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My name is Sue Atkins and I am passionate about making life with children easier and more rewarding, and I am extremely enthusiastic about helping you to bring up happy, confident, well-balanced adults.
So I have created a new Club to create a community that supports, nurtures, encourages and shares with each other on the roller coaster parenting adventure!
It's a place to drop in and chat, make new friends, find useful resources and to ask questions free from judgement, criticism or finger pointing and a place to receive expert advice.
Membership of the Positive Parents Club is open to everyone and is completely free. You'll find a wealth of hints & tips, useful articles, and even downloadable e-books, and revision planners.
When you sign-up, you'll get access to all of the materials on this site, and you'll also receive a choice of two free ecourses sent to your inbox over the next 7 weeks called " The 7 Key Skills For Raising Happy, Confident, Well-Balanced Children" or the "Top Tips To Trusting Your Teenager" as well as my monthly email Newsletter bursting with useful ideas and practical tips from toddler to teen.
I hope you'll join in, have fun and make new friends and I'm really looking forward to getting to know you!
P.S One last thing.....
May I ask you a favour?
If you get anything helpful out of my articles, blogs, CDs, books or Toolkits , or if you've highlighted, circled or Post-It-noted something , I'm really hoping that you'll do something for me:
Pass my articles,blogs, and Club details onto someone else.
Ask them to read them, or invite them to come and join in.
We need them. We need you.
Spread the word about wanting to be the best parent you can be - we'll create a big ripple in a pond and make the world a better place - together.
From the moment you play peek-a-boo with your baby, you are preparing them for the process of moving away from you and learning about independence. Separation can be a difficult emotion not only for you as a parent but also for your child. As your child matures and gains in confidence, they grow into independent beings and it is important that you prepare them to fly the nest one day.
Even in ordinary situations, some children experience some form of worry, apprehension, fear, anxiety or distress. Feeling nervous and anxious occasionally is completely natural for a child when they are faced with an unfamiliar or new situation. From toddler to teens, life is full of challenges and sometimes a natural reaction is for your child to retreat from the situation and to look to you for more reassurance.
During infancy, a baby clings to you when a stranger approaches; in early childhood children often fear new and unfamiliar situations; and as children grow and develop they worry about social acceptance, school performance or finding a group that they can fit into.
These are all normal reactions to life, but what if your child suddenly starts to get headaches, tummy aches or has nightmares about going to school?
I often coach Mums, rather than Dads, who face this new phase of their lives with great trepidation and often great anxiety.
But by asking some gentle questions and with a slight change in perspective I help them re – focus, re- frame and re- discover who they are now and where they want to go in this new transition from mother to a more positive, relaxed and confident woman in her own right.....
It's completely normal and natural for a mum to feel some sadness when children leave home.
It is quite normal to have a little weep – or even go into your absent child's bedroom and sit there for a bit remembering times gone by, happy memories or miss the noise and the laughter and even regret all the nagging you did over the untidy bedroom and would easily now swap for your child to be back living at home again!
So don't be ashamed of your feelings - they are natural.
But if you experience any of the following severe symptoms, you should seek professional help........
I have been working with a parent who has been battling feelings of depression.
I often work with people who feel at times helpless to change their current circumstances, or feel trapped, or that there is no-one who can help.
Depression often follows anger and helplessness where I find the parent is literally beating themselves up. Many times people that suffer from depression are extremely intelligent, very sensitive and are very compassionate people. Their sense of helplessness parallels the same spiral people suffering from anger experience, and it can often turn into resentment and stress related illnesses.
Parentchannel.tv is a new online service designed to support and encourage parents and carers of children aged 5-19, with a collection of videos addressing day-to-day questions and concerns spanning wellbeing, behaviour and learning.
Parentchannel.tv features a collection of short and engaging videos with links to existing services for further information and support, where needed. In producing these videos, they have engaged experts and parents every step of the way including myself.
So grab a coffee , sit back and relax and watch my advice on this excellent resource for all parents from toddler to teen !
The envelope gently lands on the doormat with more of a flutter than a heavy thud, but the contents have the potential to help your child’s dreams come true... or shatter them into a million tiny pieces …… for now.
But it’s about mindset, getting back up, and looking for the positive ways forward if things haven’t gone according to plan.
But whatever the results it’s always a day of very mixed emotions for many young people. Some achieve above their expectations and others feel shocked, stunned and disappointed.
Children are about to move onto secondary schools. Perhaps your child is one of them. This is a time of great change for a child and for the family as a whole as this transition is a time of growth, learning and independence. Children naturally have mixed feelings about this change.
"I was scared that I might not make any friends and that I'd get bullied, though I was excited too because it was such a big step in my life."
Chris aged 11
Children worry about getting lost, as the school is much bigger and looks like a maze of endless corridors with thousands of people, or they worry about not fitting in, or having the mickey taken out of them if they don't like sport, or football. They worry about their physical appearance, their spelling, their journey- the list is endless.
