These rather poignant words were uttered by a tearful 38 year old woman at my Clinic in Manchester. She was in fact quoting her bewildered youngest child who had found her bawling her eyes out one afternoon when everything just got too much.
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It’s that time of year again. The pressure to be perfect is never felt more acutely than at Christmas-time, when
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As children move out of toddlerhood, they should be starting to learn to control their anger – but between the ages of five and ten, they are still incompetent emotion managers. This means that they are still likely to find it difficult controlling and expressing their anger appropriately.
Common reasons for kids anger, ways they demonstrate it and techniques teach them to express their emotions more effectively and to communicate and controll their distress.
Modern homework is less about getting books out and sharpening pencils as firing up the computer and getting to grips with Google… But is it good for kids? Combined with all the instant and engaging (but soundbite-short) technology around them, our kids are growing up with ever-decreasing attention spans and thresholds for boredom… They are getting bored more easily and lack the skills to cure their ennui themselves.
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Encouraging kids to be kinder has so many benefits for both the giver and receiver that it may well be the best skill to send your child off with at the start of the new academic year. And because kindness spreads, just imagine what your child could begin this year!
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My recipe for the best summer ever? Pour in lots of chill out time, a healthy mix of friends and social opportunities with peers, sprinkle in a few family adventures, and maybe add a decadent topping of a day club or two. Stir well and enjoy!
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The overprotective instincts of modern parents are destroying children’s independence, confidence and self-esteem trapping them in a fearful dependency from which they might never escape.
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Whilst depression amongst new mums is now fairly well acknowledged and understood, mums are expected to ‘grow’ out of it as their baby grows. Yet post-natal depression can persist years – and equally, a new mum can sail through the early years only to suffer depression once her kids start school or become more independent.
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What impact ‘gendered toys’ have on children; if toy retailers make prams and science kits gender neutral, are we really going to create more female scientists and more stay at home dads? Does allowing kids free reign in playing with not gender stereotyping toys lead to more opportunities for both genders, or to gender confusion?
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How many parents these days sit down with their freshly bathed and newly pyjamered offspring to offer a bedtime prayer? Well, if the dozens of books on bedtime prayers listed on Amazon are anything to go by, there are still plenty that do. And, surprising research suggests that there are important psychological benefits to saying some version of bedtime ‘prayers’ with your children each night (but don’t worry, you don’t have to be a believer to benefit!)
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