Beautiful Boundaries

Thinking of boundaries as walls that keep your precious toddler safe and happy, enables parents to make rational decisions, rather than emotional reactions.

Giving thought to the secure rules you will need BEFORE your child crawls or walks will enable you to be proactive and avoid many 'no' moments in your day.

For example, my babies were never allowed in the kitchen. Most home accidents occur there, and I did not wish that for my children. So the very first time they crawled to the kitchen, they were calmly redirected back to their toys. My calm consistency ensured that after a few days, they realised that it was a non play area. This meant I had years of cooking in peace and we never had an accident in the kitchen!

Teen tip - firm boundaries in the early years result in very few boundaries being needed in the teen years!

Cheerful Chores

Have you noticed how your precious little one loves to help?

Helping you sweep, set the table, sort the washing or weed the garden. Following your actions like a little shadow.

Allowing them to help, and encouraging their progress is time consuming (and truely not very helpful!) for the first 10, 000 times.

We had a set chores time every afternoon in which everyone was busy. The youngest one always loved to join in. Keeping this time positive and fun meant that this early willingness extended into cheerful chores time throughout the school years.

Teen Tip: Having teens who keep their rooms tidy, do chores each day and ENJOY their cooking night each week can be a reality, not just a wish!