Parenting
Good Enough
1 November It’s the first day of the second to last day of the year, how are you? Let’s all just take a deep breath. NICE! I admit to borrowing liberally from someone else’s post today, and it’s just too good not to share. Peter Gray is a Research Psychologist and neuroscientist at Boston College.…
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Am I the problem?
25 October 2024 I don’t take lightly the fact that dozens of parents each year take the step to make an appointment with me and talk about the need for play therapy for their child. For some, this can be an incredibly vulnerable space. Perhaps because of the turmoil they’re going through. Perhaps because it’s…
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Mastery: the struggle towards growth and development
3o August 2024 The Brene Brown quote I used in my blog on Being Deeply Human, got me thinking about the concept of mastery and how important it is in the development of a child. I thought it might be useful to explore a bit more. First, here’s that quote: “It may seem counterintuitive, but…
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The Question of Why
3 May 2024 Something that I hear fairly frequently from parents is their frustration at when they ask their child “why” they did this or that, their child is unable to answer them. Or, that every time they ask them “why” they get a different answer. Parents, of course, are really trying to understand what…
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Parenting: It’s about who you are, not what you know
26 January 2024 Parenting is about who you are and how you see yourself, not what you know. Parenting from the heart as opposed to the head. We can listen to as many profound talks as we like, get hold of the best tools and techniques, but unless we move out of our heads and…
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Parenting Goals
5 January 2024 Welcome to 2024! I truly hope it is going well for you so far. I’m so glad you’re here. Thank you to every person who has sent in query or made contact through the website. For a little while (starting hiccups of the new website), I might have missed a communication…
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Self-compassion for parents
It might be time for a little mid-year check-in. How kind are you being to yourself as a parent? “Every time I read a book about how to be smarter, how not to be sad, how to raise children and be happy and grow old gracefully, I think, “Well, I won’t make those mistakes, I…
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Parenting is as easy as gardening!
I like to garden. That is not to say that I am good at it, or that I actually know what I am doing! But I like to be in the garden. Right now our garden is a much overgrown, tangly, weedy, but beautiful mess. It is a time-consuming but happy challenge for the most…
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Navigating oceans of emotions: Regulate, Relate, Reason
When our emotions are recognised, listened to and responded to with care, we are better able to regulate and then learn how to cope with our emotions. Dr. Bruce Perry writes about a sequence of engagement that is very helpful; Regulate, relate, reason. One day a child arrived home from school, went into his room…
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Emotional Labour
The emotional labour is real. We deal with the emotional labour with what tools we have at our disposal from the metaphorical toolbox we received from our own parents. Nothing prepares you for the emotional labour of having children. Dr. Rinda Blom. I was in a training workshop with Dr. Blom recently when she made…
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