The Scrapbook

We are humans before we are parents. Just because we have access to knowledge, doesn’t mean we have the capability and capacity to implement it and execute it all of the time. Let's start normalising imperfection.

All you want is for your child to start school with confidence so you’re not left wondering how you can be there FOR them when you can’t be there WITH them. That's why we’re sharing these 7 things you can start now to help your child start school as a courageous schoolkid.

To avoid ‘The Cascade of Chaos’ we don’t just need eyes in the back of our heads to see who’s scaling the pantry shelves for the chippies, we also need eyes fixed on the horizon to see what’s coming that could possibly become a problem.

Here are 7 things you need to know to transition an elder child into being a great big brother or big sister.

Doing that hard, emotional labour is a role we play that can often not only be overlooked, but sometimes entirely unrecognised. But, the demand on our emotional, mental and physical resources is very real. There’s a reason we sometimes feel exhausted with nothing left to give. 

At new entrant level, there’s no expectation of academic ability, but there are signs you can look for as an indication of your child's readiness to start school, as well as things you can do to help them prepare to become a confident schoolkid. Three experts give their practical tips.

It’s a total mystery for me how one morning I can run a tight ship and the next morning, it’s a pirate ship. The timings are the same, the conditions vary only a little ... why is it a total scramble one morning and not on others? 

It seems like there may never be a sense of ‘getting back to normal’, but there are things we can do to create a sense of predictability, consistency and continuity for our kids, even in an unpredictable world that seems to be changing all the time. 

How do you know if your child is really ready to start school? Here are 5 questions you can think about to help figure out if your child can handle the practical and social demands of joining the school environment. 

If you're thinking about your child starting school, getting back to school after lockdown, moving schools, or just handling separation anxiety, making a 'Smile Stone' can be a helpful and easy thing you can do that empowers kids with a sense of control over the situation they’re in.

Kids ask the curliest questions, and almost always without warning. 'Is Santa real?' is one of those doozies! But, we're here to help.

Making a mistake is simply that – a mis-take – an indication we need to make a course correction. Seeing mistakes as failures can grind us to a halt, but seeing them as course corrections keep us looking, and moving forward.

When we can hold space for our boys to express their tears, we show them that their experience of their emotions is valid – they are seen, heard and accepted just as they are.

Boys run out of their ‘feel-good’ neurochemical, dopamine, much faster than girls. This means they need to build their levels back up to feel good again – to be able to concentrate and sit still. To build it back up, their bodies need to move.

It’s so powerful to understand your child better; what they need from you as a parent, what competencies they’ll need your help to develop, and how to really connect and communicate with them.

When our little boys turn up in the world as a newborn, the neurological delay that took place during the first trimester as their gender developed, means their brain is slightly behind that of a newborn girl baby.

Resiliency is a big, broad term that can be thrown around with frivolous abandon these days. The word seems like a generous garnish of parmesan sprinkled on the pasta of wellbeing! But, while it can be hard to grasp exactly what it means and how it looks in real life, we’d like to be a little more specific. 

Let’s be honest, sometimes it’s not all aspirational quotes and gratitude when you’re a parent. Sometimes we totally blow it, lose our cool, lose our sh#t, lose our minds. It happens, we’re human. We’re all just perfectly flawed.

Don't jump in too soon. While it’s tempting to jump in and resolve conflict between our kids, with a little bit of time and dialogue we can create an opportunity that teaches them tools for naming their feelings, problem-solving and resolving their differences in the future ...

I still remember my parents exclaiming in frustration, “We’ve brought you here to enjoy yourself!” No doubt I would have been mid-whinge about the travel, the activity, the snacks, or any number of things that weren’t meeting my expectations ...