My new book RAISING ATTENTION, a supportive guide for parents and carers of children (of any age) with ADHD or undiagnosed explosive behaviour is published on July 3rd. Read on for a free excerpt from the introduction: The path of a parent who has a child displaying explosive behaviour can be a lonely one. IContinue reading “Parenting children with ADHD or explosive behaviour – a free excerpt from my new book Raising Attention”
Category Archives: Mothering
What is emodiversity and why should parents of children & teens practice it?
Why embracing all emotions is important to raise happy, emotionally healthy individuals The following is an extract from my book ‘How to Raise a Teen’. Although this is from a book specifically about teenagers, the concept ?of emodiversity applies at any age: What is emodiversity? Raising young people in a home that fosters the importanceContinue reading “What is emodiversity and why should parents of children & teens practice it?”
Why you should embrace ‘Jenga Parenting’ with your older children and teenagers
You build the secure groundworks in infancy and then, little by little, day by day, you construct a tower of supportive scaffolding as you meet your child’s needs. Once that tower is complete, it’s time to remove the scaffolding boards, or Jenga blocks, one by one, little by little, at the pace of your own unique child. If you try to remove a block and things get a little wobbly, you reinstate it and continue to provide that support, but still with an eye on ‘letting go’ (no matter how much your instincts may be screaming at you to ‘hold on’.
Demetrescence & Woman’s Hour
Last week I was lucky enough to be a guest on Woman’s Hour, discussing the transition that mothers of teens go through, a little like Matrescence (the new motherhood transition), Demetrescence is the metamorphosis that mothers of tweens and teens transition through, which changes them in body and in mind.
Demetrescence – the motherhood transition that comes with raising teenagers
When writing my new book ‘How to Raise a Teen’, I took inspiration from Demeter’s story and named the transition of ‘later parenting’ Demetrescence. The ‘de’ prefix indicating a sort of reversal of matrescence, but with an emphais on Demeter, understanding that this is not the end, but rather a new beginning of a different relationship with your (almost) adult child.
Ten important takeaways from ‘Because I Said So! why society is Childist and how breaking the cycle of discrimination towards children can change the world’
We have all been affected by childism when we were children, we often don’t realise it though and just grew to accept that adults hold a position of power over children. Often our loved ones have been even more deeply affected than us and when we struggle with their beliefs about parenting and discipline, we have to start with empathy and understanding how they have reached this position before we can ever try to change it.
Why I’m Fighting Childism and Championing Gentle Parenting – my story
I grew angry at the messages so prevalent in society which led me to try to raise my son in a way that felt instinctively wrong to both me and him. However, these experiences also planted a seed – one that would take a further five years to begin to sprout and another two decades to come to fruition. They became the fuel behind my desire to raise awareness of the way society discriminates against children and their needs in an attempt to prioritise the wants and wishes of adults.
‘Because I Said So!’ – free book excerpt and introduction to Childism
Childism is no different to any other ‘ism’ – racism, sexism, ageism, heterosexism (more commonly known as homophobia) and ableism. It simply refers to the discrimination of children in our society. You could argue that childism is a form of ageism, since ageism is usually defined as being treated unfairly, or discriminated against, because of age. The term ageism, however, is usually used to refer to the middle-aged and elderly in society and doesn’t address the unique barriers, discrimination and mistreatment faced by the young. Nor does it consider the underlying causes, or the nuanced views necessary to advocate for a societal demographic who are so often believed to be spoiled rotten, showered with constant love, attention and money.
What is Childism? and why should we all be talking about it?
What exactly is Childism?
In short it’s about the discrimination of children in our society. It’s about the fact that child rights should be human rights, and yet children are treated in ways we would never imagine treating an adult.
The top 12 Myths about Gentle Parenting
While there are many mistaken beliefs surrounding gentle parenting, the following twelve are by far the most common and it is incredibly likely you will run into them frequently if you share your plans to parent gently with others. Let’s do some myth-busting!
Sarah Ockwell-Smith 