Before I was a Mom, I hardly knew anybody with kids. I had close family members that have kids, but they lived in another country, so I had contact with children only in small doses. It seems that since I became a Mom, there are more and more Moms and children in my universe. More often than not, I try…
Option 1, Option 2…
Most parents probably agree that shouting and screaming at kids is counterproductive. It just produces children that will shout and scream as a way to resolve problems. And in theory, it should be possible to resolve issues without ever having to shout. Being that I am Portuguese, however, this is a really difficult thing to do. You are brought up…
To poo or not to poo…
I have 3 kids and I now have 3 episodes about poo that are worth telling, so here it goes… When Miss Z was about 2½ she was very bothered about poo. I hadn’t started with potty training yet because I had just had Mr A and life was hectic, but she was definitely aware of what was going on…
Not just any supermarket queue…
I’m generally an outgoing and social person. I like to chat. And I certainly like to give advice. Some people like that about me, others probably think I think I’m a know-it-all. But I certainly like to learn from other people too. I’m a firm believer in the Law of Attraction. If you’ve never heard of it, I suggest you…
Explorers club is not just for kids
This school year, my Mom-in-law’s church started a weekly after school club for the kids. I am fortunate to be on maternity leave because I get to take them every Thursday (you have to drive there). Even though we are not church goers ourselves, we think it’s great that a church would provide a club like this to the family…
I am not a child!
I have consulted with a few different psychologists in my life. One of them uses Transactional Analysis (TA) in their therapy. According to TA, a human being’s personality consists of three parts or ego states: a Parent, an Adult and a Child (the Child state is split further into Natural Child and Adaptive Child). I’m not going to go into…
Sins of the father
My Dad was a strict and controlling Dad to us. He shouted and he was aggressive. And we (my sister and I) got smacks when we were naughty (amongst other things). Let me just say, I was naughty all the time, so I have vivid memories of punishments. Not surprisingly, I was always against smacking children (not least because of…
Hit the Road…
Although we had intentions of an Easter break with the UK family this year, it was one week before the school holiday and there was still no plan. My hubby said he’d like to go to Porto in Portugal for a visit to his business partner. We could all go and our children could play with the partner’s daughter who…
We are all winners
When Miss Z started school she became competitive… to the point that when she plays with Mr A, she always wants to win. In our house we implemented the rule that everyone is a winner. There are no losers. There is someone that comes first, and someone that comes second, but that doesn’t mean that they lost. Mr A is…
Getting ready – the 3 morning rules
I really like to promote independence with my kids, so as soon as Miss Z was able to get dressed herself, I encouraged her to do so. These days, as she is in school, she has to wear the school uniform during the week, but she is free to choose her own clothes on weekends. The result is not always…