Have you ever considered sharing a journal with your kids? Sometimes your child may come home and isn’t ready to share about your day. Journaling is an opportunity to see how your child views the world while you’re living the same moments. It can open up opportunities to be empathetic to situations that you weren’t experiencing in the same way. It can create a safe space for questions to be asked, that you weren’t aware that they were worrying about.
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Where do you begin when you want to teach kids coping skills? Janine has a five step system she uses to help kids learn and use coping strategies, starting with connection, and finishing up with making a personal coping toolkit for kids.
In this episode Janine speaks about:
Sometimes it's some of the simple things in your day to day like a game you like to play that remind you of a few strategies and values in life that are helpful to keep you going.
In this episode, Janine speaks about the game Stardew Valley and the reminders of life lessons that she holds and was reminded of from playing this video game. She speaks about:
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When you label your feelings, it can help you regulate your emotions better. How do you explore feelings with your child in a fun way? One of the ways to explore this with your child is via reading a story. So why not head to your local library and check out one of the following feeling focused books:
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Every child needs 3 to 5 people to be part of their orbit to help shape their world and will have a significant influence on them. Whatever role you have, you could be that key person in a teenager’s life to discuss the more stressful moments in their lives. There are signs and symptoms we can look out for in our teenagers. Stress is a normal reaction for anybody in different situations. But what if these reactions are taking over our young people’s lives?
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I’m excited to be speaking to world renowned parent expert Sue Atkins on this episode of the Calm & Connected podcast. We discuss the pro’s and con’s of having an outspoken child, they may make your life difficult but don’t you want a child who can stand up for themselves? Children are naturally so curious so it’s our job as their parents to help them learn and explore the world, not dull their experience so we don’t have to put the effort in.
The topics we cover in this episode are:
In this week’s episode I talk to child and adolescent psychotherapist, Katie Hurley about her brand new book “The Stress-Buster Workbook for Kids” which I have absolutely loved reading and learning from. Stress and anxiety isn’t something just adults experience, children do too, so the earlier we can educate them on useful coping skills and techniques, the better! In this episode we discuss the following:
Do you ever sit and think about how you actually became an adult? Think of all the skills you have from tying your shoelaces to presenting a report at work. How did we learn these skills? … with lots and lots of practice! And for us to practice, our parents or caregivers have to ease the control a little to allow us to make mistakes. Imagine if your parents still followed you around all day waiting to tie your shoelaces or stand up in front of your colleagues to make that presentation themselves, life wouldn’t be very fulfilling would it! Take a listen to this episode where I speak to Julie Lythcott-Haims about how parenting is about letting go of control.
The topics we cover in this episode are:
In this week’s episode I talk to educator, parent and founder of FeelLinks; Marcelle Waldman. FeelLinks is a hands-on resource for kids that has plush emotion dolls and a journal. We had such a great conversation about how we can support social and emotional learning at home, through listening to what our kids are saying. The topics we cover are:
Please note: On this podcast episode, we mention the topic of suicidal ideation, and there are a couple of swears in this episode. I wanted you to be aware of this in case this is hard for you to listen to, or there are younger ears listening. Enjoy the interview!
Music is so amazing! There’s a good chance you’ve experienced music changing your mood from being grumpy to feeling full of life. Listening to music has a range of benefits but on this episode, my guest Sophie Garner shared how creating music can be therapeutic too. In this episode we cover a range of topics such as…
This week’s episode is all about recess and movement. In my opinion, we don’t value the power of movement enough; it’s so vital to help kids focus, work on social skills, be more ready to learn, and manage big emotions. In this episode of the podcast, I talk about two pieces of research that focus on the power of recess:
Have you ever spotted an Instagram post of smiling parents who are having the most perfect life with their child and then felt shame and guilt that you aren’t nearly as perfect as them? Well you’re definitely not alone on that one! Today’s episode is all about us… the parents. I discussed with my guest, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Parent Coach; Nicole Schwarz about what happens around the shame spiral and how we can talk to ourselves in a kinder way to be more content with being an imperfect parent. We always need to remember that real life is messy, it's not great all the time, sometimes we mess up and guess what?… That’s okay!
Take some time for yourself, embrace those imperfections and take a listen to this episode.
