How to Parent Peacefully. With the Hand in Hand Parenting approach.

#078 A quick way to connect after you’ve all had a busy day apart

In this week’s episode I talk about a super quick, super effective way to connect with your little ones after you’ve all had a busy day apart.  Often asking them about their day leads to one word answers or can make your child irritable with you.  Despite their reluctance to talk to you, they want to reconnect, they want to feel close to you but asking them questions is rarely the best way.  Instead, I have a quick 10 minute fix that will bring you both closer. When you come back into connection with your child, you both feel better. It will help bedtime go more smoothly, they may fall asleep more easily and will be more cooperative the next morning - well worth the ten minute investment.  Listen to the episode and you will be inspired to give it a go and reap the benefits for your family. Also, I have a free training happening this Monday 22nd January over on my Peacefully Parenting Under 8s Facebook Group Its called “Journal your way to exceptional parenting”. It’s all about how you can use journaling to stay motivated and inspired in your parenting. Hop over to my group or drop me an email hello@pamtheparentcoach with the word ‘journal’ and I will send the replay over to you.  If you are ready to put these ideas into practice in your own parenting, come and work with me over in the Peaceful Parent School.  Click here to find out more and book your place. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend and consider leaving an iTunes review. It will help this conversation reach even more parents. I would love to stay in touch! You can follow me on Facebook and Instagram @PamParentCoach. I always love to hear from my listeners.

#077 The only new year’s resolution parents / caregivers need this year

Happy new year! Today I want to talk about the only new year’s resolution you need to make to get your parenting back on track.  It is one of my favourite practices and it is probably the most effective and most important parenting strategy that you can start using straight away.  January is a great time of year to reassess your parenting, to notice what needs to go and what you need to get back on track.  Over Christmas we often drop the normal routines and bad habits can creep in so it is almost a relief when January comes around and we can get back on track again.  But with that often comes self-judgement and self-criticism, especially when those good intentions don’t get off the ground or get quickly forgotten about.  I’m here to show you a simple way to bring some self-love and kindness into your parenting - so you can be your own biggest cheerleader instead of your own worst enemy.  I explain why being kind to yourself can be a total game changer in your parenting and I take you through 4 quick and easy steps to calm the inner critic and replace it with self-kindness.  I also talk about the wider reasons that parenting is so hard and why we tend to blame ourselves for wider societal problems.  It is so good to be back talking to you - wishing you a very happy and peaceful new year.  If you are ready to put these ideas into practice in your own parenting, come and work with me over in the Peaceful Parent School.  Click here to find out more and book your place.If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend and consider leaving an iTunes review. It will help this conversation reach even more parents.I would love to stay in touch! You can follow me on Facebook and Instagram @PamParentCoach. I always love to hear from my listeners.

#076 How to slow down, manage the inevitable meltdowns and enjoy Christmas with young children

Oh no, Christmas is almost upon us! We all know that Christmas with small children doesn't always go smoothly. The mix of excitement, lack of routine and excessive amounts of sugar doesn't always make for a peaceful holiday. But fear not, I am your Christmas elf and I’m going to help you make it through the festive season with your sanity intact - and hopefully you will also be able to have some fun along the way. We all need a pep talk at this time of year to get us through the lack of routine, the rollercoaster of excitement and disappointment, the meltdowns, the sugar highs and lows and the overwhelm that both parents and children feel at this time of year.  We can so easily become stressed at this time of year - and our kids can too.  So this episode is full of practical tips and reminders of small things you can do to boost connection, manage the meltdowns and hopefully get on track to having a peaceful and enjoyable Christmas season. Warning - there will be meltdowns - and that’s ok! You can still make a memorable Christmas whilst navigating all the big feelings our little people throw at us.  This is my last episode for 2023 so I would love to send you lots of seasonal Solstice love and a very peaceful new year. If you are ready to put these ideas into practice in your own parenting, come and work with me over in the Peaceful Parent School.  Click here to find out more and book your place.If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend and consider leaving an iTunes review. It will help this conversation reach even more parents.I would love to stay in touch! You can follow me on Facebook and Instagram @PamParentCoach. I always love to hear from my listeners.

