by Susie Windle | Sep 14, 2011 | Discipline and Trying Times, Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills
Children are much more likely to follow through on your expectations when your requests are stated clearly. Actually, we all are more likely to follow through on expectations that are clearly stated. Here are some thoughts about being clear: Watch your timing. Most of...
by Susie Windle | Aug 31, 2011 | Discipline and Trying Times, Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, The Importance of Emotions, Your Child's Brain
When parents have conversations with their children, it is important for them to reflect on what may be going on in the minds of those involved. Conversations that include attention to mental processes respect each person’s subjective reality. If mental processes are...
by Susie Windle | Aug 10, 2011 | Discipline and Trying Times, Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills
It can be exasperating for parents when children are able to do something independently—such as get dressed, take a shower, or do chores without reminders—yet they don’t. There is a reason for this. As children take steps toward independence, they need to balance...
by Susie Windle | May 11, 2011 | Discipline and Trying Times, Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, The Importance of Emotions, Your Child's Brain
As parents, we often miss making a connection with our children by responding to them only from our own point of view. Doing so leaves children feeling denied and all alone. One of the keys to connecting with children is to really listen to them and try to understand...
by Susie Windle | Mar 16, 2011 | Discipline and Trying Times, Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, The Importance of Emotions
When parents use constructive and effective forms of discipline, they are teaching their children how to use inner controls. The effective techniques for doing this depend upon a child’s developmental level. Toddlers, for example, need help as they learn to moderate,...
by Susie Windle | Aug 11, 2010 | Discipline and Trying Times, Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, The Power of Play, Your Child's Brain
Your child’s transition to pretend play (“Let’s pretend . . .”) and spoken language is a significant developmental milestone. As your toddler relaxes his reliance on the physical, tangible world and begins to imagine things in his mind, he can connect and replay...
by Susie Windle | Oct 7, 2009 | Discipline and Trying Times, Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, Your Child's Brain
Parents and teachers can get frustrated by behaviors that seem to be characteristic of the teen years—behaviors such as using bad judgment, having trouble foreseeing consequences, and acting impulsively. These “juvenile” behaviors in teens are the result of an...
by Susie Windle | Sep 9, 2009 | Discipline and Trying Times, Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, The Importance of Emotions
Children often communicate through behaviors, so parents, to be effective, need to look underneath a child’s behavior before responding with disciplinary action. What need does your child have that is not being met? What feeling does your child have that he or she...
by Susie Windle | Jul 15, 2009 | Discipline and Trying Times, Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, Sensory Information, The Importance of Emotions, Your Child's Brain
Children’s temper tantrums seem to invite one of two responses: caving in or never budging—neither of which leads children to becoming tantrum-less. In the case of caving in, the problem may not actually be the tantrum. It may more likely be a habit of saying “no”...
by Susie Windle | Jul 8, 2009 | Discipline and Trying Times, Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, The Importance of Emotions, The Power of Play, Your Child's Brain
At times, a child’s challenging behaviors are fueled by his or her need for emotional contact with you, rather than a desire for attention. The need for emotional contact is genetically programmed, so if a child feels that connection is lost, he or she may act...
