Grumpiness. It’s not overly harmful, just difficult to live with. That’s why every parent needs to be armed with a few tricks to break the cycle before it becomes a hurricane of tension. These tips are so effective, you’ll find yourself coming back to them time and time again. Tip No. 1: Try “Hit and […]
Resilience isn’t just about what children do in the difficult times. Like physical strength, mental strength is built during training, not during competition. The way our kids handle life’s small knocks shapes how they’ll respond when the big ones hit. Each challenge, frustration, or disappointment is a mini workout for their emotional muscles and every […]
I don’t think that comparisons are always a bad thing. Comparisons can give us accurate perceptions about our strengths and weaknesses, and insights into our character. Natalie, learnt a tremendous amount through comparing herself to her friend. Let me explain by sharing this story. Natalie’s friend Isabella was chosen for the state netball team. Natalie […]
Have you ever sat at your child’s end of year graduation and hopefully waited for them to receive an award? You may have felt incredibly disappointed when they were over looked or left unacknowledged. As a society (and unfortunately often in schools too) we celebrate big accomplishments. We celebrate these in our social media posts, […]
Self-harm is something that is very difficult for caring adults to comprehend. It is also difficult for young people to explain, which makes initial conversations very hard. That’s why any conversation about self-harm needs to be approached calmly and carefully. It’s a big (perhaps unrealistic) ask for parents to stay level headed and collected during […]
Though-out the last few years technology has become an even more integral part of all our lives. For our teens, their online schooling, socialising and entertainment all very much revolve around tech. No wonder I am currently speaking to a lot of parents and educators who are concerned about “tech overloaded teens”. These are teenagers who […]
There really is an anxiety epidemic impacting today’s young ones. Anxiety is the most common mental health issue they face, making up about half of all mental illness in our country. Interestingly, 7.7% of girls aged 12 – 17-year-old have a diagnosed anxiety disorder. Everywhere I go parents and teachers are talking about anxious kids. […]
When parents ask me how to handle a son who is aggressively pushing back against his dad, or a daughter who is screaming the house down determined to get her own way, I have two golden words of advice – SOFT and CLOSE. It goes against the innate instinct of most parents who may be […]
While some Australian teens face real hardship, many live in relative comfort, especially when compared to the 963 million people who go to bed hungry each night and the 150 million children under 14 engaged in child labour around the world. “Try convincing my daughter of that!” one mum recently said to me. “She hasn’t […]