Hints, Tips & Advice

This page is to help provide hints, tips and advice to help support your child with not only their emotional health but also just day to day living as a parent. They are simple snippets of wisdom and advice collected from many wise and wonderful parents. We hope you find them helpful.

If you have a tip that you would like to share with us we would love to hear from you at letschat@kingdomofyourmind.com

Are you sitting comfortably …

This tip’s going to sound obvious given the nature of this website but making time to read with your child is so important, below are just some of the many reasons why;

1. Children who read often and widely get better at it.

2. Reading exercises the brain.

3. Reading improves concentration and focus.

4. Reading transports children to different lands and teaches them about the world around them.

5. Reading improves vocabulary and language skills.

6. Reading develops a child's imagination.

7. Reading helps children to develop empathy and understanding.

8. Reading is together is great fun.

9. Reading is a great way to spend time together and open up conversations that may otherwise not have happened

10. Children who read are often higher achievers in school.

Wood you believe it …

We all know the pain of a child appearing with a splinter in their finger. Trying to remove it can sometimes seem next to impossible as your small person wriggles around refusing to stay still. That coupled with the worry of inflicting more pain on them can make you hesitant to dig too deep.

This great tip involves giving a calpol syringe a good clean before carefully placing it directly over the splinter and using the suction of the syringe to suck the splinter straight out. Some stubborn splinters may need a couple of goes but this method should work to overcome even the deepest of culprits.

Don’t leave home without me ..

Does your child have a trusted, loyal and loved cuddly toy that they would be lost without? Does the thought of what would happen if you were to lose it give you sleepless nights ?

Meet Floppsy. As you can see Floppsy has been very well loved and her owner Lola would be devastated if she was to lose her. 8 years of friendship and companionship wouldn’t be easy to replace. To make sure that were they ever to become parted Floppsy would make her way home we fitted her with a collar and a small tag holder. Inside is my phone number so that if anyone was to find her she could be quickly reunited with Lola with minimal distress. Every loved toy should have one.

Step away from the list

Decide a time of day when you put down your to do list and focus on the children. Even if it’s just for a few hours and you go back to the list after they’ve gone to bed. Giving yourself and them the time for each other without things nagging in the background provides you with mind space and them with focus and attention. Having set time boundaries really helps to create quality time together.

There’s no place like home

The world can be full of challenges and battles that children have to face. It can be tiring and emotionally draining for them, especially as they head toward teenage years. Wherever possible try to make your home the safe place that they can retreat to, a sanctuary away from the outside world. There is no doubt that there will be times that they will bring the issues of the day home with them and, on occasion, it may feel more like a battle ground than a sanctuary. This is completely normal but try everyday to start out with the intention of providing that safe haven for them no matter what emotional challenges they bring home with them. We all need somewhere safe to retreat to.

Apologise

Just because you are the adult doesn’t mean you can’t apologise when you get things wrong. Apologising isn’t a sign of weakness, when done in the right way at the right time, it is completely a sign of strength. We all yell at our children when we shouldn’t have or behave in ways that don’t set the best example.
When these times occur there is a great lesson to be taught in humbly getting down to our child’s level and calmly apologising for our behaviour. This teaches children that it is ok to say sorry when we get things wrong and also that getting things wrong from time to time is part of being human. If they see you handling it well it will teach them to do the same when faced with their own errors.

Driving me nuts

Sometimes it is really hard to get a child to talk about what is bothering them. No matter how hard you try they just won’t open up. It’s at times like this that I have always found going for a drive to be very beneficial in starting conversation. There is no face to face pressure but also no opportunity to run away. Keeping conversation light and airy initially means that the child doesn’t feel pressure to talk but it also creates an environment where you can gently steer the conversation towards what may be troubling them. With the lack of face to face conversation and the ever changing surrounding as a distraction it can often be a very healthy and successful way to initiate communication.