My phone has been ringing with requests from frustrated parents of four-year-olds—“Help! My child keeps freaking out and nothing I’m doing is working.” To answer this request, I enlisted the help of parenting educator colleagues, Kelly Bartlett and Andy Smithson. There are many factors which conspire to make parenting children of this age particularly challenging: [...]
The story of Lisa Gibson, aged 32, of Winnipeg, MB and the death of her two young children is back in my mind. This mother of two young children drowned them in a bathtub then killed herself by swimming out into the Red River. In addition to the tragic loss of these three people, my concern [...]
Sometimes when I watch my child crumple into a screeching, sobbing mess at my feet, all I hear in my head is, You have got to be kidding me! I don't have time for this! I can't feel his pain, I can't understand his mind and I can't find empathy for him. The thing is, [...]
I believe that being able to calm ourselves in the throes of emotional intensity is one of the most valuable parenting skills to develop. The wild behaviour that can happen when our rage hijacks us can seriously damage the relationship with our children, grow negative core beliefs in their minds, and inadvertently teach our kids [...]
It can be very hard to be kind to a child who continually pushes our buttons. I know; I just spent the last two hours calming myself when my youngest son woke me up early then proceeded to throw things, hit me, then not eat the cereal we fought about making for half an hour. [...]
Andrea Nair is a psychotherapist, parenting educator and international media parenting expert based in London, Ontario, Canada. Her therapy background helps parents to understand at a deeper level what to do when kids drift away, behaviour goes wild, buttons are pushed and old negative self-talk gets too loud.
Her goal is to let parents know they are not alone in their struggles and to provide practical help that makes big positive changes. Parenting can be very hard—and Andrea wants to help.
