“Get a move on!” Road safety and parental rudeness
I pulled to a stop at a red traffic light the other day. Two teachers began ushering a long line of primary school kids across the road right in front of my car bonnet. All the children wore those bright-yellow high-visibility jackets and were around six and seven years old. The teachers were so close […]
Who’s in charge in your family?
On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; and both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does that […]
Helping kids with big changes – moving house, school or country
How should we prepare children for big moves – like a new school, or a new house, or living in a new country? There’s a lot of advice out there: keep children involved in the process, get them to imagine the change, have them keep a diary of all the steps along the way, talk […]
No-one really wins a power struggle
I live very close to a primary school.  One morning as I came out my front door, Henry*, and his Granny and Grandad were getting out of their car. Henry started whining. “I don’t want to park hereâ€, Henry moaned at his Granny. My ears started tingling. “How will Granny handle this?†I wondered. “Well, […]
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 […]
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 […]
