Confession time: I have put my kids’ artwork in the bin.

Let’s face it, we can’t keep everything they do, and not everything they do will be successful or, in your opinion, praise-worthy.

But praise isn’t just about the outcome; it’s not about winning or losing. Praise, when used at the right time and in the right way, can be super powerful at building confident, resilient children.

In this bucket emptying episode, I’m going to share five ways that you can give praise that will nurture skills, build character, and help you raise children who don’t fear failure and feel supported to try anything.

So find a comfy seat, pour yourself a cuppa and enjoy the conversation…

Highlights from this episode:

00:29 - Hacks

02:43 - A whole splodge of nothing

05:36 - Be specific

06:49 - Effort over outcome

11:01 - Celebrate the small wins

13:26 - Hone in on skills

💚 Join our campaign One Million Moments to reduce the number of children struggling with mental health challenges from 17% to 10% by 2025 - https://onemillionmoments.org/

💚 Let’s grow our village together, please share with at least one friend

💚  mentioned in the episodes

DISCLAIMER: The content in the podcast is not intended to constitute or be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your doctor or other qualified health care provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have heard on the podcast or on my website.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What do you do when you’re out in public and your child absolutely loses it?

Dealing with tantrums can be a daily occurrence as parents, but have you ever been at the end of tether and lost your cool?

You’re not the worst parent - we’ve all been there! And that’s why, in this episode, I’m going to help you deal with the meltdowns and the tantrums.

You’re going to understand what can cause them, how you can prevent them, and what to do in the moment so that you can handle the situation like the pro you are.

So find a comfy seat, pour yourself a cuppa and enjoy the conversation…

Highlights from this episode:

00:38 - Tantrums are not just for toddlers

03:26 - Why do tantrums happen?

11:15 - How to prevent tantrums

16:17 - Being aware of the triggers

19:39 - Positive attention

27:03 - Managing tantrums in the moment

💚 Join our campaign One Million Moments to reduce the number of children struggling with mental health challenges from 17% to 10% by 2025 - https://onemillionmoments.org/

💚 Let’s grow our village together, please share with at least one friend

💚  mentioned in the episodes

DISCLAIMER: The content in the podcast is not intended to constitute or be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your doctor or other qualified health care provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have heard on the podcast or on my website.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Does your child the one who always runs to the front of a crowd, or insists on being the first in the bath, or can’t wait their turn during a game?

Don’t worry, because you’re not alone! Insisting on being first is a common challenge faced by parents, so in this bucket emptying episode I am going to explain the reasons why this happens, and give you some practical things you can do to address it.

So find a comfy seat, pour yourself a cuppa and enjoy the conversation…

Highlights from this episode:

02:03 - The biggest reasons for it

05:20 - Seeing siblings as more capable

06:56 - What can you do about it?

12:47 - It’s about they feel about themselves

15:53 - Descriptive praise and why it works

💚 Join our campaign One Million Moments to reduce the number of children struggling with mental health challenges from 17% to 10% by 2025 - https://onemillionmoments.org/

💚 Let’s grow our village together, please share with at least one friend

💚  mentioned in the episodes

DISCLAIMER: The content in the podcast is not intended to constitute or be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your doctor or other qualified health care provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have heard on the podcast or on my website.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As parents, we put so much pressure on ourselves to be perfect. To be patient. To never lose our temper. But spoiler alert: we’re still human.

In this episode I’m here to help you in those moments where things are about to bubble over, and then you lose your cool. Because when you do that, you feel awful: it’s not who you are. I get it!

I am going to share six things that you can do to help, so you no longer yell, you no longer cry, and you no longer have to Google for answers.

Remember: behind every super parent is a normal parent!

So find a comfy seat, pour yourself a cuppa and enjoy the conversation…

Highlights from this episode:

01:38 - I’m a terrible parent!

05:18 - How does it get to this?

