Great speaker

H does parent participation preschool (there are actually four near us! ) and what is great (which I didn't think I would like) is the speakers. Every month at our meetings a speaker comes in to talk about preschool children.

This month we had the author of the book "It's Not A Plot To Drive You Crazy".

She suggested creating a badge for your child to wear that reads "I Dressed Myself Today" if your child's weird colour combination choices drive you crazy.

She says "Parenting is about building a fantastic relationship with your child". Very true.

She says if your kids are fighting you can say "You've shown me that you can't play well together" so you can discipline them with a separation until they are ready to get along. She says "timeouts" don't work as there is no discipline. It is just a punishment. She is very big on discipline. You could also say something like "You've shown me that today is not a good day for crayons" if he/she was writing on the wall or something. Then take the crayons away until the next day.

She also suggests putting a sign on your fridge that says "In this family we are kind and gentle" and having a meeting to discuss this then pointing to sign for reference when things go wrong. We often say to the girls "In this family we share", which seems to work often.

She says don't put "okays" and "alrights" at the end of sentences (a thing we can do sometimes) as it sounds like the child gets a choice. When you think about, this one is very true!

Use eye contact for POSITIVE MESSAGES. Your child needs attention so they will fill their "bucket" up however they can get it.

She also says children (esp 2 year olds) are not naughty. They are just exploring their world.