Why Embracing Change Is The Key To A Happier Life.

  Birthdays are a time of excitement, reflection and change. None more so than big birthdays, like turning 18, 30, 40, 50 or 60 – the list goes on! Handling change is one of life’s greatest challenges and is a major part of being a parent. Change is inevitable and although it’s perfectly natural to […]

How Do I Cope With School Closures and Homeschooling.

  As regularly readers know I was a Deputy Head and Class Teacher for 25 years and have brought up 2 kids so I know about the ups and downs of having children. But this is a time of unprecedented challenge and change. Children have been sent home indefinitely from school. The first piece of […]

Talk With Them, Not At Them

I’ve been writing some new articles for an online magazine in the States this week and one simple idea to engage, connect and stay bonded with your kids is to……. Talk With Them, Not At Them.  Many parents I work with make the mistake of talking at their kids instead of with them  – one […]

Parenting in a Pandemic – Life After Lock Down – What Worries You?

    I’d like your help. I’m thinking of creating some videos to help you cope with the ‘new normal’ So what sort of things are really worrying you at the moment ? Are you worried about your kids going back to school? Are you worried about your kids going out and about? Are you […]

10 Reasons Why Older Siblings Can Be Terrible Baby Sitters

Here’s something to ponder as you plan your well deserved night out! “It seems only natural for older siblings to be given the position of built-in babysitter. After all, they know the family rules and expectations better than any hired babysitter would. However, even though this may seem the ideal situation, it might not necessarily […]

Teenage Drinking – How to talk to children about alcohol.

The Medical Chief launches five-point guide for parents on how to stop children abusing alcohol As all my friends know, I like a glass of wine or two, but teenage drinking is a very big problem here in the UK and it needs your support, your confidence and your belief in your own opinions and […]

On The Couch With Sue Atkins – Teens, Studying & Exam Stress

I was recently on holiday in Dubai but managed to squeeze in a 2 hour phone in special on Teens, Studying & Exam Stress. Dubai Eye is a Dubai-based talk radio station that is owned by Arabian Radio Network and provides business, news, current affairs, sports, entertainment and special interest programming for a cross-cultural audience […]

Children Just Need Sleep, Not Sleepovers!

SHORT of hearing your child say they want to grow up to be the next Katie Price or a professional drug-runner there can be fewer dread statements than: “Can I go on a sleepover?” As a parent of two teenagers I’ve been through this experience of being asked to stay over. It needn’t be a […]

CBBC Newsround – Living With Alcohol

Research carried out for CBBC Newsround by CHILDWISE was used in a Newsround Special programme, entitled Living With Alcohol. (July 2010) CHILDWISE spoke to more than a 1000 children aged between 10 and 14, to better understand how children perceive adults around them drinking. It is all about how young people are affected by their […]

Sue Atkins on Helping Complicated Children Succeed in The Classroom.

My frank interview with Dr. Lynne Kenney – a practicing paediatric psychologist in Scottsdale, AZ with advanced training in forensic psychology and developmental paediatrics. She is the author of Bloom Today on #Bloombrainsmarts the UK’s respected parenting expert Sue Atkins and I have a frank conversation about helping complicated, intense, or behaviourally disruptive kids in […]

Would you allow your teenager to babysit a toddler?

I was on my way to work in a school yesterday when I heard the debate on The Jeremy Vine BBC Radio 2 Show about a Mum who had been given an official police caution for leaving her 14-year-old son in charge of his three-year-old brother. I rang in to leave my thoughts but I […]

Hi I’m Sue Atkins I teach families how to be happier.

  Hi I’m Sue Atkins I teach families how to be happier. I was at a social event at Farleigh Court Golf Club the other day and someone asked me, ‘So, Sue, what do you do?’ I always find this a tricky question to answer as I do so many things but I just spontaneously […]