A guest post by Irina Nichifiriuc Read this post in Romanian In our house, I faced a series of “battles” and obstacles every night as the day wore on towards bedtime. With three children, I found that the task of
I was on Special Time duty one particular weekend and had done 20 minutes with each of my younger two children. Next, it was my oldest son’s turn. He’s 7. Originally he’d said he wanted to play football, which I
We long to relax and enjoy each other’s company on vacation, but in new surroundings, after long journeys, children can feel out of sorts and disconnected, and often meltdown on holidays. Allocating one-on-one time builds in a regular time for
With the infiltration of screens at home and at school, it can be hard knowing where to Set Limits on screen time with children. Often, screen times seem to alienate. Your child goes off into zombie mode leaving family members
My partner’s son has to do one hour of eye exercises each night. Needless to say they are the last thing he wants to do. To give my partner a break from the limit setting and listening that followed I
As little as five or 10 minutes following a child in play can transform many of the big challenges parents face raising little ones today. If you want to Set a Limit on behavior, transition smoothly to a new routine
It’s the beginning of the school year, and as surely as leaves will drop, so will the homework. Pages and pages of it. Sometimes whole binders worth. Homework can be the source of many arguments, and I wanted to take
Early one morning, my seven-year-old daughter began to be aggressive with her younger brother. She insisted that he play with her—and on her terms. He did his best to tell her no, but he wasn’t getting through. The situation was
When my son was five years old, he asked to buy a set of army figures at the toy store. It was a set of about 40 small plastic figures, in different poses with different weapons and flags. There was
My 6 year old leg was injured while he was practicing sports. Unfortunately, the injury happened just before a school sport’s event and he was not able to fully take part in it, although it was clear that he certainly
Your child will have big feelings when a special holiday or birthday comes up. It’s one of the phenomena you can set your clock by. We parents wish the universe were governed by forces a little easier on us
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
On Special Time Go figure! Kids love attention. And they love parent’s attention better than most. That’s probably because giving them regular undivided attention can be really beneficial for them. Feeling Connected Means Feeling Better When a parent pours in
How often have you told your child that it’s naptime only to be met with complete disapproval? We know our children benefit from a rest midday, and may of us look forward to that window, either to get things done without
A guest Post by Kate Orson Special Time, one of Hand in Hand’s Five Parenting tools, is a wonderful way to deepen your connection with your child, to build the safety they need to tell us their feelings. This 1-1
We know that babies cries alert parents to their needs. How else could we know when they need comfort, food, changing? But children are just as in touch with what they need to survive and feel well, even if we,
My twin boys and I had gone away for a couple of days together with a friend and her son, plus two close relatives. I’m not sure where the difficulties came from, but at the start of the trip our children couldn’t play
My five-year-old son had been having trouble getting to sleep on his own. We had several weeks of him resisting bed time. He didn’t want to be alone in his room and kept coming up with lots things he “had to have”