by Susie Windle | Jul 23, 2014 | Discipline and Trying Times, Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, The Importance of Emotions, Your Child's Brain
Sibling rivalry can be seen in children’s ordinary skirmishes over the TV’s remote control or a video game’s joystick. However, what about chronic physical or verbal abuse? And what if chronic physical or verbal abuse is directed primarily at one sibling? That’s...
by Susie Windle | Jul 9, 2014 | Discipline and Trying Times, Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, Sensory Information, The Importance of Emotions
Change is a part of life, but for some people any little change can cause distress. Change can be less stressful depending on how it is perceived and managed, so it is important for children to learn how to skillfully manage change. One way to help children learn...
by Susie Windle | Jun 4, 2014 | Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, Your Child's Brain
When you stretch out conversations with your toddler, you give your child an opportunity to connect his or her inner thoughts with the outside world. It’s really simple to stretch out the chatter when you take time to talk about everything under the sun. Conversation...
by Susie Windle | May 21, 2014 | Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, Parents: Practice Self Care
As parents, learning to control our own behavior influences our children and their actions. When parents and children feel out of control at the same time, a caring and constructive interaction is rarely the outcome. One way to stay connected to both feeling and being...
by Susie Windle | Apr 23, 2014 | Discipline and Trying Times, Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, Your Child's Brain
What are some of the healthy ways you can get your toddler to cooperate? Here are just a few ideas: Frame your request with an outcome that appeals to your child. For example, “We are going home now and then we can _________.” A toddler’s natural sense of fairness is...
by Susie Windle | Apr 16, 2014 | Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills
Real benefits come along with smiling. As parents, the positive signals that come with a simple smile are worth considering, practicing, and teaching to our kids. Here are a few of the benefits: When you think of things that make you smile, you feel better...
by Susie Windle | Apr 9, 2014 | Discipline and Trying Times, Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, The Importance of Emotions
If parents want to have an impact on an unacceptable behavior exhibited by a child, it is important to prevent it from happening or interrupt it when it does. Reacting afterward is ineffective, which is why punishment doesn’t work well. If you have a child who has a...
by Susie Windle | Dec 4, 2013 | Discipline and Trying Times, Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, The Importance of Emotions, Your Child's Brain
Temper tantrums typically occur because connections in a child’s brain have not yet developed in a way that allows for powerful feelings to be managed in socially acceptable ways. This week, we will look at distress tantrums, temper tantrums that are the result of...
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 | Feb 9, 2011 | Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, The Power of Play
Some children seek out touch and movement more than others. Often these are the kids that have higher activity levels. They may want to swing highest on the swing and will likely find jumping in a mud puddle great fun. Other kids find too much touch and movement...
