by Susie Windle | Apr 5, 2017 | Discipline and Trying Times, Parenting Playbook, The Importance of Emotions
The key to setting limits and staying connected to your child relates to emotions. Tuning in to your child’s emotional state is important if you are going to set a limit that is in conflict with your child’s wishes and desires. Empathize first. Reflect her feeling...
by Susie Windle | Mar 15, 2017 | Parenting Playbook, The Importance of Emotions
Beyond the basic emotions—happy, sad, mad, and scared—humans are capable of experiencing a second group of higher-order feelings, such as shame, embarrassment, guilt, envy, and pride. These higher-order feelings are referred to as “self-conscious emotions” because...
by Susie Windle | Mar 8, 2017 | Parenting Playbook, The Power of Play, Your Child's Brain
Downtime is important for the healthy growth and development of your child. Your child’s brain needs breaks in order to process the incoming flood of new information. Being idle allows the brain to take what it already knows and then think, reflect, and change. Idle...
by Susie Windle | Feb 1, 2017 | Parenting Playbook, Parents: Practice Self Care, The Importance of Emotions
Implicit memories—our memories that are not on a conscious level—cause us to form expectations about how the world works. These expectations are based on our previous experiences, and it is important for parents to examine how subconscious memories of past experiences...
by Susie Windle | Dec 14, 2016 | Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, The Importance of Emotions
Children need constructive ways to deal with the range of emotions they experience. To develop constructive responses to emotions, children need to learn how to calm down. We all think more clearly when we are calm. When children especially are experiencing upsetting,...
by Susie Windle | Dec 7, 2016 | Parenting Playbook, Parents: Practice Self Care, The Importance of Emotions
One of the most important skills you can develop as a parent is recognizing when you are frazzled. When you realize that you are at the end of your rope, it is time to be with some emotionally replenishing people. Adult company is very important for maintaining...
by Susie Windle | Nov 16, 2016 | Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, Parents: Practice Self Care
Last week, Parenting Playbook talked about how parents can teach kids the meaning behind feeling thankful. This week, let’s look at the positives for parents in the practice of gratitude. As we mentioned last week, not only does a sense of gratitude feel good but...
by Susie Windle | Oct 19, 2016 | Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills
When children regress—that is, when they act younger and less mature than they really are—their behavior can trigger annoyance in parents. Usually, regression happens when children (and parents) are feeling stressed, as when a new sibling has arrived to join the...
by Susie Windle | Sep 14, 2016 | Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, The Importance of Emotions, The Power of Play
Tears can be an opportunity for connection between a parent and child. Your child gives you a sign that the tears are an effort to connect when he or she “peeks out” and looks for you. If you see your child peek out for you after a good cry, he or she may want and...
by Susie Windle | Aug 24, 2016 | Parenting Playbook, The Power of Play
When kids play, they are not just having fun. Play allows kids to try out new ways of being, behaving, thinking, and feeling. When kids play, they are allowed to break out of established patterns and experiment with being a new self with new ways of interacting with...
