Praise feels good, but appreciation goes deeper. While praise focuses on what a child does, appreciation reflects who they are. This article explains how recognising your child’s inner qualities—like creativity, focus, and kindness—builds lasting confidence, resilience, and secure self-worth, strengthening your connection and supporting their emotional development.

Read on to find out….

Gifts we give ourselves need to come from the same place as the gifts we give the people we love. We need to know ourselves well enough to understand what we truly need—what will bring us genuine joy, not just momentary relief. When we treat ourselves from love instead of resentment or emotional exhaustion, the reward feels meaningful instead of hollow.

Guilt is noisy, but it’s also information. When you notice it, get curious. Ask questions. Replace broad self-attacks with small, truthful observations and actions. If you believe you’re already the parent your child needs, what would change for you? Start there.

Oh my goodness half of me wants to throw them away and the other half might keep them forever. Here's why...

My son got these years ago and we decided to make them in the holidays. He mixed the plaster of Paris, put them in the mould, tapped the bubbles out, they set, we took them out - that was fun and the powder, liquid, solid bit was educational too. So far so good..

The back-chatting, the eye-rolling and mono-syllabic communication start to appear in early tweens and the response I’ve heard from parents is a variety of fear and panic for what the teenage years might bring and a pang of sadness at the end of childhood. One of the biggest of these is communicating in a way that avoids arguments.

Listening well soothes, strengthens, and empowers our children.

And the best part?
All we have to do is be quiet.

Isn’t that liberating?