My 3 year old son has become obsessed with ‘Bad Guys.’ Should I be worried?

My 3 year old son has become obsessed with ‘Bad Guys.’ Should I be worried? Rosie Dutton Boys and Baddies!  It’s common for young children to show interest in “bad guys” as part of imaginative play. Children often explore concepts of good and bad through imaginative play & it’s typical for them to be fascinated […]

Colin Powell: Kids need structure

How can you help kids get a good start? In this heartfelt and personal talk, Colin Powell, the former U.S. Secretary of State, asks parents, friends and relatives to support children from before they even get to primary school, through community and a strong sense of responsibility. (Filmed at TEDxMidAtlantic.)   What structures do you […]

Me do it! Me do it!

  Today I am delighted to have as my guest blogger: Laura Henry, Managing Director of Childcare Consultancy. Laura has worked in early years/education for over 25 years and has two teenage sons and we are meeting up to  talk about children, childcare and all things parenting today in Bletchingley over cupcakes and coffee ! For […]

I LOVE Gok’s new show. Gok’s Teens – The Naked Truth

  I love Gok Wan and I am delighted to see him take on the fashion industry’s distorted images of what it means to be a teen. Gok Wan is now giving troubled teens the advice, confidence and self-belief they need to tackle their issues and anxieties. I have written about teaching your kids to […]

Raise your children not your voice !

Parenting is the most important, rewarding, frustrating, and challenging job anyone can do and yet is the one few of us ever get any preparation for.  We invest in everything except learning the skills in raising happy, confident and well-balanced children. The speed, pressure and stress of modern living means we never seem to have […]

Teach Your Kids To “Think PET” and ask “What can I learn from this?”

I read a great article today by Michele Ranard on the NYParenting website  about why some children fall apart when faced with a negative situations, while others seem to roll with the punches. Here’s the article. “A few years back, my first-grader stepped off the school bus in tears. The words he squeaked out between sobs cut me […]

My interview with the wonderful Talking Tots

I highly recommend the wonderful Talking Tots as they offer fun interactive pre-school sessions that develop speech and language skills which are SO crucial to a young child’s development. Here is my interview with them: “Talking Tots spoke to the marvellous Sue Atkins, parenting coach and author of Raising Happy Children, to see what advice […]

Children whose parents divorce ‘more likely’ to become binge drinkers

  Children with parents who divorce or separate before they are five are more likely to become binge drinkers when they reach 16 than children with parents who remain together, a major new study has found. Read the article in The Daily Telegraph.   Have you heard of my “Separation – Putting Your Children First” […]

Unlocking Our Potential

The University of Toronto researchers suggest life’s early years might be even more important than we thought By Alison Motluk “By the time a child sets foot in kindergarten, much about her future life has already been set in motion – everything from her ability to concentrate and learn, to her lifetime chances of suffering […]