When a Child Prefers One Parent
It took months to organise, but today you escaped for lunch with two old friends and left your kids with your partner. Secretly, you couldn’t be happier. Your youngest is going through a phase that
Parent Burnout? Six Kind Practices You Can Use To Lift Yourself When You Feel Down About Your Parenting
Exhaustion, anxiousness and negative thoughts can all indicate parent burnout. And yet, parents need to parent, they cannot give up. These practices will help when you are feeling down about yourself or parenting. Another
Resolving Family Feuds Starts With You
You don’t have to live with family tension year after year. It’s possible to break old patterns of relating and forge new relationships within your family by getting support for yourself, taking the time to listen
These Ideas Will Help You Respond When Someone Else Disciplines Your Child And Sets Harsh Limits
If you’ve been parenting with connection, you might find a stark contrast between your approach to discipline and what those around you expect. It’s tough when well-meaning family, friends or members of your community intervene
Tips For Parenting The Tweens Years: Stop Butting Heads And Keep Your Bond Strong.
Parenting tweens is no easy task. Moods, eye-rolls and sudden outbursts can seem to appear overnight and long before we expect them. Each new change is a reminder our beloved babies are growing fast. There
Parents Ask If This Way of Setting Limits Is Permissive: The Answer Is Eye-Opening
Oh, oh, oh those parenting doubts. Did you ever guess there would be so many? Some days can feel like a revolving series of second-guessing, ‘comparisonitis’, changing tack, and rewriting the rulebook. Are you too
Respond Rather Than React When Staylistening to Aggression
When children become violent or aggressive it can be alarming. We are taught that violent outbursts are unacceptable, and naturally feel a responsibility to put an end to it. We have to keep people and
Mealtimes hard? Kind But Firm Ways To Help Your Child Sit At The Table
When mealtimes feel hard, try these kind ideas to help. They work even if your child is super strong-willed or very picky. When my sweet toddler moved from her high chair to sit with
Pet Euthanasia: How We Navigated Death And Loss In Our Family Using the Hand in Hand Tools
“She was really the best cat.” That’s what my husband and our two daughters (aged 6 and 13) kept saying in the days leading up to Izzi’s death. Our nearly 18 year old kitty had
5 Fresh Fun Ideas for Your Next Car Trip with the Kids
“Are we there yet?” “How much longer?” “Stop kicking the seat!” “Leave your brother alone!” “But he’s sticking his tongue out at me!” “I’m soooo bored!” Car rides, whether they’re five minutes or five hours,
Kirsty Pakes
Kirsty lives in Kent in the UK and is mum to two beautiful children born in 2011 and 2015. She is also ‘mum’ to a cheeky young dog and two very sweet rescue cat brothers.
Scared To Talk Consent With Your Kids? These Hand in Hand Tools Will Help You Get Intentional Around Consent Conversations In Your House
A few year’s back when my daughter was about four years old, a new family moved into our neighbourhood and their two children started to play in our back garden. One child was the same
Does Playlistening Distract a Child From Their Feelings?
Playlistening is the art of using play to listen to our children. Since play is the way children process and express their thoughts and feelings, using play to listen to and connect with our children
7 Steps You Can Take To Get Your Parents On-Board With Hand in Hand Parenting
Like most, I parent differently than my parents did. I knew that seeing me do things differently than they did could stir up feelings for them, especially about their most challenging parenting times. (Hello, teenage years!)
Feelings for Fathers with Tom Idleman
Tom Idleman shares his experiences learning about and using the Hand in Hand Parenting Tools
To the parent struggling to handle all the things right now
Anyone who works with children, parents or families will be acutely aware of how huge the need for parent support is. That has never been more true than it is now, in the midst of
These Kind Ways to Stop Breastfeeding Support You and Your Child
My first year of motherhood felt a bit like trying to stay in control of a runaway train. Breastfeeding did not come easily to me and so I was delighted to reach the milestone of
3 Adorable Books We Shared for World Read Aloud Day – Show your kids!
We shared three of our favorite picture books on Wednesday, February 3rd, to celebrate World Read Aloud day. How about you share them with your kids, and take a well-earned rest (whether you stay close