In this episode, I talk with Meaghan Jackson, The Gentle Parenting Coach, about how to help children manage their feelings and learn about empathy. As parents with dogs, this is particularly helpful, because we all need strategies so we don’t lose our cool (or our tempers). We can learn to explore the “why” of our feelings – in both our kids and our dogs, before we react and try to “solve” what we may perceive to be problems.
In this episode…
- Before reacting to our child or dog’s feelings, ask WHY they are having those feelings in the first place.
- By using a “Feelings Wall” we can improve communication with our kids about how we or our dogs are feeling
- Lots of parenting is like sportscasting – narrating what we see is happening and helping our children to understand it. This is especially useful when helping kids navigate their feelings or learning to understand their dog’s body language.
- STOP: Stop, Take a breath or pause, Observe your or others’ feelings without judgment, Plan before moving forward
- Try these positive coping strategies when your kids are calm, so it’s not new when they are having a meltdown:
- Physical activities, such as using a fidget toy, using play dough, gross motor skills such as running swinging and processing
- Relaxing skills such as massage, yoga or listening to music
- Distraction skills such as lego, puzzles, baking, snuggling or talking to a friend
- Processing instead of avoiding problems, such as coloring, matching music to your mood, make a poster
- Dog Smart Card Game – a fun game that helps kids to practice recognizing dog body language
About Meaghan
Meaghan Jackson is a gentle parenting coach. She has taken her passion for bringing peaceful calm to family life and pairs that with her background in education to help parents become more confident and well equipped. As a successful business owner and entrepreneur, Meaghan understands the difficulties that many parents go through trying to juggle it all. Her family struggles and transformation is what led Meaghan to become a parenting coach because she desires for others to rediscover the joy in parenting.
Where to find The Gentle Parenting Coach
- Club House: @gentleparent
- Website
- The Parenting Coach Podcast
Ask Question
If you’ve got a question about your kids and dogs, go to www.speakpipe.com/PoochParenting and record it there just like a voicemail. And I will include it in a future episode.