07:36 - The stress bucket

14:53 - Self care is not a luxury

16:02 - Managing expectations

23:32 - Do-overs

26:40 - Finding alternative solutions

29:40 - Be kind

💚 Join our campaign One Million Moments to reduce the number of children struggling with mental health challenges from 17% to 10% by 2025 - https://onemillionmoments.org/

💚 Let’s grow our village together, please share with at least one friend

💚  mentioned in the episodes

DISCLAIMER: The content in the podcast is not intended to constitute or be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your doctor or other qualified health care provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have heard on the podcast or on my website.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Are you a problem solver?

You’re a parent, so of course you are! But not all problems need us to swoop in and save the day. As hard as it might be, our children sometimes need the opportunity to problem-solve, make mistakes and build those core skills that make them confident, resilient people.

In today’s bucket emptying episode, I’m going to give you a life-changing strategy to help you identify those moments.

So find a comfy seat, pour yourself a cuppa and enjoy the conversation…

Highlights from this episode:

00:35 - The ability to problem solve

04:07 - When to intervene as parents

07:35 - Accepting agency

10:57 - What is a child problem?

15:56 - Multilayered examples

💚 Join our campaign One Million Moments to reduce the number of children struggling with mental health challenges from 17% to 10% by 2025 - https://onemillionmoments.org/

💚 Let’s grow our village together, please share with at least one friend

💚  mentioned in the episodes

DISCLAIMER: The content in the podcast is not intended to constitute or be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your doctor or other qualified health care provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have heard on the podcast or on my website.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What should I look for in a school?

Are grammar schools really better than comprehensive?

How important are Ofsted reports?

In this episode, as another year of school applications approaches, I’m going to guide you through the complicated and confusing world of choosing a school for your kids, with the help of my super special guest Melanie Sanderson, Managing Editor at The Good Schools Guide.

The Good Schools Guide has been the number one independent resource on UK schools since 1986, providing parents with unbiased information to help them research and pick the right education for their children.

So find a comfy seat, pour yourself a cuppa and enjoy the conversation…

Find Out More:

The Good Schools Guide: https://www.goodschoolsguide.co.uk/

Mel on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melanie-sanderson-520305190/

Highlights from this episode:

02:20 - What is the Good Schools Guide?

07:12 - Sharp-elbowed parents (and why you should avoid them)

11:05 - Grammar schools

16:24 - The number one piece of advice for parents…

19:25 - Do Ofsted reports matter?

23:45 - SATs

25:28 - Preparing our 4 year olds for school

31:31 - How to look for a school

💚 Join our campaign One Million Moments to reduce the number of children struggling with mental health challenges from 17% to 10% by 2025 - https://onemillionmoments.org/

💚 Let’s grow our village together, please share with at least one friend

💚  mentioned in the episodes

DISCLAIMER: The content in the podcast is not intended to constitute or be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your doctor or other qualified health care provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have heard on the podcast or on my website.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Do your children never pay attention to you?

Are you at your wit’s end?

Don’t worry, every parent struggles to get their kids to pay attention, and in this bucket emptying episode I’m going to share three things you can do that might help.

So find a comfy seat, pour yourself a cuppa and enjoy the conversation…

Highlights from this episode:

01:04 - The reasons for their inattention

03:27 - Outside distractions

07:12 - Focus on the power of one

12:19 - Setting boundaries

💚 Join our campaign One Million Moments to reduce the number of children struggling with mental health challenges from 17% to 10% by 2025 - https://onemillionmoments.org/

💚 Let’s grow our village together, please share with at least one friend

💚  mentioned in the episodes

DISCLAIMER: The content in the podcast is not intended to constitute or be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your doctor or other qualified health care provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have heard on the podcast or on my website.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Do you like to fix your child’s problems?

Are you trying to be their best friend?

Sorry to break this to you, but these are some of the reasons why your kids may not be building the resilience you hoped. And I get it - we all want to help our children, and we hate seeing them struggle, but building identity and resilience is about learning how to fail and how to problem solve.

