I'm a communication strategist, but they didn't teach infant and toddler-speak in my graduate courses. It is important to us to understand our child's emotional needs and Lily's class offered amazing insight. It is one of the best things we've done for our family.
-Desa, mother of Lilly (3 years old) It is my passion to help parents enhance their relationships with their children. What is most important for children is to have that one nurturing, loving person that they can truly be themselves around, love, rely on, and feel safe with - no matter what. Building that foundation is so crucial to help our children develop into confident, emotionally healthy and happy adults.
Also, when parents work to make the relationship the first priority, they find that they have more fun in parenting. They dont sweat small stuff as much, respect their children's needs more and can let go of the power struggles that come from a "power over" stance. One strategy to enhance relationships is to work to look beyond behavior to understand that all behavior is communication. What messages are our children giving us with their behavior?
Understanding child development and brain development can help us have realistic expectations of our children's ability to verbalize their needs. Once we let go of unrealistic expectations and can look at what behavior is communicating, we can then address the communication instead of the behavior.