy with that outcome and proceeded to do a song and dance Read more
Anyone else have problems with the television and getting ready for school in the mornings? Should we make a rule that there is no television before school each week day, or should we just leave it up to our kids to figure out how to organise themselves?
This is a question that many parents struggle with. So what is the answer? It will be different for each individual family. I have a sister with three kids, ranging in ages from 14 years down to 9 years. She has the television on all morning whi Read more
