Hey there welcome to the Tree House Blog!
‘Every experience I have, is perfect for my growth’. Louise Hay
When couples collide – The real reason new parents split in the first year.
One in Five couples split up during the first year of becoming parents. One. In. Five. Now that is a scary statistic. There are many reasons cited for what causes these early break ups; A big adjustmentToo much stressNot enough support (from each other or from outside...
Unmet needs in the 4th trimester.
For the first few months of a baby’s life, as they acclimatize to life outside of your belly, baby’s love all things that mimic the safety and security of the womb. This is why this time is referred to as the 4th Trimester. They like to; be held and cuddled A LOT...
How you were parented has an impact on your parenting
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaJs_4krj-Y Each week in The Roots of Motherhood Facebook community I share a live video covering topics that encourage future parents to explore their roots and understand the deeper aspects of themselves in order to become the parent...
The Roots of Motherhood.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gAiqdnTA0Q&list=PLr_L7n54gOh7PUe1ln5i2BPLdx7yaj5NQ&index=2 Are you a new mum, pregnant, planning to be? Then this is a community created for you. In our community we explore our pasts and the deeper aspects of ourselves to...
The secret to becoming the parent you truly want to be
When you find out you are pregnant, especially for the first time, there is a lot to think about. Whether you have waited a long time for this pregnancy and spent years wondering what it will be like, or pregnancy came easy and you are just beginning to plan, when you...
Exhausted Mums blog series
What all Exhausted Mums Need to Know What would it be like to feel like this Mama in the picture? Full of life and laughter, full of the energy you need to be playful and face the day, What a dream!! In reality though, most of us are exhausted and overwhelmed! You...
My #1 tip for managing meltdowns when you’re exhausted
[convertkit form=4932766] Managing meltdowns with time-in, active listening and deep connection, (which is a big part of what I teach parents in my coaching work) is all well and good when you have the energy, patience and fuse for it. When you are suffering from...
7 simple tips for Burnt Out Mums
[convertkit form=4932766] If you didn't read my post yesterday about Exhausted Mums and Mum Burn Out, read it here before you read this one. The problem with Mum Burn Out is that it can make it really hard for us Mamas to do anything! Let alone anything that will help...
What all exhausted Mums need to know
[convertkit form=4932766] Oh to feel like this Mama! Full of life, laughter and the energy to have fun with her kids. If only, I am too exhausted to even think about it! You know those days when you are home all day with the kids and it feels like you are not really...
Top 5 tips for getting through Christmas Day with kids.
So it is almost Christmas! Is it a Yay for you or a blerggghhh? Tantrums, meltdowns, rude behaviour and NOT LISTENING, seem to go hand in hand with Christmas day (and the over excitement of it all!). So let's run through my 5 top tips to help your kids have better...
The #1 thing I’m teaching my daughter at Christmas
There are a lot of articles making the rounds about Christmas and kids at the moment (for obvious reasons). I have read a lot about why I should keep the magic of santa alive, why I shouldn't lie to my kids about santa, the importance of the type of gift I attribute...
The secret to managing your emotional triggers
[convertkit form=4932766] We are all triggered in different ways by different life events and daily occurrences. The way our children behave or the emotions they express, commonly trigger an emotional response from parents. Why are we so easily triggered into an...
What is really behind how we cut the sandwich.
[convertkit form=4932766] Your kids work themselves into a tizzy over how you cut their sandwiches. "NOOOOOO, I need triangles!, I only love triangles, I'm NOT EATING SQUARES, I hate squares, I hate you" - Sandwich is now on the floor and kid has stormed off....
The 5 step emergency meltdown action plan.
[convertkit form=4932766] It is 8:20am, you need to leave the house by 8:30 with your 3-year-old (Jimmy) and 1-year-old (Vanessa). The plan = drop kids at daycare and get to work by 9am. You are pleased that you have managed to get this far through the morning...
What it’s like to work with a Family Coach
A Family Coach is someone who works closely with parents to create positive change in families. Someone who supports you through the stormy patches of family life, and helps you to create more sunshine 🙂 A lot of people worry that if they work with a coach who...
The #1 thing you need to know about disciplining your kids
There are so many books and courses out there about parenting styles and about discipline strategies. Some by super big name professionals and some by the little guys. What is the 1 thing that all of these books and courses have in common? They were written and...
