Things we’re doing to give our children a bit more autonomy

For context, my husband and I have 3 children. Our two sons, 12 and 15 years old, and our daughter who is 5 years old. In this post I’ll explain some of the things we’ve decided to do to allow them to become a bit more autonomous, as we slowly detach ourselves from the tight grip of “micro-parenting”, as I like to call it. You know, that tendency to always be on your kids’ backs, checking everything they do, monitoring every move… We found that micro-parenting was having less of an impact as our kids started to grow, so our approach to raising them really changed over the last year or so in order to accommodate their need for independence and autonomy.

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Five things I’m learning from my children

One humbling aspect of parenting is realising you can learn just as much from your kids as they can learn from you. Whether it’s small reminders or entire life lessons, children really have a way of teaching you important things, and usually at very timely moments in your life.

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Why I no longer feel bad about my children seeing the less pretty side of marriage

Our children have seen a lot, and chances are, they’ll continue to see a lot as the years go by. They see us in our cringy lovey dovey moments, just like they see us when we’re at each other’s throat. These days, for example, they see an abundance of love, affection and unity, whereas a few months ago they witnessed quite a lot of anger and pain as I struggled with aspects of my mental health.

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2018 Year in review: Facing my failures

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To fail
/feɪl/
 
verb:
To be unsuccessful in achieving one’s goal.
To neglect to do something.
 
A mark which is not high enough to pass an examination or test.
A mistake, failure, or instance of poor performance.
 
As we approach the end of 2018, instead of the obligatory annual end of year post about everything I’ve achieved and what my plans are for the year ahead, I thought I’d do something a little bit different and come face to face with my failures.
 

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10 Tips to keep your kids off their video games this summer

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I’ve seen a lot of posts on how to keep the kids entertained this summer but most are aimed at pre-schoolers. We have pre-teens who are totally addicted to their video games and who constantly need to be encouraged to do other things around the house or in the garden. They love watching gamers on Youtube and can’t wait to try out what they’ve ‘learned’… and before you know it, you have kids who become increasingly disconnected with ‘everyday family life’ and totally uninterested in anything that doesn’t involve some sort of technology.

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