Perfectly Practical Parenting with Sue Atkins – PP152

We welcome Parenting Expert, Sue Atkins, onto the podcast. It’s the first time we have spoken to a parenting specialist and it was a fascinating interview with Sue, who regularly appears on radio and TV – even sharing the sofa with Piers Morgan! Sue is a Parenting Expert, Writer, Speaker, Broadcaster, Parenting Coach and Mum as well as the author of the Amazon best selling books “Parenting Made Easy – How to Raise Happy Children” & ‘Raising Happy Children for Dummies’ one in the famous black and yellow series as well as the author of the highly acclaimed Parenting Made Easy MP3s and CDs and Workbooks and The Secrets To Well Behaved Kids App. She  regularly appears on the flagship award winning “This Morning” Show on ITV, BBC Breakfast television, SKY TV, BBC local and national radio. Is there a right way to parent or is it enough to be the best we can be? Sue believes we can only be the best we can be with the resources we have at the time and a lot of parents feel guilty about not knowing something but all we have as a reference, usually, is how our parents did it. You can choose to do the same or choose to avoid doing the same as they did. “The best thing to do is to do your best, relax but be positive…Parenting isn’t a competitive sport.” Sue points out that not many parents are self-aware – they act in the moment rather than taking time to ponder what the best actions are. Parents need to work and talk together to develop a plan of how they are going to bring up their children – and be consistent. Does smacking have any place in parenting? Sue believes strongly that smacking should not have any place in parenting. Some people say that ‘it didn’t do them any harm’ but if adults hit adults, it’s called assault. Why is it seen as OK to hit children? Sue also talks about being mindful of our triggers – and those of our children – are we tired? Is our behaviour affected? Do we lack restraint because of how we feel? Sue advocates all parents ensure they create ‘me time’ so that they can relax and come back to parenting with a sense of humour and a sense of balance. Listen to Sue’s own podcast – The Sue Atkins Parenting Show Visit Sue’s website – TheSueAtkins.com (Creative Commons Sound clip by Johnny Pixel Productions, Inc. – http://www.johnny-pixel.com/ http://www.freesound.org/people/jppi_Stu/)