The essentials of gentle discipline (and why you need it)
[convertkit form=4932766] I get asked all the time about gentle discipline. People tell me that they don't really understand what it means so I thought I would tell you a bit more about it here. Gentle Discipline is helping your children to learn skills and positive...
Introducing Cool, Calm and Connected (and how tantrums, time-outs and power struggles are a thing of the past).
[convertkit form=4932766] I am so excited to have created Cool, Calm and Connected just for you. Cool, Calm and Connected is a 6-month 1:1 intensive coaching package for parents who want to learn to manage anger calmly, get discipline down to a fine art and have more...
5 myths about ‘good’ parenting that are getting in your way.
[convertkit form=4932766] Working out the shoulds and should nots of raising kids is not an easy task for parents. We are filled with fears and concerns about doing it the 'wrong' way, not being [insert any word you like] enough or that our life choices are impacting...
When everything goes a bit haywire!
You know in life when everything is cruising along and you have that moment where you think, 'Wow, things are pretty cool just now' and then..................... BAM! A really big 'thing' happens and throws a big, fat, mean, nasty, ugly, twisted spanner in to the...
I am a human woman with a past.
[convertkit form=4932766] I am a human. A woman. A human with a past. A human woman with a 'bag of shit from my past'. While my history shapes me, it also triggers me and challenges me in all of my relationships. I am mostly triggered as a partner and triggered as a...
It’s okay to have big feelings about your birth.
Giving birth is a time of great transformation for women. An extremely special, difficult, amazing and painful experience. There is no other experience in this world that has the same mix of positive and negative emotions that surround us for birth and the early part...
Tribe? Village? Community? What’s it all mean?
It is all about Belonging. The notion of belonging or social identity is an integral part of developing a sense of who we are. Although we consider ourselves to be individuals, it is our membership of particular groups that is most important in constructing a sense of...
The overwhelming anger that has us yelling at our kids
Anger. It is a normal and healthy emotion that we all feel. So how come we let it overwhelm us? How does it creep up on us and come bounding out of our mouths in a tirade of loudness directed at those little people who we love the most? I spoke briefly on this topic...
Happy toddler = Sane Mama (AKA – How I make play happen at home)
When your kids are little it can be hard to be enthused about play. Parenting is exhausting. For all parents. Whether you do it all day or after a long day of work or study, it is super tough to find the energy to play. I have had a lot of parents (friends and...
You wanna play wis me?
This is the current catch cry of my daughter. Well more specifically ‘You wanna play babies wis me?” and to be honest, No, not really I don’t!! Playing with kids, to those without kids and those who don’t spend a lot of time with kids, sounds like the easiest job in...
What is behind the emotional weight that Mums are carrying
[convertkit form=4932766] I consider myself a feminist. Some people say that feminists are aggressively in favour of women’s rights, and don't really like men, or believe in Men's rights. Despite the word feminism being derived from the word female, feminism is not...
Forget all the rest this is the only parenting tip you need!
Parents are swamped with advice from the moment they announce their pregnancy to the world. Parents, in-laws, books, magazines, health care professionals, friends, the media and even strangers in the street! On top of that there is the ‘unspoken’ advice, the pressure...
How to be ‘New’ in the New Year
I have been thinking a lot in recent weeks about the symbolism of beginning a New Year. How do we successfully end something and start something new when nothing is actually ending and nothing is beginning? Confused yet? Yes me too! Put simply, years are a symbol of...
Kids, holidays, phones, devices, computers!!!! AAARRGGHH
The Summer holidays are here and while we all have visions of our kids playing happily outside, frolicking in the garden and persuing water sports, for many this is not always how it turns out! Watching TV, using the internet or frantically communicating using our...
Why do I want to get Mamas together to support each other?
Starting in 2015 Tree House Family Counselling will be running an awesome new program/group for mums. Here is why! I love being a mum and am lucky enough to be surrounded by wonderful supportive women (my mum, my sister, my girls, my Mama’s group). I also am a part of...
Why Mothers groups rock (and there should be more groups for dads!)
Mother’s groups, we either love them or we dread them! I was a mum who forced herself along to the local mothers group, to which I was assigned based on when my baby was born. I went a few times and then it faded for me. Don’t get me wrong, the other mother’s I met...
Parenting is hard!
Do you ever find yourself looking at other parents and thinking, ‘I wish I could be more like that with my kids’? Guess what? It is likely that the parent you are looking at has thought the same today while admiring someone else! Families are not made of plastic! I...