So the Summer Holidays are nearly upon us and I hope you’ve had your Butlin’s Red Coat dry cleaned and aired for the next 6 weeks of entertainment!
The school break is a time for relaxation, recovery and re -cooperating energy but it can also feel like a burden of responsibility and an expensive nightmare if you don’t get clear about how you’d like to spend the next 6 weeks with your children.
I've lost times how many times I've worked with Mums in particular about their overwhelming feelings of guilt - whether they are working Mums, stay at home Mums or part -time Mums .
Women seem to be programmed with it and it just holds us all back, keeps us stuck and is really anger turned in on ourselves as we find it difficult to ask for help, delegate parenting jobs or share our needs with others. It's also about wanting to be a perfect parent - who only exists in Hollywood film I'm afraid !
Read on to discover ways to eliminate it quickly...
Don't panic and don't pretend they'll go away - they won't!
If you're organised, you'll find the exams won't be the nightmare experience that you feared - and if you go about things the right way you'll even get time for some fun in between!
Sibling rivalry has always had a bad press - think of Cain slaughtering Abel and Joseph being thrown down the well and sold by his brothers because they were jealous of his beautiful multi coloured coat!
Did you know that Starbucks trains new store employees for three weeks, and a total of 35 hours to make a cup of coffee?
Companies spend over £100 billion each year on training and development to help their employees be more successful at their job yet even though many say that raising a family is one of the most important roles a parent will ever do, there is little to no formal preparation and ongoing development to ensure your success - because as we all know... kids don't come with a handbook!
"One day at a time - this is enough. Do not look back and grieve over the past, for it is gone: and do not be troubled about the future, for it has not yet come. Live in the present, and make it so beautiful that it will be worth remembering."
~ Ida Scott Taylor 1820-1915, Author
Navigating through Divorce
Bringing up children is not an exact science and while there are common themes that many parents encounter such as learning how to relate to their children, finding effective ways to discipline them or helping to build their self esteem, there are other more specific and highly emotional issues that have a greater impact on family life, such as getting divorced , that can have very damaging effects on children for the rest of their lives if handled badly.
Let’s look at helping you develop your confidence and skills while going through these more challenging experiences.
Positive Parents offers bespoke workshops, informal group coaching for all sorts of parenting groups, businesses, social enterprises, voluntary or charitable groups, PTAs, schools or any group of parents interested in having their own exclusively designed workshop or group coaching sessions.
Bespoke workshops and group coaching sessions are specially designed and uniquely personalised to suit the needs of your organisation or group.
I will happily work with you to develop workshops, or Q & A more informal sessions, that focus on the specific issues for your group.
I also love doing "Confidence Classes for Kids" sessions too.
To find out more just give me a call on 01342 833355 or email me on sue@positive-parents.com or click on the link at the top to find out more
I'd like to hear from you so I can blog, write an article, do a Q & A "Ask the Parent Coach" monthly phone -in or create a new CD Toolkit just to help with that issue, niggle, problem or challenge so please feel free to email me at sue@positive-parents.com and I'll look forward to hearing from you.
Join me, with other like minded parents on my “ 1st Monday of the Month Q & A” telephone sessions from the comfort of your own home, office or sofa, where you will be able to ask me questions personally about your niggles, worries or parenting problems LIVE and up close and personal with me on the “Hot Seat” from 8pm – 8.30 pm UK time.
Feel free to email your question to me before hand to make sure I cover your question!
I've been designing some Positive Parent Posters to download for free exclusively for my Positive Parents Club Members. It got me pondering about getting your ideas and favourite quotes designed up as a poster so I could add them to my inspiring positive parent poster collection to keep everyone inspired, upbeat and positive.
They could be a great way to keep you inspired as you could pop them up on your kitchen wall or fridge!
I have always been inspired by Napoloen Hill's posters and I have them up around my office to inspire me - but then I got to pondering that there aren't many specfically positive posters for parents ..... so I thought I would create them ..... with your help ! :)
So drop me an email with your favourite uplifting quotes and I'll add them to the Positive Parent Club Posters and let's inspire each other !
Join in and tell all your friends ! sue@positive-parents.com
Well, I think one of the best things I’ve ever had to say in a taxi was “Take me to Number 10 Downing Street please!”
What an honour and a real privilege to be invited inside such a historic place of real power and influence.
Whilst my work has nothing to do with Party politics it was great to be invited to the Downing Tweet Party in support of the Million Mums Campaign and to meet up with all the fellow Twitter people that I follow or who follow me as PositiveParents.
Wonderful people with passion, vision and commitment in all their various industries.
It was great to chat with a couple of celebrities from Richard Bacon to Beverley Knight (who was awesome when she sung live) and to meet Jayne Twiddle from Confident Ladies and Jo Ream from Mummo whose Mum actually comes down to Purley to shop in Lucindas where I bought my new dress as I was terrified someone would have on the same frock if I bought it in M & S !
