Thinking parenting Blog
Are you over-parenting and doing too much for your children?
Working parents often worry that we’re not doing ‘enough’ for our children. That we are working too much and parenting too little. Wracked with guilt that work is getting in the...
Helping children set goals
Helping children set goals has huge benefits for their self-esteem. It also teaches them an essential life skill that underpins much academic and workplace success. And, at a time of huge...
10 things to do this summer to boost your children’s resilience
Boosting children’s resilience is all about helping children feel a sense of mastery and competence, that what they do matters and that they have control and influence over how they feel and...
Supporting children through exams
Whether your child is 8 or 18, tests and exams can be a stressful time. Supporting children through exams is all about reducing stress, optimising well-being and putting good study processes in...
Supporting children’s and teenagers’ mental health: resource list
Children and young people’s mental health is hardly out of the news these days but often parents are at a loss how best to help and support a child/teenager who is struggling. So, I have...
The importance of listening to children
The problem with parents is that they think they know best. To be fair, we often do. But when we are convinced of our own inevitable rightness, it’s tempting not to spend enough time...
Why play is good for parents (as well as children)
When you watch children playing, it is impossible not to be struck by how completely engaged and absorbed they are by what they are doing. Play is the epitome of mindfulness – being 100% in the...
What’s the difference between rewards and bribes?
Parents often worry about offering children too many incentives. Will it turn my child into a reward-junkie? Will my children always need rewarding to do anything? Will I raise a child who only...
When homework threatens self-esteem, it’s time to take stock
One of the things I find hard as a parent is balancing the desire for my children to fulfil their potential academically with looking after their wider needs such as wellbeing and emotional...
Bullying: where to find help
Sadly, more than half of UK children will experience bullying – either as victim, perpetrator or witness. Most bullying is quickly dealt with and most children bounce back from it. But for...
Building children’s self-esteem
Self-esteem comes from children feeling accepted, competent and effective. Parents cannot directly create those feelings in children – feelings are subjective and everyone is different. But...
Best parenting websites for teenagers and tweens
Being a parent of teenagers, I know there are fewer choices out there when you are looking for parenting advice on teenage issues. Whether it’s professional help you are seeking or peer group...
Teaching optimism (and how parents can do it)
When it comes to thought processes, one of the most important habits of mind that children can develop is optimism. Children who practise optimistic thinking are more resilient, they are less likely...
More fun family activities to tear teens away from tech
My mission to find new ways to entice my teenagers to make more time for family activities (and less time for tech) continues. Now that the weather is warming up, the options are widening –...
Talking to children about sex, bodies and relationships
It can be uncomfortable talking to children about sex – it’s a topic that many parents avoid like the plague. “You don’t need to know about that.” “I’ll tell you when you’re...
How to help your child have a positive body image
Subconsciously, I equate food with love. As a result, I can take it too personally when my loved ones don’t want the food I provide, and I probably project that guilt onto them. I also...
How to be a good mother to a teenager
As a parent, it’s often hard to know what’s important and what isn’t. Does it matter if your child eats their chips with their fingers at the dinner table? Or is it more important...