Have you ever noticed that your child enjoys playing by themselves and wondered if it’s normal? Or maybe you have noticed that your child enjoys watching others play, but doesn’t join in. These are actually normal phases of development children go through, referred to as “stages of play”.

Cooking with a child might seem like a daunting task; maybe it’s the fear of a hot stove and sharp knives or envisioning the mess that your child will make as they mix the ingredients. These concerns are no doubt valid, but there are many benefits of getting your little ones involved in the kitchen.

“I can’t!” It’s a statement children make when their BIG feelings are really weighing on them or when something feels overwhelming. We can choose to respond by replying “yes you can!” but that only helps some of the time.

Calm down tools are specific outlets to help your child process their big feelings in a healthy way. The goal is not to teach your child to “fix” their emotions, but rather provide them with healthy coping tools that support their regulation skills when the big feelings do happen.

Having realistic expectations for children rather than how we think they ‘should’ behave can dramatically affect the way we see our children, the way we parent and the way we experience parenting.

Often bedtime can be a challenging time of the day and we hear how hard caregivers are trying to carry out bedtime. The key to a bedtime routine is that it is ‘short and sweet’.

Have you ever asked your child how school was and get hardly any response or detail? We want to know how their day was, or what they did at school, or how they are feeling. But when kids feel bombarded with questions right away, they’re more likely to get overwhelmed, and frustrated.

There are many ways that you can nurture your child AND it’s also important to nurture yourself too! As a caregiver, it is important to be nurtured to not only feel good about yourself as you care for your little one’s needs everyday but to also give you the energy needed to show up and be present.

It’s not always easy to remember in the moment – but it’s so important to look beyond the behavior we see if we want to help kids learn better strategies and emotional regulation.

Are you noticing your kids having big feelings more often and the fights escalating? Although frustrating, the good news is that it is completely normal.