How Connection Helps Your Children Face Fear
The Role of Fear in our Lives Fear is in our lives to protect us. It is a natural part of our human condition and our bodies are exquisitely built to detect threats and to
How Listening to a Micro-Preemie Helped Relieve Her Fear
By Laura Minnigerode Emma was born so early that she identified as a “Micro-Preemie.” That is, she weighed less than 800 grams and was born before 26 weeks. When I first met her, she was about 9
How Is it Possible to Parent Without Punishment?
“Are your parents strict?” Remember when that was all anyone asked about parents? Now we have dozens of labels, from gentle and calm parenting to authoritative and authoritarian. We have tiger moms, and helicopter moms,
His Needs Nearly Crushed Me
My son is now 16 months old. When he was newborn he was a nightmare. We couldn’t lie him flat for the first 6 months of his life. I couldn’t leave him for a microsecond.
15 Connection-Building Books for Parents
Our founder, Patty Wipfler’s book Listen, Five Tools to Meet Your Everyday Parenting Challenges, is a treasure trove of anecdotes and wisdom drawn from her 40 years working with children and families. At the
What is a Listen Book Club? Tools, Clubs and Classes at Hand in Hand
Dear Hand in Hand Parenting I read Patty and Tosha’s book LISTEN recently and found it really useful. I’ve been trying out some of the tools at home and have seen some big differences. My
5 Ways To Play Away Parenting Struggles
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
Staylistening – How Does Crying Help You and Your Child?
What is Hand in Hand Parenting?: Day 4 Understandably, parents often become annoyed by crying and use all kinds of strategies to hush their child up. In my family, the stock threat was, “If you
Five Connection Tools That Will Transform Your Parenting
What is Hand in Hand Parenting? Like no other work we know, parenting is all-demanding, all consuming. So often the work we do as parents goes unnoticed, despite it being the most important role we
Why You Should Let Them Cry Before Bed
By Andrea McCracken Usually my 3-year old daughter is quite agreeable and adaptable but she had been showing off-track behavior at bedtime for a few nights. What does off-track behavior look like? Playing at
A Bedtime Game Can Help When You Want Your Child To Sleep Solo
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
One Way to Set a Limit With an Aggressive Child
Hand in Hand’s Laura Minnigerode uses a special limit setting tool called a vigorous snuggle with a child that scratches and grabs. The warmth and smiles she uses while saying “no,” diffuses anger and fosters
Power Play: What to Do When Play Turns Bad
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
Wired to Connect: Discipline Shouldn’t Hurt
Discipline doesn’t need to hurt to be effective. In fact, it’s more effective when the child has a deep attachment to you. The end goal is to provide him with the skills, tools, and motivation
I Want Another Cookie and I Will Not Buckle My Car Seat
We were at an impasse for at least 10 minutes. We tried to wait patiently for her to be ready to leave, but she refused to buckle her car seat and physically prevented us from
Why You Should Indulge Your Child’s Attention Seeking
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.
15 Tips For Getting Out Of The House With Kids
I’d love to live in a world where my daughter could take her time, where I could just open the back door and she could run out and play with other children all day. Unfortunately
Special Time: Filling Your Child’s Connection Cup Replay
Join certified instructors Rachel Schofield and Stephanie Parker to learn how special time works and how they’ve used it in their families to transform many difficult situations and build stronger connections with their children. On