Thinking parenting Blog
How to praise to build children’s self-esteem
Praise helps build children’s self-esteem when it is specific and believable and when it helps children interpret their failures positively. Here’s an ultra-quick video guide on how to...
How naming emotions builds children’s emotional resilience
Emotional resilience is the ability to bounce back from hard moments, face challenges and cope with stressful events. Naming emotions is a really important step in building children’s emotional...
Learning to be comfortable with our children’s discomfort…
When challenges happen in children’s worlds and they are held in the grip of big feelings, the last thing they need from their parents is a whirlwind. They don’t need us to throw our big...
How to turbo charge children’s creative writing
Guest post by Clare Lloyd Children are natural storytellers. Inventing new worlds inhabited by imaginary characters is a lot of fun and brings plenty of playful pleasure to children. By nurturing...
10 Growth Mindset Books for Younger Kids
With younger children, encouraging a growth mindset is best done through engaging stories that will help them reflect on their own experiences. The best growth mindset books for this age group...
Children’s Books About Multiculturalism in Britain
If you are looking for books that explore British society from a multicultural perspective, this list of children’s books about multiculturalism in Britain is for you. I don’t claim that...
6 Reasons Your Children Should Do Chores
The main reason parents don’t make their children do chores is because, frankly, it’s just easier and quicker if we do things ourselves. We know that children should do chores but it...
Activities to build children’s confidence
My original idea for this post was to write a summer bucket list of fun activities to build children’s confidence and inspire them to believe “I can do hard things!” However, to be...
When work intrudes into family time
A guest post by Helen Beedham on 5 ways to negotiate work/family boundaries harmoniously at home. Have you ever tried to send a ‘quick’ work email during family time and half an hour later,...
Ensuring a balanced childhood in the digital age
Now, I am in no way anti-screens. As a parent, technology has been invaluable for helping my children learn, keeping them entertained, staying in touch with distant family and keeping them safe when...
Working parent guilt: use it or lose it
Most working parents feel like we are running just to stand still. We want to be good parents. We want to get parenting ‘right’. But we have limited time, limited energy and too much to do. And...
Working parent stress? Try doing more (not less)
I don’t know about you but when I’m stressed, it is usually interactions with my family that make me realise I have a problem. I find myself excessively haranguing my son about his untidy...
Books for helping children manage friendship problems
Learning how to recognise a good friend (and how to be one) is an important part of childhood. All children experience some ups and downs in friendships. Parents can play an important role in helping...
Helping children with friendship problems
Helping children with friendship problems is all about listening and empowering and very little about giving advice. There are some clear Do’s and Don’ts. But before we get to those,...
Helping young children make friends
Helping young children make friends involves some thoughtful conversations and as many opportunities for learning and practice as possible. Here are some practical tips for parents of little ones to...
What is an accidental reward?
Children are active participants in their own learning and development. One of the ways they learn is through action and reaction – through the direct consequences of their actions. If their...
Books to inspire children to be adventurous
When I was seven, my favourite pastime was planning adventures with the kids who lived in my lane. We would put together Adventure Kits (these usually involved string and snacks!) and head off into...
Balancing safety and independence in children’s lives
When it comes to balancing safety and independence in children’s lives, we live in an era when risk-averse parenting is the norm. Children now spend more time being supervised by adults, more...
How positive affirmations can boost children’s confidence
This is a guest post by Chrissy Brown, founder of Young Positive Minds. In this post, she explains how positive affirmations can help build children’s confidence and self-esteem and how parents...
Using ‘mental gym’ to support children with anxiety
The principle of mental gym is quite simple. It is a way of practising different thought patterns in order to develop more flexible thinking and break out of negative responses. Mental gym is...
10 mood-boosting ideas for teenagers
It’s not unusual for teenagers to withdraw from family life, retreat into their bedrooms and experience periods of low mood. Being a teen is tough (see The reality of being a teenage girl...
10 fun ideas for winter family time
When the days are short and it’s cold outside, it can be hard to come up with creative ideas for fun family time. Then, before you know it, everyone has retreated to their personal screens and...
Gender inclusive books for tweens and teens
It is so important that children and teens read books that include a diverse array of characters – so that they can find themselves and their own thoughts represented in positive ways. And...
How parents’ self-esteem affects children
Self-esteem naturally ebbs and flows throughout life. Many parents find that their self-esteem takes a dive when they have young children, for example. Children make huge demands on our time and that...
The reality of being a teenage girl today
As a parent, it is easy to make assumptions about today’s teenagers and their lives. However, the pressures faced by teens – and especially by teenage girls – are intense and what...
Wellbeing snacks: the answer to parental burnout?
Spoiler alert: wellbeing snacks are nothing to do with food. There are no pastries or packets of crisps in this article. And I won’t be giving you permission to eat chocolate (unless it’s...
The efficiency trap
In my book, The Work/Parent Switch, I talk about the problem of ‘efficiency thinking’. The efficiency mindset is a task-oriented approach to time that is incredibly useful for getting...
Top 10 books for teaching children about sex
Talking to children about bodies and bits and how they fit together isn’t always easy. The earlier you start and the more relaxed you are about it, the easier it will be (see Talking to...