SAPS 116 – Fussy Eaters? Sue Joins Disney Junior for a Parenting Hacks Tea Party To Help.

Hello Yasmin 

Lovely to hear from you and here are some of my thoughts, advice and resources that I hope will help you with your concerns. 

1. Appreciate their gifts and affirm their strengths.
Every child is unique. Encourage, celebrate, & acknowledge them for the way they’re made and wired. Celebrate their natural talents whether is creative, sporty, musical & notice their thoughtfulness, kindness, tenacity, team spirit, gentleness or respect for other people. Talk about the ‘We’ Team of your family – we’ve all got strengths & weaknesses but we celebrate encourage & support each other

2. Help them channel their passion in the right direction.
And towards the right things. Nudge not Sledgehammer!

3. Encourage them to be a leader.
Maybe they can teach a friend or younger sibling something about their areas of interests & teach them how to do things.

4. Provide opportunities to give them perspective.
Focus on the bigger picture – and give them both the Crucial ‘ C’ of Counting & Significance – fill their emotional bucket up so they don’t need to be competitive or jealous of each other

5. When their behaviour and choices are destructive, call it out.
Don’t let them get away with bad behaviour in the name of passion or wiring. It’s not ok to hit, kick or verbally put down a family member – Teach Team’

Here are some of my resources to help you further – I recommend the MP3 as you will be able to use this time and time again and is full of tips and tried and tested techniques that will help. 

Article: Siblings Without The Rivalry!

MP3 Download: Banish bickering – Successful strategies for bringing up siblings

In some cases, that rivalry can escalate into something bigger – something that can actually affect your child’s happiness, both in the short term and the long term. – physical fights, long term resentment in the family, bullying, psychological distress, anxiety, depression, stress, low self-esteem, not trying – in sport or at school, grades suffer….

It’s important to find a way to stop sibling rivalry before it gets any worse. My MP3 is the solution to this problem as it nips it in the bud which is really important.

As a parent, you know how important your children’s mental health is for their development.

Hello Simon 

Thank you for contacting me – here is my advice and some of my resources to help you. 

Teens are new to the surge of emotions that come with changing hormones during puberty. Dealing with the mood swings can be overwhelming and some teens handle it better than others.

As a parent, the challenge is knowing how you can help your teen control their emotions and teach them to work through the roller coaster in a healthy way.

Recognise What Is Happening
Don’t be too busy that you aren’t looking at the situation correctly and instead go directly into ‘discipline mode’.
Know that it is not just your son or daughter misbehaving or acting out, this is normal for teenagers. It isn’t easy to deal with bad or sad feelings when you can’t figure out what is wrong. This is new for them and they haven’t learned how to recognise or deal with these emotions

Talk About What Is Happening
Encourage your teen to identify these new feelings. Help your teenager recognise the signs of their bad moods, so they know what is happening.
Point out that if they don’t know why they’re sad or angry, it’s okay and the feeling will pass. Let them know that they are not alone, this happens to most people.

Teach Your Teen Coping Skills
Everyone needs to learn how to cope with emotions. Over the years, we learn what triggers our anger or sadness and figure out ways to control that so we can function. Teens don’t know how to do that yet, it is something they need to learn.

Article: Teenage Mood Swings …..are they normal?