#075 Do you wrestle with your kids? Why rough and tumble play is beneficial and everything you need to know to get started!

The last thing exhausted parents want to hear is that they should be playing with their kids more - right? Perhaps the thought of rough and tumble play fills you with dread, perhaps you have tried it and it all ended in tears, or perhaps you are curious about it but you aren't quite sure how to go about it. This week I'm here to inspire you to give physical play a go with your kids. In as little as 10 minutes a week you can bring more giggles, more connection and more fun to your family. And instead of seeing it as one more thing you should be doing, I'm going to show you how you can introduce a sustainable way to play and how it will actually bring more cooperation and less drama to your home. I share with you how physical play can give your kids: a felt sense of being loved and appreciated confidence a sense of agency practice at regulating their emotions an embodied experience of boundaries and consent a way to shake off sibling rivalries and conflict lots and lots of giggles! I take you through 11 tips to make the most out of physical play in your family whether that is a weekly family wrestle or a pillow fight before bed. The benefits are huge to your family if you get the foundations right. I would be so delighted to hear your success stories. You can email me hello@pamtheparentcoach.com. And if you find physical play tricky, I'd love to hear from you too. Some other playful episodes you might enjoy: 034 Tooth-brushing Special: how to diffuse standoffs with the power of play #017 The difference between regular play and Playlistening #014 How to be a more playful parent! (and how play can solve common parenting standoffs) #003 How 10 minutes of rough and tumble play can turn bedtime around If you are ready to put these ideas into practice in your own parenting, come and work with me over in the Peaceful Parent School.  Click here to find out more and book your place.If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend and consider leaving an iTunes review. It will help this conversation reach even more parents.I would love to stay in touch! You can follow me on Facebook and Instagram @PamParentCoach. I always love to hear from my listeners.

#074 Why parenting in the modern world is so hard - and what can we do?

When parenting is hard, when we lose patience with our kids or we don’t have the motivation to give them the attention they need, we almost always blame ourselves.  Parent’s ask me all the time what they can do in these tricky situations. They presume the fault lies with them, if only they responded differently, tried harder, did more, then things would be better.  But what if none of it was your fault and the real reason parenting can be so very hard is that we are parenting in a very unnatural way that is in stark contrast to how we evolved as a species to raise our children and live in community together? This week’s topic is inspired by an article I read a few weeks ago by Peter Gray entitled  “Beyond Attachment to Parents: Children Need Community” where he looks at research into the adult-child interactions in a hunter-gatherer society and what we can learn from their child-rearing practices.  I have been thinking about the ideas in this article and talking to my clients and other parents about it ever since. It has resonated so deeply with me and them - that I decided I wanted to talk about it some more on the podcast this week.  We can’t go back to the old ways of hunter-gatherer tribes, nor would we want to. But we can learn so much about ourselves and the condition we need to thrive. We can take those lessons and think about practical ways we can create more community and more support for ourselves.  I want to shift the conversation away from parents’ individual struggles and perceived failings towards how we as a society can support each other better and take on the shared responsibility of raising children.  If you enjoyed this episode, I would love to hear your thoughts about how you are going to build more community and support into your life. Get in touch and I can send you more information on Listening Partnerships.  If you would like to attend my live training “Strong-willed child survival Guide” then click here to join my free Facebook group Peacefully Parenting Under 8s.  The training takes place on Tuesday 7th November 2023 at 8pm UK time.  If you have missed the training and want the replay, let me know and I will send it to you.  If you are ready to put these ideas into practice in your own parenting, come and work with me over in the Peaceful Parent School.  Click here to find out more and book your place. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend and consider leaving an iTunes or Spotify review. It will help this conversation reach even more parents. I would love to stay in touch! You can follow me on Facebook and Instagram @PamParentCoach. I always love to hear from my listeners.