On today’s episode meet Parent Coach and Speaker, Justine Lamont from Good to Great Parenting gtgparenting.co.nz
This remarkable woman helps you have a great relationship with your children. Have I got your attention? Particularly after the year parents have had this year!
Justine works with families individually and gives skills to steer their child back to balance. And that balance can help your child develop in the best environment possible. Sounds great..so how do we do that? Listen in here:
Justine switched her career from law to parent coaching as a result of being desperate and curious when some advice she was given didn’t resonate with her parenting style.
So many parents are so tough on themselves and judge their ability as parents based on their children's behaviour. In reality we need skills to help us deal with many situations as we can too often assume parenting should come naturally.
Justine comes in and starts with what is already going well, not with what is not working. The key with children is not being too critical so they feel supported. When everything is stressed we can’t see what’s going well.
Add in a busy household, parents that are not only working from home but also schooling from home, as we have recently had, add in personalities all trying to get what they want, persistently, and you have a recipe for major stress. Families that are already stressed and stretched are in reaction mode.
All we want is for our children to listen to us! So you can guarantee the opposite happens. Reacting to children’s behaviour can escalate an already stretched household.
Kids naturally go into a stressed based response (survival mode), and the parents’ role is learning to respond with the appropriate behaviour, rather than react. Don’t forget children’s brains are not fully formed until they are in their early to mid 20’s yet we assume they have all the reasoning skills we have.
Justine makes it clear that the parent is the expert on their own children, not her. "I come in to give skills, and not only support the parent, but be an advocate of the child.”
She creates a ‘bigger window of tolerance’, because in life tough things come our way all the time. So what can we be doing now to be prepared for when the unexpected does happen?
Does she love what she does? “I get goosebumps when parents tell me stories about what has changed after I’ve been there”.
You can get in contact with Justine at www.gtgparenting.co.nz or email justine@gtgparenting.co.nz