Ren Parenting, Pyalong (2025)

21/04/2023

A weekend reminder for our parents and caregivers 🫶

20/04/2023

Exploring nature with your little one is a great way to develop your child's independence, curiosity, creativity, problem solving and more. It's also been found to help safeguard their mental health; Research shows that children who grow up with higher levels of green space, have a much lower risk of developing mental health issues in adolescence and adulthood (Engemann et al, 2019).

What's more, children get cognitive, emotional and social benefits as a result of spending time in nature. This includes increased ability to concentrate, improved academic performance, reduced levels of stress and aggression, better motor coordination and improved social skills (Strife & Downey, 2009).

Looking for an activity to do with your little one that's jam-packed with developmental benefits and doesn't cost a cent? We've got just the thing.

12/04/2023

Fostering imagination in your child not only keeps them entertained now. It also helps them further develop important skills later in life. Here are some ideas to nurture your little one's imagination at different ages...it's never to early to start. Try using your own imagination to encourage theirs!

07/04/2023

As parents, we carry a mountain of responsibilities, especially if we are the parent carrying the bulk of the mental load. Here are some tips to start sharing/reducing its weight.

The aim is to 1) create a household where the tasks and invisible tasks are shared more equally and 2) give you more time and mental space to do what you need to do to look after yourself.

05/04/2023

Yes! Unfortunately loads of research continues to show that screen time does affect our kids' sleep. The good news is...if we reduce or limit their screen time before bedtime by at least 1 hour and avoid using screens in bed it can help them fall asleep easier, and get a good night's sleep too!

02/04/2023

Knowing the benefits of apologizing to our children can help give us the 'why' and therefore the motivation to say sorry when we've made a mistake. Yes we are human, so as parents we all make mistakes! At these times, we have the opportunity to apologize to our kids to repair our relationship, and we both benefit now and in the long run.

�Another pro of apologizing to our kids is it's actually the quickest and most affective way to teach our children how to apologize themselves.

31/03/2023

Recently, we talked about what the mental load is, here we focus on how the mental load impacts us and who it affects.

There are several long-term benefits of sharing the mental load which can help explain why sharing/reducing it is so beneficial for the whole family:

-Prevents burnout and lets you meet your own needs
-Allows all caregivers to bond with their little one and build a secure relationship with them
-Reduces stress and conflict, which can improve your relationships
-Kids show higher social and emotional abilities: being able to relate better to others and having more empathy and compassion (Kwon, 2013)
-Kids are less likely to receive contrasting messages or be involved in parent conflict
-Helps the person who is the manager role in your household to feel more capable of handling the everyday fatigue and stress of parenting
-More space to be a connected, warm, and engaged parent, which promotes secure attachment with your little ones.

25/03/2023

How can we support our children to face their fears?

Last week we shared a post about childhood fears, and this time we look more closely at some practical tips on how we can gently support our children to face their fears.

24/03/2023

A lot of what we learn about how to regulate our emotions happens in the first five years. Babies and young children haven’t learned how to do this yet, so we have an important role to play in teaching them. This process is called co-regulation.

Co-regulation happens when parents support their children to calm and make sense of their emotional experiences. Babies and young children need a lot of support, their need for connection is stronger because they're more dependent on us and their self-regulation skills are still developing. As kids get older, they learn to self-regulate (from co-regulating with us) and slowly need less input from their parents. But parents have a role to play at all ages. (Rosanbalm, K.D., & Murray, D.W. (2018).

We can influence our child’s emotion regulation in four ways:
- How we look after our own emotions
- What we teach our kids about emotions
- How we respond when our child expresses emotion
- What we do to create a loving, secure and structured environment where our children are safe to express how they feel (Morris, Criss, Silk & Houltberg, 2017).

For all ages and stages big supporters of emotion regulation are:
- A warm and loving environment
- Parents taking care of their own emotional needs, and being there for their kids when they have big feelings
- The child knowing that you are there for them, by having their needs met consistently and predictably

11/03/2023

Fear is an emotion that we all feel regularly. We tend to feel fear when we perceive a threat to our health, lives, well-being or even when we are doing a presentation. Just like any other emotion, our feelings of fear tend to pass and become less strong with time.

