Parenting Advice Blog
Bethan’s Weekly Parenting Advice blog where she answers your parenting problems.
If you’d like Bethan to answer your parenting problem, email her at hello@bethanoriordan.com
I find my mother-in-law overbearing. What can I do?
You don’t need to parent the way your mother-in-law expects in order to be a great mum. Doesn’t everyone have an opinion on how someone ‘should’ parent? I remember when I had my third baby, we told very few people for all the reasons you can imagine! I needed time to...
How to boost a child’s confidence
There’s a few simple steps that you can take to increase your child’s confidence, so let’s break it down into three simple areas to support them. But before we do that, let’s take a moment to understand what lacking in confidence really is. I meet...
How to avoid an emotionally draining Christmas
The festive period is a time when families come together, or not come together, which means that we are in relationships in a way that can be difficult. Differences can be highlighted, old inner child wounds re-ignited and this can make Christmas feel like hard...
How can I help my child regulate their emotions when I’m not around?
This is probably ( read definitely) one of my favourite parenting questions to answer. Children cannot regulate their emotions. They do not have the capacity, brain development or life experience to be able to regulate what they feel and think. However, all is not...
How can I embrace mindfulness and find self-awareness as a parent?
The ability to hold ourselves at arm’s length and reflect on who we are is everything in parenting. I often say that parenting isn’t about children; it’s about parents and how they respond, rather than react, to their children’s developing emotions. Being aware of...
How can I parent my teen when they have no respect for me or anything I say?
The first word that comes to mind is respect, though not in the direction you may suspect. You must show your teenager respect. It’s so easy to get into a ding dong with pre-teens (and teens) and create rifts in relationships that, in my therapeutic experience, only...
To be the parent you want to be it is possible to overcome childhood trauma, but it’s a path best not walked alone
Q: How can I unlearn the ways of my upbringing and acknowledge my childhood trauma? I want to assure you that it is possible to unlearn the ways of your upbringing. However, it requires you to acknowledge your childhood trauma with a psychotherapist. I see the word...
How do I parent my teen when they have no respect for what I say?
The first word that comes to mind is respect, though not in the direction you may suspect. You must show your teenager respect. It’s so easy to get into a ding dong with pre-teens (and teens) and create rifts in relationships that, in my therapeutic experience, only...
Lead your child by example – How to ease the guilt of losing your cool in two easy steps
Isn’t parenting guilt a big, heavy dark emotion? Did you know that guilt is our in-built mechanism for doing no harm? It’s like a reflex that comes on board without you ever having invited it to show up. What I am saying is that guilt isn’t your fault. Yes, it is...