By Kirsten Nottleson On Thanksgiving morning, my husband and I were both feeling a stressed trying to get the turkey, pie, cranberry relish, and salad ready to pack in the car. We were off to grandma’s house for “the big meal.” “Please, Please, Play” We have two boys, aged 4 and 10, and my four-year-old
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 out
I’m the mom of a young son, who has been my greatest teacher in life and has guided me to my deepest passion, parenting! My work in Theater from the time I was a little girl up until now pairs beautifully with my work today. I’m passionate about helping parents connect with their children and
After school, my son was clearly off track and needing to offload some feelings. He had been at his little brother since he got in the car, and then on the way home, he started calling me “stupid.” Normally, being called stupid is very restimulating for me, but I had been working on it with my
After a prolonged illness, my 6-year-old was full of feelings and energy. I could tell by the way he was quick to anger, quick to become indignant, and generally by what hard work it was to parent him! I was recovering myself, and hadn’t found many opportunities to be playful. However, last night, I was
After a weekend together, my husband and I were putting our kids to bed. The lights were out, but my 5-year-old was not settled; he was making a raspberry noise. This annoyed his brother, my 9-year-old, who shouted, “Be quiet! Stop that noise!” We tried, “your brother is asking you, please stop.” But nothing seemed
This morning, my 2.5 year old son, Lucas, was playing with his monkey. The monkey has a noisemaker inside, and the battery inside the noisemaker was dying, making an unpleasant noise which Lucas didn’t like. He tried to make it stop with his hands, but he couldn’t. We couldn’t do much about it because the noise
My 2.5 year old son had just transitioned to a new daycare. He had been there three days, and he had done very well with the transition. He was asking excitement in the morning to go to see his new friends at his new daycare. The teachers reported that he was playing well with the
~ From Certified Instructor Julie Johnson One evening my two year-old son seemed grouchy and irritable. From the time that we arrived home from school, nothing was right. He was unhappy with his snack, dinner was not what he wanted, and he was frustrated with his toys. I decided to try some playlistening with him
Usually I do about ten minutes of special time with my three year-old son a couple of times a week. Although ten minutes of special time always seems like such a short amount of time to do special time with a child, when I’m actually doing it with my son, I find myself waiting eagerly
When my son was about 21 months old, he started to hate having water poured over his head when I washed his hair in the bath. He would scream and scream every time, even when I was meticulously careful not to get any suds or water in his eyes. After a few weeks of this
When his Dad came home from work he gently said, “If you are going to shout could you tell me first and I’ll go and get the box and you can shout into that instead.” I thought his was wonderful! He was confident and thinking well enough to do something to try and help his Dad to stop shouting.
She has a strong mama “preference” and almost never chooses to be with me rather than with her mother.
Due to a budget cut, we don’t have a school bus at our school. So my neighborhood organized a carpool when our children entered kindergarten. It saves gas, time and creates a sweet sense of community, and a special bonding of parents and children among families. However, about two years ago when we first started carpooling, we
A few days later I noticed there had been no aggressive behavior since the day of the big cry.
Whenever I caught a break from his rigorous brushing, I begged, “no more!” in vain. He would put more rigor into his brushing laughing and really enjoying this role reversal.
I thought, “No, we aren’t going to be able to handle a big upset right now!” so I got her to let him go, and we kept on pillowfighting and wrestling for a long time–10 or 15 minutes.
When your child experiences a traumatic separation, there are simple, practical things you can do to help.