Part 1: Playlistening With Balloons My son loved playing with balloons when he was in control, but he had long been afraid of other people playing with balloons. He didn’t like the sounds balloons made
My son had been through periods of using his small potty, but for some reason, he had become resistant. I tried putting him in underwear, hoping the natural consequences would help him learn, but it
Staylistening With Madeleine Winter Recently, one of the parents in a Parenting by Connection class I was teaching sent me this story about a success with Staylistening to her boy. Staylistening is where we stay
David and his mum came recently to a Parenting by Connection class series I taught, which included two Play Events. This is where families meet for a couple of hours, and the adults play with
At the park one Sunday a little boy lifted my daughter, who is 3-1/2, in a tree and she fell. I heard her cry and ran to her. Her hand was dangling at a 90-degree
Sometimes, in our house, it’s fine to eat candy. Sometimes — like when it’s 30 minutes before bedtime and we’ve already had sweets earlier in the evening — it’s not. My five year old daughter was really, really wanting to have candy at 8:30 p.m. one night, and I felt pretty clear that it was not the right time for such a thing.
My five-year-old daughter hadn’t been riding without her training wheels for long. She could pedal and ride along fine after getting an initial push from me, but she was determined to be able to start up on her own. So off she and I went to the park to practice!
When my daughter was just under two years old, we were playing one day with a friend and her one-year old son. While gently nuzzling the leg of the younger boy, my daughter suddenly took
By the time she was three months old, my entire life was focused on helping my baby daughter get some good sleep. I hired two sleep consultants, read every book on sleep available, but found no answers or magic cures. What I knew I could not do was leave her alone to “cry it out”.
Leah had returned from her dad’s house chock full of feelings—she seemed sullen and sad and had lost all enthusiasm about the party. I decided to help my daughter get in better emotional shape so that she would be able to enjoy our party.
Helping children with fears this way allows them to feel and share their feelings while at the same time they are truly safe.
When our grandson was one, and just walking, we convinced his parents to let us babysit so they could have a night out. They were quite nervous because they did not like to hear their
Everything went well until we got to the checkout line and he asked for gum. I said no and he began to have a full blown tantrum, I was completely overwhelmed with the baby, the groceries and him. So I bought the gum. All the way home, I kept saying to myself, “You are being controlled by a child! This can only get worse.”
When my daughter was around two, I was ready for her to move to her own bed. I knew helping children sleep in their own beds could be challenging, and I wanted the transition to be as easy as possible for her, so I thought naptime, instead of bedtime, would be the best way to slowly introduce this idea.