Tag: Special Time

Facing a Fear of BIG Kids

When my daughter was a toddler & preschooler she struggled to be around groups of older children. One day when we went to a children’s museum it struck me just how small she looked next to the bigger kids there. She wanted to play with them, but their larger, fast moving bodies really overwhelmed her.

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My Children’s Limbic Radar Picking Up My Extra Attention

I recently attended the Hand in Hand Weekend Retreat and wanted to report on what happened upon my return home.  The retreat was wonderful. I was surrounded by beautiful redwoods, had fabulous meals prepared for me, and got a much needed break from full time mommyhood. I got to spend time with other parents who

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Nighttime Farting Dissolves Tension

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

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Monkeying Around with Conflict Resolution

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

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In Trouble for Singing?

I was driving home with my husband and my  2.5-year old son. We were coming from a sweet evening with some friends of ours who have a son his age. The dinner was lovely, I had felt connected to my husband and the couple, and the boys had played well together. I was filled with a

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Sleeping in His Own Bed All Night

My son has co-slept with me since he was born.  When he was about 18 months old, I bought him his own bed with the plan to move him into it so I could have my bed to myself.  I tried getting him to stay there, but I could never make it work.  We had

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Special Time Solves School Struggles

…when I reminded him about the book report, he went to sit in front of the report but showed no sign of working on it. I had to go away to take care of my younger one for a minute, thinking that he might not be able to finish his homework.

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No More Struggles In Getting Ready For School

I had been having trouble getting my 7-year-old to get ready for school in the morning. It often ended with yelling or rushing chaotically out the door. It seemed like no matter how early we woke up he still dragged through the morning and we would still be late to school. We ended up mad

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School Success Through Staylistening

I kept listening to my children because I saw their positive transformation and because we felt closer even though it wasn’t easy to do. I kept listening because I gradually remembered and worked on my childhood and came to think I would have liked it if I had been listened to back then.

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A Mom’s Open Response To Her Child’s Aggression

My older son, who was six, had been constantly on the edge for a few weeks. He let out his feelings by crying on weekends and then go back to school on Monday.  His first grade teacher told us that he would take a long time on each school task, and sometimes couldn’t finish. I

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Special Time Gets our Son to School

My husband and I took our sons to Tokyo. We stayed with my mother and had the boys go to a Japanese preschool for three-and-a-half weeks.  It was a great language and cultural immersion and bonding time for the family.  But it was a rough start, especially for my younger son, who was almost three.

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Making Potty Training into Play Time

My three-year-old was getting better at using the potty, but he would end up wetting his pants once in a while. One day, in a supermarket while trying to get grocery shopping done quickly, he started wiggling like he needed to go potty. I asked him to use the bathroom.  He was very reluctant, acting like

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100 Kisses for My Teen

My teen was home from college for her first short visit and I wanted to connect with her in a close way. I knew she was in the process of learning to be independent, and I wanted to respect her freedom and the personal growth she had achieved. I had read about giving 100 kisses

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Turning Bathtime Tantrums Into Laughter and Cooperation

~ 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

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Food Flight! Helping My Picky Eater

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

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Special Time – A Double Bonus for Kids and Parents

It’s funny how a little Special Time with your child can do wonders for both you and your child. One afternoon when I was feeling somewhat low-key with many pressing issues on my mind, my then 10-year-old preteen daughter asked me for some Special Time.  She wanted to wrestle with me.  I wasn’t quite ready

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A Window Into My Son’s Soul

One warm day this past summer my whole family was enjoying a day in the sun in our backyard. My father and sister-in-law were with us, grilling dinner on the barbecue, and my two sons were playing with my husband in a canoe that we had gotten recently. We had decided to store it in

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Special Time and Face Time

I had been having a harder and harder time carving out regular Special Time for my two sons.  During the day, when I am the only adult present, neither of them can stand to be alone while the other receives my warmth and attention.  I don’t blame them!  I tried to do Special Time in

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