The secret to helping kids with their big emotions is to first manage your own. This may seem counter intuitive. Surely if your child would just calm down then you would be able to help them! But YOU are what helps your child calm down. If you are upset, stressed out,...

Well certainly children sometimes behave in ways that we don’t like.  They make messes, they break things, they hit their sibling, they won’t share, they have tantrums in the supermarket, they pester us when we are busy and they are loud when we want peace and quiet!...

Would you give your partner or friend a consequence if they behaved in a way you didn't like?  No!  You would simply tell them what they did, how it affected you and how you felt about it.  Our relationships with our kids are no different.  Kids don't learn to behave...

Kids who feel connected to us feel settled and secure in themselves. Kids are evolutionarily programmed to want our presence and attention.  Baby mammals need their parent’s care and attention to survive, and so our children are wired to want us to be deeply engaged...

It can be the hardest thing for parents, when your child is having a full-blown meltdown!  The screaming, crying, raging, arms and legs flailing, even throwing and hitting!  And it’s even worse when you are out in public and you feel like you are getting disapproving...

Most parents believe that praising our children builds their confidence and makes them feel secure and loved.  Children DO need our encouragement and support, but praise that LABELS the child (e.g. “good” “best” “perfect”) is not helpful and can undermine confidence...

Healthy self-esteem is so vital for our children, but where does a rock solid sense of self-worth and self-esteem come from?  How do our children get a sense that they are valuable human beings? Well it turns out that we, as parents, have an enormous impact on our...

What is “attachment” and why is it important for our children’s self-esteem?  When parents consistently respond in a nurturing way to their baby and child’s emotional needs the child develops a “secure” attachment to the parent.  (Don’t worry, consistently doesn’t...

How do I just get my child to do what I want them to do? – now! It’s so frustrating!  You just want your child to pick up their stuff from the living room floor!  You just want them to hurry up and brush their teeth so you can leave for school on time!  And you want...