Fear is a big part of being a kid and their ongoing development, and as parents, there are ways we can help our children face their fears. Stay tuned for some practical tips on how to do this, to build confidence and reduce their risk of developing a phobia or anxiety.

09/03/2023

Raising children often requires us to manage many roles around the clock to keep our family afloat!

The mental load can be a heavy weight to bear, and it can sneak up on us quickly. It can be helpful to try and share or reduce the load where we can for our own emotional wellbeing.

Stay tuned for some tips in upcoming posts on how to do this.

04/03/2023

While anxiety may not be a pleasant experience, it can provide us with important signals and can help guide our decisions. Anxiety is a fear response that we have to something unknown. An important one that humans have developed over our evolution to keep us safe. It can be helpful when we are able to anticipate what potential threats/risks there are around us, to keep us alert and motivate us, all of which can help us be more prepared. However, anxiety becomes unhelpful for our children when it’s distressing, lasts too long, if it stops them from participating in activities they normally would and if they begin to avoid the things they’re anxious about.

If you notice that your child has excessive anxiety, or worries, these feelings impact their relationship with you or others, and prevents them from their everyday activities like going to daycare/kinder/school, it is recommended to seek support from an appropriately qualified healthcare professional. When we intervene early, we are promoting healthier short and long term outcomes for our kids.

02/03/2023

It is typical to be met with resistance when we ask our children to switch off their screens. Good news? There ARE ways we can set boundaries which are still firm, yet empathetic and respectful of their autonomy. When we set boundaries in this way, it not only helps build the connection with our children, but it helps them feel safe and they’re more likely to respond favourably to us.

Setting clear boundaries and creating healthy habits to navigate screen time with our children can help them continue to take these into adolescence and adulthood.

24/02/2023

Self-care as a parent - easier said than done! We’re not suggesting you need to book yourself into a spa or go away for the week, but the simple act of reflecting on where you’re at can be a great first step.

Where are you on the continuum of feeling like your best self vs feeling burnt out? Is there anything you can do over the coming week (even something small) that will help you feel slightly more recharged?

22/02/2023

Grief is an emotional experience we feel as a response to change, when we lose something or someone important to us. It is an inevitable part of life. As humans, when we experience grief - it affects the way we think, feel, and behave. As parents, it can be really heavy needing to support our children when we are grieving ourselves. It’s important to try and get the support we need by asking friends and family for help where we can in these challenging periods. It’s also okay to be struggling ourselves, if you’re having difficulty coping or want some extra support, don’t hesitate to reach out to an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.  Here are some signs to look out for, for when your little one might benefit from some professional support to help them with their grief.

16/02/2023

Nowadays, screen time is a part of life for most families. As digital technology continues to rapidly evolve, with access to more screens than ever before - how screen time affects our children has become a hot topic. The good news is, there are ways that screen time can benefit children (over 2 years), when used as part of a balanced lifestyle. Research highlights that too much or too little screen time can have unhelpful effects. So, as parents, how do we know when our children are having too much screen time?

15/02/2023

Ever hear of the four parenting styles? Each style has a different approach to boundaries, therefore a different effect on children. We love the ‘Authoritative’ style approach to boundaries because it means the most benefits for our kids. It involves setting clear rules and expectations and being responsive to our children's needs. It uses warmth, empathy, calm communication and emotional support. When we use this style our kids tend to be more capable, confident and happier overall AND have healthy relationships as adults. Remember we don't have to get it right every time! If we can follow through with our boundaries just 50% of the time, we’re well on our way to raising healthy, happy kids.

10/02/2023

Talking in parentese (using a slow, high-pitched, affectionate voice) kickstarts our babies’ language development in a critical period of learning. Here’s 4 easy ways to incorporate parentese into your daily routine. You may find you're already doing it!

Ren Parenting