FIFO/DIDO Dads: Preparing to go away

In a recent study around Western Australian FIFO workers, children were found to get anxious when their dads were away. The study found 43.1 per cent of kids felt nervous or anxious when the FIFO parent returns to work, 45.6 per cent worry about the FIFO parent’s safety at work. Working away regularly can be […]

How to teach your child about boundaries

Boundaries in healthy relationships are just like boundaries on a sports field or a court. It’s like setting a line that you don’t want someone to cross in the way they treat you. Boundaries work both ways and need to be respected by both parties. The saying “treat others how you would like to the […]

Explaining bullying to younger children

Bullying comes in different forms, like teasing, name-calling, spreading mean rumors, making threats, or even physical aggression. It can also happen online, known as cyberbullying. What might seem like harmless teasing to one child could actually feel like intimidation to another. It’s important to understand that the effects of bullying can vary from person to […]

Navigating teenage friendships

Teenage friendships are different from those in their younger years. They become more intricate, with closer bonds built on trust. Transitioning to secondary school brings challenges in maintaining and changing friendships. It takes time for teenagers to find peers they truly connect with and form healthy, close relationships with going forward. As teenagers explore their […]

How to support your child’s social wellbeing

The importance of supporting child social well-being, particularly in the context of making friends, cannot be overstated. How you teach your children to socialise and relate to others will impact how they build relationships and friendships with others. As social creatures, human beings thrive on connections, a sense of belonging, and nurturing relationships. Enhancing your […]

Your physical activity and wellbeing as a dad

We know finding time for a solid amount of physical activity can be challenging, let alone when you have kids and a family. Depending on whether you have built the habit from a young age, might impact your momentum to keep it going. We want to remind you of the importance of building healthy habits […]

Negotiating agreements with kids

As our children get older and demonstrate they can be trusted to follow the rules, we can involve them in negotiating agreements to give them more responsibility for their own behaviours.  For example, they might negotiate an agreement with you as to when they would do their chores or how much screen time they can […]

Self-discipline for older children

As children grow and come into their teenage years, the process of setting boundaries evolves. Parenting a teenager requires a delicate balance between giving them enough guidance and boundaries to ensure they learn to make healthy choices while giving them the freedom to have-a-go on their own.  Also, telling a child that you trust them […]

Tips for positive discipline

Discipline is the process of teaching our children how to develop skills to manage their own behaviour by teaching them what behaviour is acceptable and what is not acceptable. Positive discipline focusses on teaching and rewarding positive behaviours and supporting our children to change negative behaviours and this helps our children to follow rules at home, at […]

Open conversations with teenagers

As children move towards the teenage years they may appear to not want to talk as much with you and may be preoccupied with their peers. This does not mean they don’t want to talk to you at all. Nor does it mean they have nothing to say. It is important for you to not […]

Setting boundaries and agreements with teens

Sometimes the words ‘rules’ and ‘discipline’ can automatically cause friction between parents and teenagers. A useful tip is to consider changing your approach to how the rules are created. This helps to establish a sense that you are responding to the changing needs of your teenager, so they don’t feel you are still treating them […]

Staying connected as a family during the teen years

Many parents also say they worry that when their children become teenagers, they won’t want to spend as much time with the family as they did when they were younger. “I knew it had begun when my son said ‘Just drop me off round the corner from school, I don’t want anyone to see you […]