In this episode, I talk you through SPRING, or the fundamental building blocks of resilience, and reveal the eight ways we as parents can be impacting our children’s resilience.

So find a comfy seat, pour yourself a cuppa and enjoy the conversation…

Highlights from this episode:

00:59 - Mental health stats

04:16 - A complex cause and effect

07:36 - Stress is designed to help you

10:41 - Self-regulation

12:20 - You’ve got to be in it to win it

13:43 - Relationships

14:34 - Identity

16:52 - Saying NO

17:35 - Setting goals

19:38 - We’re not working with the end in mind

21:13 - Modelling resilience

23:32 - We want to take the pain away

26:57 - Supporting failure, not preventing it

29:21 - We are not our child’s best friend

32:29 - Stop obsessing over the right decision!

35:36 - Being a parent of one of many roles we have

💚 Join our campaign One Million Moments to reduce the number of children struggling with mental health challenges from 17% to 10% by 2025 - https://onemillionmoments.org/

💚 Let’s grow our village together, please share with at least one friend

💚  mentioned in the episodes

DISCLAIMER: The content in the podcast is not intended to constitute or be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your doctor or other qualified health care provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have heard on the podcast or on my website.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What does being the best really mean?

What does ‘fitting in’ look like?

Parents and children living with physical disabilities live with a unique set of challenges. They often find themselves judged or ridiculed, and this can have a big impact on our kids.

On this week’s bucket emptying, I welcome back Cathy Reay, a disabled writer and journalist, and mum of two (plus a very cheeky cat!). She also works in educational publishing. How To Be Disabled and Proud (or at least kinda sorta okay with it...) is her first children’s book.

We discuss how to empower our kids with self-confidence and resilience in relation to living with a disability, so they grow up seeing it not as a weakness, but as their superpower.

So find a comfy seat, pour yourself a cuppa and enjoy the conversation…

Connect with Cathy:

Website: https://www.cathyreay.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cathyreaywrites/ 

X: https://x.com/cathyreaywrites?lang=en 

How To Be Disabled And Proud: How To Be Disabled and Proud: (or at least kinda sorta okay with it...): Amazon.co.uk: Reay, Cathy: 9780241676967: Books 

Highlights from this episode:

00:48 - The desire to just fit in

04:28 - The power of community and connection

06:32 - What does the ‘best’ even mean?

💚 Join our campaign One Million Moments to reduce the number of children struggling with mental health challenges from 17% to 10% by 2025 - https://onemillionmoments.org/

💚 Let’s grow our village together, please share with at least one friend

💚  mentioned in the episodes

DISCLAIMER: The content in the podcast is not intended to constitute or be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your doctor or other qualified health care provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have heard on the podcast or on my website.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

WARNING: this podcast is not for parents.

I spend a lot of my time visiting schools and speaking to classes full of children of all ages, so for once I’m dedicating a podcast episode to you, the kids.

This episode is all about giving you the skills and the understanding you need to manage those days when things feel overwhelming. Maybe your mental health is taking a hit, and maybe you have moments when the pressure gets too much.

Well here’s the secret: it’s ok! And here are some things you can do to manage that.

So find a comfy seat, pour yourself a cuppa and enjoy the conversation…

Highlights from this episode:

00:45 - It’s about what matters to YOU

02:46 - The seesaw

05:29 - Your brain has one job

08:40 - Two parallel lines

11:29 - Inner critic versus inner cheerleader

15:16 - The 1% rule

19:58 - Your stress bucket

23:58 - Doom scrolling

💚 Join our campaign One Million Moments to reduce the number of children struggling with mental health challenges from 17% to 10% by 2025 - https://onemillionmoments.org/

💚 Let’s grow our village together, please share with at least one friend

💚  mentioned in the episodes

DISCLAIMER: The content in the podcast is not intended to constitute or be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your doctor or other qualified health care provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have heard on the podcast or on my website.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.