Have you heard of positive and negative core beliefs before? These are the beliefs we hold of ourselves, other people, and the world based on our life experiences. These beliefs happen as a result of decisions or interpretations we make about situations we encounter. For example, when a child continually tries to build a tower, [...]
Growing up in a small, isolated mining community far away from large cities in my childhood and teenaged years, I don’t recall really being aware of death. In our isolation, likely also do to the absence of the Internet at that time, we didn’t hear that much about death. Sure, if you watched one of the two [...]
One of the most painful things to hear our children or students say is: “I’m stupid” or “I’m dumb.” Our first reaction might be to utter something to counter their statement like, “No, you’re not!” but that response may actually not be helpful. Using phrases that show our children how to address their negative core [...]
I walked up my stairwell the other day, past the pictures of my children when they were one and three, and suddenly froze. I trot past those pictures many times a day, but for some reason I stopped this time and stared deeply into their young eyes. My own eyes started to water, as feelings [...]
Be prepared! Your child might come home after school or daycare and fall apart at your feet. I call this “After School Restraint Collapse.” It’s a thing! Actually, you might see this in your partner or even yourself. You conduct, orchestrate, produce, think, smile, keep things in your inside brain that you wish you could say [...]
Young children first start communicating their needs by making statements like, “I’m hungry,” or, “I was playing with that!” We often jump in to help before realizing that they actually haven’t asked us to do that. If kids receive help without asking for it, they may carry on expecting people to consider and address their [...]
If you’ve been following my writing for a while, you’ll be familiar with my “best of” or “favourite resources” posts. I like to survey my readers and colleagues about twice a year to find the parenting resources they find the most helpful. This one is a little bit different: I am certainly including the expert-based [...]
I remember very clearly the day a neighbour saw me outside with my then three and one-year-olds and remarked, “Wow, I miss those days so much.” I felt like hitting him! That reaction freaked me out and really told me there was something off in my world. I believe I smiled weakly and replied, “Yeah, [...]
I have been considering getting a trampoline for years, but my physician husband told me that they were just too dangerous and preferred not to get one. In fact, the official position from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is that they advise against the use of recreational/ backyard trampolines. They created a policy statement [...]
Laura Markham, PhD recently wrote about “radical self care” on her Facebook page. I love the word radical as is applies to taking care of ourselves as parents. I am certainly a radically different parent when I am rested and my buckets are full than when I’m not. A few years ago I discovered something [...]
Andrea Loewen Nair is a counsellor, parenting educator and international media parenting expert based in London, Ontario, Canada. Her therapy background helps parents to understand at a deeper level what to do when kids drift away, behaviour goes wild, buttons are pushed and old negative self-talk gets too loud.
Her goal is to let parents know they are not alone in their struggles and to provide practical help that makes big positive changes. Parenting can be very hard—and Andrea wants to help.
