We were sitting at the table crunching our cereal yesterday morning—the twelve year old, bleary in her mismatched pyjamas; the nine year old staring off into space; and the five year old—dressed in a red and blue polka-dot monster onesie,
Reframing difficult behaviour in our children: seeing every behaviour as an expression of needs
There are times when a child’s behaviour can seem so perplexing or irritating or infuriating, that even the most committed gentle parent might stop to wonder how on earth to respond. Maybe your baby is insistent about playing with the
Quality Time
Overnight, five inches of snow fell. We awoke this morning to find the world clothed in white silence. Soon, we heard that the local schools were closed. We knew we were having a ‘snow day.’ We have had a wonderful
You’re allowed: helping children to deal with ‘negative’ feelings
“Why are you making such a big deal out of it?!” my daughter challenged, angry with me for being upset. I was walking ahead of her, head down, working through my feelings on my own, but ready to burst. She
The Scent of a Field That the Lord Has Blessed – now in Stealing Time Magazine
I am so happy to have a piece in the first issue of Stealing Time Magazine, a new literary magazine for parents. If you’d like to read my piece, it is available by clicking here. The theme of this first
The desire for escape
There are times when I want to walk out the door, slam it shut and start over. When the girls are fighting and won’t listen to reason or ask for help; dinner is burning and the baby is wrapped around
Ring my bell
“For attention, please ring bell.” This is the sign pasted to the bell at my doctor’s office, at the local shop and even over the entrance to Owl’s house in AA Milne’s Classic, Winnie the Pooh (although the spelling was slightly
