I’m noticing I’m hearing this question more and more in my work. When I consider the word oppositional, I imagine pushing against something. Why do we push against something? To make it move. When our children are pushing against us, they want to create movement, they want to feel in control. “Mummy, I want to […]
I have recently been learning how to play, not just for my children, but for myself. I tend to be quite an outcome focused person and I like to do things well. When I set out to do something creative, there is tension in my body because I am hoping for a good outcome. This […]
The first thing to know about behaviour is this: All behaviour is a form of communication, and every behaviour has a function. The next question to ask is: What is my child trying to tell me? Sometimes it can help to put a child’s behaviour into their own words, as if they could tell you directly. When […]
This would have to be the most common question I get asked in my work. I would say that every parent, including myself, has experienced the frustration of giving an instruction that seems to fall on deaf ears. A wonderful part of being a child is that everything is fresh and new. There is so […]
Is your child taking all morning to finish a piece of toast? Are they staring into space when you’ve just asked them to put their shoes on? You’re not alone if you’re experiencing moments like these, perhaps every day. In my observation, children move at a slower pace than we adults in our modern society […]
I’m always intrigued at how skilled children are at getting our attention. They quickly learn the fastest way to reach us, whether it is by making a lot of noise, provoking their sibling, or playing with something dangerous. Sometimes we get caught in a cycle of ‘catching the bad’ more often than ‘catching the good’. […]