by Susie Windle | Feb 3, 2016 | Discipline and Trying Times, Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, The Importance of Emotions, Your Child's Brain
All parents experience times when their children exhibit challenging behaviors. Understanding the causes behind those challenging behaviors can help. If we make the mistake of looking only at children’s behavior rather than their level of distress and needs, we miss...
by Susie Windle | Apr 29, 2015 | Discipline and Trying Times, Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, Sensory Information, The Importance of Emotions, Your Child's Brain
A nurturing relationship involves open, honest communication, and that kind of communication involves listening as well as talking. We need to listen to our children. When we listen, really listen, we show our children that we respect them and that we care about their...
by Susie Windle | Mar 5, 2014 | Discipline and Trying Times, Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills
As our children become more independent, it is easy to stop paying close attention to them—but then we can miss their cues about what they need. It is important for children to develop a sense of independence, and at the same time it is still important for parents to...
by Susie Windle | Jul 24, 2013 | Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, Your Child's Brain
Research findings suggest that the quality of conversations we have with our children make a strong case for putting down our cell phones. To learn more about children’s language development, researchers attached small digital recorders to a group of children as a way...
by Susie Windle | Jun 5, 2013 | Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, The Importance of Emotions
Your child will have strong (strong!) feelings from time to time, and strong feelings will get in the way of problem solving if no one is there to listen and help name the feelings. Think about a time you were very upset. Did it help when (or would it have helped if)...
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 4, 2011 | Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills, The Importance of Emotions, The Power of Play
As a child learns to connect ideas and concepts, certain accompanying emotions may cause him or her to suddenly become disorganized. The child may become anxious or withdrawn or actually feel disorganized. You can help your child by tuning in to the specific emotions...
by Susie Windle | Oct 21, 2008 | Parenting Playbook, Parenting Skills
Although generalizations of any sort must be carefully examined, it is important to try to understand factors that contribute to observable gender differences that may have real consequences. Let’s take hearing, for example. Research suggests that baby girls hear...
