3 Parenting Resolutions to Jumpstart the New Year

Dec 29

The New Year is a great opportunity for you to reflect on your goals and priorities.

Being a parent is hard and juggling so many responsibilities can sometimes take us a little off track.

I believe at the end of the day you want to love your child the best you can and provide them the best opportunities to grow and thrive in this world.

I want to support your parenting journey by providing you 3 practical tips to allow you to better show up and support your child this new year with the introduction of the 3 "C's"

The 3 C's are

Connection
Consistency
Compassion

Action Plan

Connection
1. Find more ways to connect with your child with common interest or simply engaging in your child's high interest activities.
  1. Especially important if your child has communication difficulties
2. This could look like
  1. Taking turns playing video games
  2. Watching a favorite movie or youtube show together
  3. Engaging in sensory activities together
  4. Get on the playground together
3. This not only helps connect but also gives you an opportunity to get a better perspective of your child’s day to day engagements and what they look like.
Consistency
1. Our children thrive when they have schedules and routines to rely on.
2. Routines and Schedules can help prevent future meltdowns
3. Routines help preserve our mental energy
4. Create a morning and evening routine
  1. Morning example
    1. Wake up at 7am
    2. Shower
    3. Get dressed
    4. Eat breakfast
    5. Brush Teeth
    6. Leave for school at 8am
  2. Evening example
    1. Eat dinner
    2. Brush teeth
    3. Bath/Shower
    4. In bed at 8:30
    5. Read bed time story
5. Schedules help us prepare mentally and physically for future events like
  1. New school year
  2. Novel trip to the grocery store
  3. Camping trip
6. To prepare use:
  1. Social scrips
  2. Role play scenarios
  3. Pictures
  4. Verbal explanations
Compassion
1. Have patience and compassion for both your child and yourself
2. We all learn and develop at our own pace
  1. Try not to compare your child to others
3. Use your child's strengths to help them master an activity or overcome a challenging situation
4. Provide positive feedback
5. Work as a team
6. Example
  1. Competitive child
    1. Try timers
    2. Try making the activity a game
  2. Artistic Child
    1. Find opportunities for creativity
7. Self Compassion
  1. We are all doing the best with the tools that we are given
  2. Most of how we learned how to parent comes from what was passed down to us from our caregivers (the good and bad)
  3. Seek out help when needed (It takes a village to raise a child)
    1. Support Groups
    2. Parenting courses
    3. Family members
    4. YouTube channels
    5. Podcasts

Recap:

Connection
1. Explore your child’s interests and find creative ways to emerge yourself into those activities and engage with them.
Consistency
1. Create consistency by creating routines and schedules that are safe and predictable for your child to preserve mental space and reduce future meltdowns.
Compassion
1. Have compassion for your child by providing positive feedback and allowing them to grow and develop at their own pace and have compassion for yourself for all the work you do and don’t be afraid to ask for help or resources.

Resources:

Books & Parenting Courses

Positive Parenting Solutions:
- Online parenting Course
- https://www.positiveparentingsolutions.com/
Positive Parenting for Autism
- ABA based parenting strategies book
- https://www.amazon.com/Positive-Parenting-Autism-Strategies-Challenges-ebook/dp/B07KMHNN2Q
Teach Through Love:
- Youtube channel and courses by Lori Petro
- Communication, social emotional tools to connect with your child