Photography: Loren Stow The words we choose to use when communicating with our loved ones have a profound impact on them and the atmosphere in your home. But sometimes it is difficult to know the ‘best’ way to phrase something, or how to give constructive criticism without hurting those we love. When it comes to […]
03
Sep
Sep
I believe that parents instinctively know that touch is not only soothing for their children, but that it also communicates love on a profound level. A caress of the cheek, a long and deep-felt hug, or rubbing a scraped knee – certain kinds of touch tell your child that they are loved and secure. […]
Photography: Loren Stow Increase the quality of your interactions with your child and the amount you talk to you child by simply turning off that TV that is on in the background. Many studies have been done on the effects that watching TV has on children’s health and development, but how does having the TV […]
Sometimes life is ironic! In light of our post on turning the television off… we’re giving you news to turn it on! Lizette has been invited to appear on Great Expectations – a popular parenting programmeme on e-tv, today at 11:30am. The topic is all about toddlers… Take a look if you’ve got a chance! […]
28
Aug
Aug
You know it’s important to give your baby the names for things (like dog, cat, bath, water, ball etc), and that when they reach toddler-hood they literally demand the names for things… but you’re not to sure why this is so important and how much of a difference it can make to your child’s development. […]
24
Aug
Aug
Living in the Moment Because of the way their brains are wired, babies and young children live from moment to moment and consequently have little concern for what’s going to happen later or what happened earlier. For them it’s all about now. As adults, living in the moment can be very difficult to achieve… in fact there are entire philosophies […]
20
Aug
Aug
There is a saying that goes ‘children are like little sponges, sucking up everything around them’, and in fact, I’ve read that young children love learning so much that they’d actually rather learn than eat. As parents we know that it’s our role to teach our babies and children everything they need to know, and […]
18
Aug
Aug
Toys Toys Everywhere When my son was just a baby, I often found myself standing in a toy store once a month (at least) looking at the array of colourful, musical, soft and feely, bright and plastic, big, small, complicated and alluring toys… whew! And I thought “which one do I get?” I always went […]
Brain Development, Learning, Love, Milestones
Fertile Ground – how your baby’s brain grows and develops
13
Aug
Aug
In the spirit of the Lizette’s years of searching and gaining knowledge, we thought it would be apt to start our blog off with a post on how your baby’s brain is wired. To understand this could change the way you view your role as parent forever. In fact, it is only in recent years […]
Because this whole “Blog-Experience” is new and daunting to many, we thought we would cover some questions you may have. Q: What is this blog about?A: Go to our Welcoming Post, which will explain the reason for the creation of this platform. Q: How do I become a follower?A: 1) You need to set up […]
Welcome to the Practically Speaking Blog, a place where we want parents to come to share, connect and learn more about their children by understanding their child’s inner world. Haven’t you often wished you could find out what your child was thinking, why they do certain things or refuse to do others? Well, we kind […]