When teenagers have sex…
I’ve just read a story about a 17 year old boy who jumped to his death from the Forth Road Bridge. He was being blackmailed about online conversations he’d had with someone he thought was a girl his own age. You can read more about this sad story here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2394520/Dunfermline-teenager-Daniel-Perry-17-kills-blackmailers-trick-Skype.html When will we begin to […]
Now look what you’ve done!!
Last week I had a question from a parent wondering  what to do about a five year old girl who ignored her mother’s requests to stop playing with a snow-globe in the home of someone they were visiting. Fearing a breakage, this Mum upped her requests to a clear (and no doubt reasonable) insistence that […]
Is there really a “good mother” gene?
I guess I can congratulate the Metro for not massively overstating the recent findings of Dr Ana Ribiero and her team. Their article is here for those who would like to read it: http://www.metro.co.uk/news/912269-good-mother-gene-determines-how-much-effort-you-put-into-raising-kids In a nutshell, the research shows that mice differ with respect to how much they lick, nurse and retrieve their young.  The […]
Do children need to play computer games?
Last week my irritation with screen-based computer games came to a head. It’s not been the greatest summer weather-wise and poor weather always spells a more lenient attitude to screen-time in our house. But what bothered me last week wasn’t the fact that my son and daughter play these games, but merely the fact that […]
When you and your child’s other parent don’t live together
Ought a child have access to a parent who does not live with them? My simple answer is yes. Except when the better answer is no. And it really is that ‘grey’ a situation in my opinion. There are times, heart-breaking though it may be, when the better course of action may be for a […]
Should we say sorry to our children?
I was recently asked what my position on saying sorry to children was. Personally, I say sorry to my children on a regular basis. I do this because like every parent, I make mistakes. I still say and do things I regret and wish to make amends for. Most recently, I did it yesterday at […]
Stop pestering me!
I heard a good story recently about a Mum who used boundaries really effectively to improve a situation that involved two children, some manner of computer game and a lot of pestering. It seems that this family worked out that the children would be allowed play the games console for a couple of hours on […]
Mummy, am I a crybaby?
This was what my 7 year old son asked me last night just before bedtime. I paused for long enough (was it half a second or was it longer?) to realise that my answer was going to be really significant and that it better cut the mustard. (To tell the truth I’m not totally sure […]
Saying Yes to our children
It’s ok to say “Yes.†to our children. Last weekend my children and I were choosing a DVD for a family movie night. We had narrowed down our choices to four possibilities. I was unwilling to pay for the most expensive option which happened to be the one they really wanted. It was three times […]
How much should you give your children?
You give but little when you give of your possessions.  It is when you give of yourself that you truly give. Kahlil Gibran Until I had children, I had no idea just how much giving was involved in being a parent. As a teenager, I can remember thinking “I never asked to be born†and […]
