Several times when I come to pick up my sons after they’ve spent an afternoon with my mother, one will look at me severely and tell me “Oh! Not you!” Through Hand in Hand Parenting I’ve discovered that these type of responses come when one of my son’s feels our connection is lost, and so I
By Andrea McCracken My daughter was 7, nearly 8, and developing more concerns about the world. At bedtime, she would lay quietly and think about the mysteries of illnesses, aliens and other potentially scary things. They must have churned around her head because she would come out of bed to talk to me about it, asking
My preteen son is preparing for his first leading role in a school play, and the pre-performance nerves are really starting to kick in now. I decided that an opportunity to laugh off some of those jitters and have some really good connection time would be a good idea. This morning I took him
By Andrea McCracken When my 5-year-old started kindergarten, she would come home from school day a tightly wound and prone to crying. She seemed to be letting all her frustrations and bad feelings out on me, and although I could recognise that she was feeling tension from being in a new class, in
Giggles and laughter are stress dissolvers, making play a great way to tackle many everyday parenting challenges. In our book Listen: Five Tools To Meet Your Everyday Parenting Challenges, Hand in Hand Founder, Patty Wipfler lists Playlistening as one of five essential parenting Tools for calm, connected parenting. When parents use the Playlistening Tool, they
Q: Dear Hand in Hand Parenting My five year old daughter acts shy at school. Although she knows everyone in her class, and they have been patient and warm with her, she can never make eye contact or speak to anyone that greets her when we arrive to her class each morning. She does open
What is Hand in Hand Parenting?: Day 5 Play is the safe cradle in which our children experiment, express themselves, and explore their world. Whatever the activity, your child is playing when their actions are spontaneous, they control their role, and there’s no pressure to reach a goal. Play is its own reward, and is
Does one of your children tend to demand more attention than the other? Perhaps one is older and more dominant, and younger eager to please. Perhaps one is extrovert, always talking, and the other is an introvert, mostly happy to observe. Or maybe one is stubborn and resists your requests – and lets you know
You may have noticed that when children say “I’m tired,” they may not always mean it. Sometimes, “I’m tired” actually means “I’m starting to feel some uncomfortable feelings, and I can’t think of any other way to tell you.” If you suspect your child is trying to communicate this the next time you are walking,
You may have dreamed that co-sleeping would be cozy but then found yourself tossing and turning, or you may have dreaded it and still ended up with tiny toes tickling your nostrils each morning. If having children in bed with you isn’t working out, for whatever reason, you might have to help your child through
A guest post by Skye Munro of Nurturing Connections Recently I had the privilege of sharing my passion for connected parenting with over 200 Early Childhood professionals. But right until they entered the room I was plagued with a case of the ‘What if’s”… What if I forget what I want to say?
Children’s playful giggles and laughter can soon boil over and frenzied excitement erupts into power struggles, arguments and aggression. So how can you step in safely to diffuse a play situation headed south? Hand in Hand’s Heidi Grainger Russell explains how a burst of spontaneous Playlistening saved a recent play session from turning sour. What would you do?
Need help getting anywhere with a little one in tow? When our kids first learn to walk, they may be so determined it’s hard to stop them. However once the novelty wears off there may be moments when we’re on our way somewhere and they get grumpy, whiny and don’t want to walk on there own.
One mainstream response to ”attention seeking behaviour” is to ignore the bad and praise the good. But this doesn’t address the underlying upset feelings that are always beneath our child’s off-track behaviour.
Our parenting will never be perfect. Our children will inherit some hurts and fears from us. But play is a wonderful way children can make sense of their world, and tell stories. When we can play with them we can pick up on what makes them laugh, and help them release fear and upset.
a guest post from Kate Orson, a Hand in Hand Parent Shyness is a label, often put on children, but actually it’s just a set of reactions to a certain situation. Who has a ‘shy’ child who can act totally confident and extrovert in some situations but not others? Have you noticed that sometimes it’s
Contrary to popular belief we should actually wind our children up before sleep! Roughhousing, and lots of giggles, can help children release any stress or remaining tension from the day. It also helps to build the connection that children need to feel safe to separate from us and fall asleep.
By Kate Orson When it’s time to say goodbye to our child we may often hear the advice that it’s best to rush off even if they’re crying. Later we may be reassured by their caregiver that they stopped crying as soon as we left and were fine. However we may be worried that our