One morning while clipping my daughter’s nails I made the comment, “Oh, I think I clipped that one too short.” It wasn’t a big deal at first since it didn’t hurt. (If I hadn’t of said anything my daughter wouldn’t have noticed.) But after a minute or two it became the perfect pretext for her
My five-year-old started kindergarten last week and he is almost finished with his second week. It wasn’t an easy transition for him and here is how we supported him using Parenting by Connection tools. Through summer, my son resisted to the idea of kindergarten. “You are going to kindergarten, are you excited?” he was often
Halfway through the first grade, my 7-year-old did not want to write or spell at home or school anymore. This was new for him. It seemed to me like the expectations for the first graders were significantly higher than those for kindergarteners and I think it was showing in his reluctance. One afternoon, we had
I believe the studies that suggest that TV isn’t really helpful for children because such passivity occurs for the viewer. Yet, I’d let the viewing get out of hand during a difficult few weeks. So, even though I wasn’t over my cold yet, I had a good Listening Exchange, in which my listening partner reminded
My daughter was given a month to learn all the states and their capitals. She’s in fifth grade. About two weeks before the due date, she had learned some states, but not many, and I made the suggestion that we work together. I offered to help her learn groups of about six states at a
We have raised my 6-year old daughter with Parenting by Connection ideas. One of my daughter’s friends sucks his thumb often. Suddenly, she began experimenting with sucking her thumb—she had never used her thumb as an infant. So for a few days, she went around at home with her thumb in her mouth a lot.
This morning Brook, my mostly mild-mannered four-year-old, had a huge tantrum. We were just about to get in the car and join our friends on a hike. It all seemed to be going as planned but quickly took a turn when, out of the blue, Brook refused to sit in his booster seat and wear
I am absolutely amazed at the powerful effects that Special Time has on my relationship with my daughter, and also in helping her address things that are bothering her.
She started to cry on and off, and I tried to remember if anything had happened that might have upset her.
I’ve been working with Cynthia on learning how to build a solid foundation through working with my daughter rather than trying to control her.
Apparently, a few of the “older” kids are being very aggressive towards the younger children, hitting them and pushing them around.
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
This was my first experience with Stay Listening and I loved it! No need to say the right thing, counsel, negotiate, or give advice. Being present, listening, and trusting my son’s emotional processing – this felt right!
I sat there thinking how Mother’s Day was an hour away, I would be getting up at 7 and driving to South San Francisco with my daughter and right now I am probably the absolute LAST person she wants to be with. Sigh. A Mother’s Day to look forward to.
All in all, it was 8 hours of really hard crying, perspiration, and tears. I could smell his body odor—he worked up a heavy sweat.
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.