by Susie Windle | Aug 29, 2012 | Discipline and Trying Times, Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, The Importance of Emotions, The Power of Play, Your Child's Brain
When all is going smoothly—meaning the children are happy and the parents are too—it seems easy to be respectful. When kids are doing something they aren’t supposed to be doing, such as pulling on the dog’s tail, knocking over a sibling’s tower of blocks, or avoiding...
by Susie Windle | Aug 22, 2012 | Discipline and Trying Times, Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, Sensory Information, The Importance of Emotions, Your Child's Brain
How we all make sense of things and create meaning from our experiences depends on our state of mind. As parents, our state of mind importantly affects how we create the meanings tied to the behaviors exhibited by our children. Specifically, it’s important to notice...
by Susie Windle | May 9, 2012 | Discipline and Trying Times, Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills
Disciplining your son or daughter can actually be an opportunity for enhancing your connection with your child. Discipline is something you and your child can do together. Punishment, on the other hand, is something adults do to children. Punishment creates...
by Susie Windle | Apr 25, 2012 | Discipline and Trying Times, Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills
Sometimes parents feel all they do is enforce family rules and arbitrate kids’ battles. Usually three reasons explain a parent’s frustration when this is the case: (1) ambiguous rules, (2) inconsistent follow-through with consequences, and (3) children’s wishes for a...
by Susie Windle | Apr 18, 2012 | Discipline and Trying Times, Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, The Power of Play
One of our basic human needs is to feel a sense of belonging. Children and adults often behave in ways to have this need met. For children, receiving attention is an indication that they belong. This situation means that children need to know that they can ask for the...
by Susie Windle | Mar 7, 2012 | Discipline and Trying Times, Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, The Power of Play
As a parent, you may experience times when an energetic child ruffles your feathers. If you have an active toddler, try to remember that busy toddlers are just as eager to please as toddlers who aren’t quite as “bouncy.” Their heart-felt desire is to connect with you....
by Susie Windle | Jan 4, 2012 | Discipline and Trying Times, Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, The Importance of Emotions
Parents know the importance of a sincere apology. Perhaps that is why we teach our children to say they are sorry when they have done or said something that inconveniences or hurts another. Sometimes, however, offering an apology is only the beginning. Our children...
by Susie Windle | Nov 30, 2011 | Discipline and Trying Times, Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, The Importance of Emotions, Your Child's Brain
Remember “connect and redirect”? Connect to the emotion your child is feeling, and then redirect your child in a way that helps him or her tap a developing ability to think rationally. Connect and redirect is a very helpful strategy for many of those delicate moments...
by Susie Windle | Oct 19, 2011 | Discipline and Trying Times, Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, Your Child's Brain
Last week we discussed how understanding the development of the right and left sides of the brain could be beneficial in making choices as a parent. This week, we will discuss the vertical aspect. The lower areas of the brain include the brain stem and the limbic...
by Susie Windle | Oct 12, 2011 | Discipline and Trying Times, Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, The Importance of Emotions, Your Child's Brain
The brain, as you probably already know, has two hemispheres. The strength and function of the left side of the brain is organization. The left side is logical and literal, and the left side likes words and putting things in a sequence. The right side of the brain is...
