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I was horrified one morning many years ago, shortly after my son had started school, he suddenly refused to wear his expensive new school shoes.

“I’m not wearing those shoes, I’m wearing my trainers”

“But you’ve got to. They’re your school shoes”

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One of the biggest worries I always had  when my kids were little, was how to balance having rules and boundaries (I also call this positive discipline’) with allowing them to be free spirited.

I didn’t want to take a big boot and squash their spontaneity and ability to...

Worrying about whether your child will make friends at school is every parents nightmare. 

The agonising thought that they might have no one to play with at breaktime or sit with at lunch. 

Whether your child is starting a new school (or nursery) or returning after a break can...

Would you say you’re a ‘wrap them in cotton wool’ parent or a ‘let them run wild’? or maybe you’re somewhere in-between?

Is your child more naturally nervous and cautious or are they a fearless little dare-devil?

Children’s characters vary enormously

Some...

I always encourage parents I work with to share the good and the bad.

Never to feel ashamed of not being on top form.

Be honest about how hard parenting and life can be at times.

I see myself as a positive person but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t times when I just feel down.

...

Here in the UK we just had a long Jubilee holiday weekend (Thursday and Friday were public holidays)

My eldest daughter (no 3 in the family) came back from 3 months in Thailand and Vietnam.

It’s so good to have her home.

She had taken the trouble to buy everyone in the family a...

Have you ever had the experience of being around other kids when you realise that your own are just so badly behaved in comparison?

I was once at the playground with a friend who was visiting from America with her two kids.

It felt like hers were so much better behaved than mine.

She said...

I walked into my teenage daughter’s room yesterday and I was stunned to see how tidy it was.

Now believe me, it hasn’t always been that way and it got me thinking about the parenting long game.

What creates good habits in our kids?

Is it nagging at them to tidy up?

Threatening...

This week I went on a mini trip to Bristol with my youngest daughter Alice.

I suspect that you aren't yet at the stage where you can take off with one of your children and have a really easy time of it.

I want to let you know that your time will come.

Hold on in there. 

It really is...

Way back in 1999 when I first got help with for parenting with Nico, my unruly toddler, the coach asked:  

“Does he know who’s in charge?”.

My husband and I laughed

“Er, no, he runs rings around us”.

When I said it was time to switch off the TV, he used to...

I’m sure we’re all acutely aware of the atrocities happening in Ukraine at the moment and feel anxious and despairing. I know that every time I hear a news story of a family fleeing or worse a family being killed, I feel so desperate for everyone there.

News is constant and it is very...