Grandparents, siblings, the wider circle
The whole family
Everyone has an opinion on how I raise my children.
24 articles. Read one, try its small step for a week, and notice what changes.
- Why Does My Child Do That? Look Before You JudgeBefore you decide why your child, partner or parent did something, separate what you saw from the story you told yourself. A small habit that may change the whole evening.
- Grandparents Breaking Your Rules? The Few That Cannot BendWhen grandparents spoil, undermine or simply do things differently, the fight is rarely about the sweets. How to agree on a few rules that matter, and let the rest be grandma's house.
- When the Nanny's Rules Are Not Your RulesA nanny, a nursery or a family carer who does things differently. A practical checklist for agreeing the rules that matter, and a calm way to talk about it.
- When a Relative Lives With You: Two Sets of Rules Under One RoofWhen a grandparent, aunt or uncle moves in, the house can suddenly have two sets of rules. Why the tension grows, and how to share a home without losing your place as the parent.
- Setting Boundaries With In-Laws (and Still Loving Your Family)Loving your family and needing room from them can both be true. Before-and-after examples of boundary sentences with parents and in-laws, said with respect and without guilt.
- Grandparents Raising Grandchildren: A Practical GuideYou thought your parenting years were behind you. Now there are school runs and bedtimes again. A practical guide for grandparents raising grandchildren: the child's feelings, your own, and where to find support.
- Blended Family Tips: When Your Kids and My Kids Share a TableTwo families, one kitchen, and a lot of feelings. Small rituals and agreements that help a blended family grow slowly into a home, without forcing anyone to love anyone on day one.
- The Role of Aunts and Uncles in a Child's LifeThe aunt who listens, the uncle who teaches, the cousins who feel like siblings. How the wider family can support a child and a tired parent, and what to say, and avoid, when relatives help or interfere.
- Siblings of a Child With Extra Needs: The Quiet SiblingOne child needs therapy, appointments, constant care. The other learns to wait. What the quiet sibling may be carrying, and how parents can make sure they are seen too.
- Moving House With Children: Helping Kids at Every AgeNew town, new school, new bedroom, boxes everywhere. Age by age, what children may feel about moving house, and how parents can help them leave well and arrive well.
- How to Talk to Kids About Money When Money Is Tight"Why can't we buy it?" "Are we poor?" Questions parents ask about talking to children about money, especially when money is tight, and how to be honest without handing children an adult's fear.
- Chores for Kids by Age: Sharing Housework Without a FightYou ask, they groan, you end up doing it yourself. A checklist and family agreement for sharing housework with children by age, so the load is lighter and nobody has to nag all week.
- Sandwich Generation: Caring for an Ill Parent and Your KidsHospital visits in the afternoon, homework in the evening, worry all night. A letter to the parent caught between an ill mother or father and their own children, about guilt, limits and asking for help.
- Helping a Child Through Grief: Age by AgeA grandparent, a parent, a sibling, a friend. Age by age, how children may understand death and grief, what to say, and how a grieving parent can support a grieving child.
- When Your Parents Criticise Your Parenting: What to Say"In my day, we never..." "You're too soft with him." When grandparents or in-laws interfere in how you raise your children: what to say, who should say it, and how to keep the peace without giving up your role.
- Childhood Memories That Last: How What Children See Shapes ThemA word from a father, a look between parents, a fight between brothers, a scene in the street. Why some moments stay with children for years, sometimes for life, and how a parent can help them carry what they saw.
- Family Meals: Simple Rituals to Connect Around the TableThe table is where a family sees itself every day. Small rituals for family meals that build connection, even on busy nights, with toddlers, with teenagers, with one parent or two.
- Family Rules: Which Rules Can Bend and Which Never DoToo many rules, and nobody follows them. Too few, and the house feels unsafe. A checklist for sorting your family's rules into the few that never bend and the many that can, and agreeing them together.
- How to Change One Family Habit in Four WeeksFamilies rarely change all at once. A four-week experiment for changing one thing in your home: choosing it, trying it, noticing what happens, and deciding together what to keep.
- Sibling Bullying: The Moments That Last Into Adulthood"You were always the favourite." "You ruined everything." A word from a brother, a cruel game, a parent who didn't step in. A reflective essay on sibling moments that stay for decades, and how parents can protect children now.
- What to Do When Your Child Sees Something ScaryA fight in the street, an accident, a man shouting at a woman, something on a screen. A practical guide for parents when a child has seen something frightening: what to say, what to watch for, and when to get help.
- Adult Sibling Rivalry: Old Family Roles That Come BackYou're forty, with children of your own. But at your parents' table you're suddenly "the baby", "the responsible one", "the difficult one" again. A letter about adult siblings, old roles, and what your children see.
- Family Screen Time Rules, Including Parents' PhonesWe ask children to put down their tablets while we scroll our own phones. Questions parents ask about screens for the whole family, including the adults, and how to make a family media plan everyone can live with.
- When Grandparents Have a Favourite GrandchildOne grandchild gets the gifts, the praise and the attention, and another notices. How to raise favouritism with grandparents without a family war, and what to say to the child who feels left out.