a guest post by Sarah MacLaughlin, LSW I have been in the field of education, child care, or social work for the past 20 years. I have spent my entire life working with young children
My three-year-old son has a lot of anxiety around getting shots. He gets extremely agitated beforehand.
How could I possibly settle for status quo and watch so many parents struggle when I hold in my hands these simple, yet brilliant, strategies that can help parents create a much more pleasant home front and feel good about their parenting?
For my daughter, getting her hair washed has been an emotional project. She usually has a tantrum at the mere suggestion that hair washing might be on the agenda.
We set a timer and let our 3-year-old know we were all her’s. She was in charge and we were ready for whatever kind of play she wanted.
I could let my son continue to show me his impulse to interfere with his sister and I didn’t have to yell at him or tell him he was a “bad” kid. I knew there was nothing wrong with my son just because he wasn’t feeling connected and his impulse control was impaired. He needed connection first, before he could have good impulse control.
Right before the family arrived I sent out a second email with a small description of Special Time. By the end of the three days everyone had spent time with the girls!
Maybe it’s not-so-easy to have that first sleepover. But so easy to have some kind of parental amnesia! Ugh. I was immediately wondering if we were going to need to turn right back around and pick up the kids and then turn around again to go home.
Is your toddler too angry to sleep? Read on to learn how to read the signs and get a solution. By Lyra L’Estrange Does it ever seem like your toddler is just unsettled? Can’t be happy?
My four-year-old son, feeling disconnected from me, hit his little sister over the head quite hard. I couldn’t get there in time to physically stop him, and my daughter ran to me screaming. While I held her, I looked over to my son, sitting by himself looking so hurt, guilty, and upset too.
One afternoon, as I returned from work, I found my 9-year-old son and his grandmother writing out the English alphabet with beautiful coloured pens in his English class notebook. They were about to finish, when
The power struggle was on full swing. First, she wouldn’t get in her car seat. Then she wouldn’t latch her seatbelt or let me do it. Then after she was latched in, sometimes within 30 seconds she would take her seatbelt apart again.
On the second day, our daughter, who was two, was starting to get upset easily, not wanting to share with her brother, and generally not being happy. At first I was thinking, why is she upset? She has had some really fun happy times with us, there are lots of new and fun and different things we are doing together… we are on holiday!
This really helped each boy to feel more confident and in control and not so tight and stuck in being able to share the chair and other toys with each other during the playdate.
Use this Special Time Checklist to make the most of your time with your child. You will build connection and give your child confidence to learn and grow and enjoy healthy lifelong relationships.