Tag Archives: Listening Partnerships

Two teen girls lying on grass playing phones with paper cups - one talking into cup, and one listening with cup to ear.

Listening Partnerships with our Parenting Partners (and other friends)

Listening Partnerships have been my parenting saviour. They have meant that I have had somewhere to take my feelings, work through confusions, and think through my parenting challenges without fear of being judged, given “helpful” advice, or have it taken personally or brought up again by my listener.

However, it can sometimes be a challenge to find someone to form a Listening Partnership with, and it can be an option to ask a friend, relative or your parenting partner if they are interested. This may have the advantage of convenience, but there a few things to be careful about when you are setting up a Listening Partnership with someone so close to home.

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Starting School Part 1 – How to Pack the Backpack

Young boy walks along path with big red backpack

Starting school – for the first time, or at a new school, or even after the long summer break, can be a challenge for both our children and ourselves. We carefully pack their school bag with the things that will help them through their day – a nutritious lunch, a spare pair of pants and pencils. But it’s easy to forget our children carry an emotional backpack as well. Our special role, as parents and carers, is to help them pack and unpack that bag. It’s at least as important as a healthy lunch or a good night’s sleep. Continue reading

Six Steps for Staying Close to Pre-Teens and Older Children

Mum and Boy, smiling at camera, huggingWe parents want to stay close to our young people!

We parents want to stay close to our young people as they get older.  And they want us to stay close to them too, even though it doesn’t always feel like they do!  But how do we do that? Continue reading

Who is Starting School?

An old school, built in 1890

An Old School Building by Madeleine Winter

 

If summer is drawing to a close (as it is in the Northern Hemisphere) you may be starting to think about the start of school.  Or here in Australia, you might be preparing for your child to start school in the New Year. For some, it is a return to something known and understood. But for those of us beginning school for the first time, it’s a big deal. And I mean for the big people as well as the little ones.

Who’s Starting School?

Often, as we prepare our families for the start of school, our attention is on the children.   Will they be upset when I have to leave? Will they make friends? Will they know what they need to know?   Will they learn well?

However, I’d like to start with the focus on us parents. I have not met many parents whose children are starting school who feel entirely calm and relaxed about it. For many of us, school brings up a lot of feelings. After all, we spent a lot of years there. Some of it was good, but some of it was hard. Most of us have not had a chance to talk much about those experiences. And some of us would rather not. Continue reading

Who Is Starting School??? Here is our January Newsletter

Children sitting in playground with backpacks

School Children, by Madeleine S Winter, CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 INT

The end of holidays and start of school can be a stressful time.  We grown-ups might be looking forward to a bit less time spent parenting, but our children are likely to be having feelings about leaving us, and about starting something new.  Go gently over the next few weeks!  And good luck!

 

 

 

‘Who Is Starting School???” Parenting by Connection January 2015 Newsletter