Playlistening with Emilie Leeks Special Time has brought such positive changes to our middle child, who is four. Before we started implementing it she had seemed withdrawn and much less cheerful. Now she gets more excited, laughs a lot more, shares more verbally, and is more affectionate to us. On school days I try to
Trauma can really undermine a children’s ability to thrive at school, affecting relationships and making it hard for them to follow school structure and directives. Dealing with these behaviours can be taxing on teaching staff, but young children often turn to caregivers to help them manage their responses to the stress trauma causes, putting teachers in
My daughter has just turned 8, and as she’s grown I’ve become increasingly frustrated when she doesn’t help around the house. When she doesn’t help tidy up, I start to feel like a ‘slave.’ It’s not a great feeling. I know that play and playlistening works well for these types of issues, but recently I’ve
In his book, Playful Parenting, Lawrence Cohen says, “Play can be the long-sought bridge back to that deep emotional bond between parent and child.” Play invites adults into a child’s world, on their terms, and the giggles and laughter that follow releases tension, and helps barriers fall away. Bonding Through Play Sushila Hart, a nanny
Every Monday morning, just as soon as he wakes up, my son remembers that he’s supposed to go to the kindergarten and starts protesting: “I don’t like it, mommy and I don’t want to go; please let me stay home”. I listen to him every time, I hold him gently and then I say my “no”. He
You have a classroom of kids and plenty to get through, but one, quite clearly has issues with the topic. They might withdraw. Maybe they cry. The other children notice and begin to tease. Which isn’t fair. But you have a classroom of kids and plenty to get through. Sarah Charlton works with high school
When I picked up my son from school it was clear to me that he was not his usual affectionate, talkative and playful self. Instead, he was silent, seemed tense and rejected all of my bids for connection. Once we got home, he rushed into his room, closed his door and clearly announced that he
A Guest Post by By Emilie Leeks Our four-year-old daughter had a growing tendency to be very melodramatic around ‘pain’. If she was in a certain kind of mood and just got touched or gently bumped, she would whine and start to cry, repeatedly saying things like ‘Ow! You have to rub it.’ At times she
The outburst happened immediately after my two children’s father brought them to my home. My twelve-year-old son wanted to use his father’s phone, but his sister wouldn’t share it. He screamed, “She always gets her way!” Then he went into a rage. I could tell straight away that this was a pretext, a reason he found
My daughter was a very capable girl at eight years old. She was smart, strong, clever, and so resourceful. But at the same time, she sometimes acted helplessly. As a single parent, it would drive me crazy when she needed help with the most basic of things. Sometimes, she would demand that I help her
Dear Hand in Hand, Since the new year, i’m trying to play more with my children. We’ve been playing lots of hide and seek and roughhousing, and it feels great most of the time, but sometimes I’m just too tired to play! I read your recent post about triggers that might be holding me back from
My three-year-old daughter is used to being listened to and being allowed to voice her opinion. However, this was near unacceptable to my mother. Since my mother often takes care of her (thank you, mum) while I am working, the differences can get difficult. When my daughter expresses her unease, my mother generally makes comments
My seven-year-old son had been being bullied by his classmates for months. It had started with the boys, but soon some of the girls picked up on it as well. Our life was not good, and his pain poured into our family in the form of constant aggressive outbursts. I tried to talk to the
My son had been avoiding brushing his teeth for a couple of days before Christmas, and then on Christmas day, he’d eaten more sugary foods than he’s usually allowed. My husband was getting concerned, and as a result I could hear him getting rather heavy handed about tooth brushing and trying to set a limit
This is a Christmas story about the day my son saved the adults from their tantrums with his own special gift. When the holidays come our house fills up with family and friends and we are always happy to have them, even when the energy they bring is not that positive, not even nice. This,
“Play with me?” That one question is asked at least 100 times a day in most houses, by kids to their parents. Time and time again we hear that play improves connections. Greys Anatomy-creator (and former workaholic) Shonda Rhimes did a whole Ted Talk on how play impacted her life as a parent. Larry Cohen has two
Why do your children play well for hours some days and others can’t go five minutes without calling on you? Your own tension may play a big factor. Children have a way of picking up on stress, whether or not you bring it to them. If you are worried, upset or anxious, they might be
Separating at bedtime has been a struggle for our 2-year-old for quite some time and I have done a lot of Staylistening with him on this emotional project of his. But lately, he hasn’t been having any Staylistening at all and, depending on who puts him to bed and how tired he is,