My best parenting is on the school run

Is the school run the best place to educate your children on life?

I have to say, I think so. Once all the hassle is out the way and we are in the car, the conversations we have are amazing and I think I parent most effectively when locked with my child in a confined place, with no means for escape.

The other morning Freya was telling me how tired she was and she was hoping that the big coffee in the road mug that she had in her hands would help her through the day. I asked her if she had used my coffee to make it, which she had, so I then when on to inform her that is was actually decaffinated so it would give her no benefit at all in that department.

This led her to ask what caffeine is, which led me to explain about stimulants and depressants and what they do to you. She listened intently and then went through every drug she knew, trying to figure out where they would fit.

The conversation then went on to legal and illegal drugs and I told her the truth about the amount of alcohol and nicotine deaths there were in a year, which she found quite shocking. She then asked the obvious question of why they were legal, which started a whole debate about consumerism and ended with her wanting to write a letter to Gordon Brown!

It was maybe one of the most productive conversations that I have had with her and goes to show me that if we are prepared to talk openly and frankly, to give information without judgement and allow for the difficult questions, we can have amazing conversations.

What about you on the school run, are you using the time wisely?

Neew help them why not try our family communication cards .

Communicating with your Teenager

How to communicate with your teenager

Here are some great podcasts I have just found that I did ages ago.

4 great audios on communicating with your teenager

Families

Get your family on the right track.

A intensive intervention designed to ease conflict and frustration.

Conflict within any family is inevitable, but for some it is far more prolonged and frustrating than others. Starting with small arguments about putting a school bag away it can escalate quickly to a disjointed relationship communication meltdown and fragmented families. When the relationships have broken down the problems become more challenging to fix.

The parents begin to feel angry, frustrated and out of control.

The teen begins to feel misunderstood and isolated.

Everyone begins to feel like a failure and things spiral downhill.

Some parents, in a effort to gain control, start issuing punishments or bribes/rewards to get their child to “behave” and while it may work once, the teen will soon catch on and not play ball. The parents will punish harder and the teen will grow further and further away from them .

Hi, I’m Sarah Newton, an expert in family conflict and proud of it. As a practical, down-to-earth girl I want results for you and what I have found, over 10 years of working with families, is that my police background is a real advantage. I can very quickly get to the real point, evaluate the evidence and come up with a solution. I can do that while remaining calm and unfazed. Just what you need when you are feeling as if everything is too much.

If you are sick of all the fighting, arguing and worry, then we may just have a solution for you.

Get yourself and the situation back under control and take a look at our family peacemaking programmes.

Get some peach of mind and harmony back into your home.

The biggest test for parents is not how they parent, but how the respond to disorder and unpredictability.

Contact us ( 07921 166998 sarah@genyguide.com) to get your child on track to success.

Dig into my Expertise

I am determined to make this a no sales pitch zone as I know how totally annoying it can be, however I realise that you want to know that I know what I am doing and if it works, so read  some testimonials from real clients and what they said about working with me. Raves from Parents, Raves from Teens. Read more about me and my experience

Products

Get your Clients Talking

Working with Lisa Warner from Fink Cards, Sarah brings you a pack of controversial cards that are guaranteed to get you and your teen talking.

Communication is the number one way to keep your teenager happy and healthy. Talking to your teen will open doors for both of you and strengthen your relationship. Working with TV star, author and top teen coach Sarah Newton, Fink™ brings you a controversial pack of questions, headlines, statistics and statements that are guaranteed to get you and your teen talking!

Topics include: Sex and Relationships, Health & Emotions, Citizenship, Drugs and Substances and Education.

Buy now only £6.99

“Thank you so much for these they arrived today. They are fantastic,very different to the family edition which is what is needed. Some very controversial and hard hitting topics which will enable students and young people to open up and feel more comfortable talking to their elders whether it be their teachers or parents. It will also enable parents to start up these often tricky conversations. Its nice that it is divided up into the different topics so you can pick and choose from ones you are more or less comfortable discussing. This also enables you to pitch the level at the appropriate teenage group.”

S West – Teacher

Oathall Community College

Communicating with your Children

How to communicate with your children in a way that will not harm the relationship

This is an article I wrote a while ago on using restorative justice techniques in communication. It is how I believe we should all be communicating with our children so I thought I would share it with you. It was such a pleasure to write this for the Canada Correctional Service and use my police background in a new way.

Fostering a Restorative Worldview through Restorative Communication

Our world is a very challenging place to live at the moment; we all appear to be in competition with each other, blaming and not taking responsibility for our behaviour. We all want a quick-fix solution to a problem without putting much effort in ourselves. Unfortunately, people just do not work that way and to move the world towards a more restorative than harmful view, we must, I believe, change the very essence of human nature – the way we communicate.

So much of our modern day communication is based upon stating what we want and getting that. There seems to be little time for connection and real purpose. In fact, the word communication now seems to mean, “Let me tell you what I think!”

Read more communicating with your child