My kids were with their grandparents and I was spending time with my husband. We were relaxed and talking and everything felt perfect until he mentioned the upcoming marriage of someone that is close to us. At some point I heard him say that if he were that age again he would probably not choose
We know that babies cries alert parents to their needs. How else could we know when they need comfort, food, changing? But children are just as in touch with what they need to survive and feel well, even if we, as parents, might not be as alert to their calls. In this post, Brindusa Milasan
This is a Christmas story about the day my son saved the adults from their tantrums with his own special gift. When the holidays come our house fills up with family and friends and we are always happy to have them, even when the energy they bring is not that positive, not even nice. This,
In the middle of preparing for a talk on Separation Anxiety with my fellow Hand in Hand Instructor, Anca Deaconu, my children decided to give me the perfect opportunity to practice what I preach. It started with beginning of the school year at kindergarten. This fall, my youngest one, Eva, started kindergarten. She had accompanied
When I started using Special Time with my children they just fell in love with it. Special Time is a Hand in Hand Tool that works like this: You set aside a certain amount of time, say 10 – 15 minutes, and offer to play or do whatever your child likes. During this time
All children experience disappointments, and how they react to them can vary from upsets to rage. Unleashing these feelings of disappointment can be enough to help release the tension, but sometimes kids get stuck. Hand in Hand instructor Anca Deaconu describes how her son reacted to a disappointment with a big tantrum, and how setting a limit
My son is 7 years old. To him, it’s funny to make toilet jokes and show his intimate body parts to everyone. Not long ago, every evening, while putting on his pajamas, he would wave his penis around in front of me and his sisters. At first I told him that this was not appropriate
Children become aware of death at a young age, sometimes younger than we’d expect or are comfortable with. So when your child asks “will you die?” it can be hard to deal with. Hand in Hand Instructor Anca Deaconu’s son first showed his concerns through play. “We were having special time and I was his old
It was Friday, the last working day in a long week and frustrating things just kept happening. Some were to do with my family – like my son refusing to do his homework and some were to do with me – like not being able to publish my articles sooner. The need to cry and release
Sometimes all it takes to lift your partner’s spirits is to really focus on them and just listen. A few minutes turned this dad’s day into a playful connection with his kids.