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What children say about their parents

17 June 2024

UNICEF recently released this very powerful video. They asked children to act like their parents and they videoed them. Their parents then watched the videos and for many it was a very confronting experience.

 

https://fb.watch/sLwSyJDuBq/

If this was your child, how would they be imitating you?

In South Africa it’s the Winter holidays, a chance for things to slow down for a few weeks. How would you like to do things differently with your children this holiday? You may have to work, but you can still make time. And this will make a huge difference to them.

people walking on street during daytime

Photo by Jessie Shaw on Unsplash

 

Thank you, please call again soon!

16 December 2024 Thank you I am so thankful to do what I do. I absolutely love my job, I love working with kids, I love working with parents. Yes, that is YOU! If I could sit and write a note of gratitude to each of you, I would. And my gratitude is about this;…

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Endings

1 December 2024 It has been a week of lasts for our family as our youngest child finished primary school. I am struggling to process these words as I type them. We no longer have a kid in primary school. We will no longer be returning to Clifton Notties as parents. It’s crazy. Clifton Notties…

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The ability to respond

23 November 2024 David Whyte, an Irish poet says that the word responsibility means “the ability to respond”. He says that we (adults) have made responsibility a heavy burden; all the things that we have to lug around and take care of, we think about work, home and financial responsibilities. We think about our responsibility…

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Introducing a small project with mighty results.

15 November 2024 On any given weekday afternoon, you can arrive at Ethembeni’s Family Centre in Mpophomeni, the home of the Education Support programme (Ed Support) and find between 60 and 70 children ages 5 to 21 years engaged in meaningful academic activities. Facilitators are trusted, caring adults who lead small groups of about 15…

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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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Four Harms of a screen-based childhood: Learning from The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt

18 October 2024 As promised in my post a few weeks ago, I am unpacking some of my learning from reading The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt. In chapter 5 of the book he looks at 4 major harms caused by social media, online gaming and increased screen-based childhood in general. The four harms are social deprivation,…

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Mental Health Awareness Month: Spotlight on Men

11 October 2024 It is Mental Health Awareness Month in October. The Masiviwe project has produced a video highlighting men’s mental health. One of the men interviewed states: “If you’re a man, you don’t cry. The question is; if you’re going through pain, where do you go? In your childhood you used to cry. Today,…

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On Not Being Polite

4 October 2024   I have been telling my children recently when not to be polite. Don’t let people walk all over you – if sports is a metaphor for life… On the sports field, don’t be polite. You don’t say “please” when trying to get the ball away from your opponent. One hockey match, I…

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Awe

27 September 2024 We spent part of the holiday in a cottage in a wood (literally) and got happily snowed in (literally), but only for 24 hours. For a family like ours, born and bred in mostly the sub-tropical parts of South Africa, the snow was a delightful, awe-inspiring experience. We saw the snow forecast…

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