Little Billies

The BIG Christmas Wish List

2010-10-21T21:14:00.000-07:00

It is beginning to feel a lot like Christmas already!

The Little Billies here at HQ already have a list going ready for Santa. To be honest, Santa has found it hard to keep up with the ever changing list, plus that list is getting awfully BIG! Poor Santa, hope he gets a Christmas Bonus :)

In order to help Santa keep track of the list, and also to keep a limit to the length of the list, we have come up with a magnetic, personalised Christmas Wish List.

The Christmas Wish Lists are available in 4 different designs.

Fairy
Elf
Reindeer
Angel

The wish lists are full A5 sized magnets and finished in a dry-erase vinyl. Your Little Billies will be able to keep up dating their Wish List for Santa right up to Christmas Eve.... yikes, better give an earlier cut off time for poor old Santa!

Lunch Punch

2010-10-14T01:08:00.000-07:00

The Little Billies and I have always had a bit of fun making funny shaped sandwiches. We use to use cookie cutters to make dog, doll, letters, balls etc etc etc....

Then one day I stumbled upon Lunch Punch at Monkey Caboose and immediately ordered some!

I LOVE LOVE these lunch punches! They are the perfect size for sandwiches, which minimises the waste (from our previous method). Now the only part of the bread that is going in the bin is the crust, which they didn't eat anyway (much to my frustration!). The puzzle shaped ones are definitely my favourite though, for a bit of game fun before lunch (should I be encouraging the kids to play with their food?).

We have also had a bit of fun with eggs in toast. Are you familiar with the concept? Cut a circle out of the centre of a piece of toast, pop it in the fry pan, cook one side, flip and then pop an egg in the cut out. There you have it, egg in toast! Billy Girl had a dog egg in toast on the weekend and it was such a hit she asked for a second one!

If you are looking to add a bit of fun to the ordinary sandwich, give it a go, your Little Billlies will love it!!

Do you have any other great gadgets for spicing up lunches?

Meaningful chats with the kids

2010-10-12T00:33:00.000-07:00

The average parent spends 38.5 minutes per week in

meaningful conversation with their children.

(A.C. Nielsen Co.)

I have been really challenged by this. Now, I don't know whether this is actually true at Little Billies HQ. I know my kids talk AT me for most of the time that they are awake.... however whether it is meaningful.... well???

Each night before the kids get tucked into bed, we do a devotional time, prayers and a brief chat, however I found as the kids got too tired at the end of the day that the brief chat time would get skipped. That chat time use to give me some great insights into my Little Billies lives. They loved this chat time and often used it as a stall tactic to avoid saying goodnight!

This week, after reading this fact about meaningful conversation I decided to make this a priority.

At dinner time we now ask everyone at the table three questions.....

What was your favourite part of the day?
Did you have any sad moments today?
Did you get a chance to do something kind for someone else today?

The conversations we have had from these three questions has been amazing and given us some really great insights into our kids lives.

Ok, I agree the conversations are contrived at the moment, but my hope is that this becomes the norm. That when you come to dinner at our house, it is just part of the family culture. I love that all of us are sharing! They even remember to ask mum and dad for their answers!!

I love the care and concern they are showing for each other. They are celebrating triumphs together and being empathetic over the not so good stuff.

Billy Boy was very excited to share today, that his favourite part of the day was 'making friends with Thomas', this was a boy that he had previously been tormented by. The most beautiful part of this is that he initiated the friendship with Thomas, and he was so excited to have played with him all day. Billy Boy now believes he can turn anyone into a friend, and I hope it remains true for a long time for him and his precious heart.

So in the future, my hope is that this small practice over a family meal will foster a close family that will ensure that no barriers to communication are put up.

Do you actively try to engage in meaningful conversations with your kids or is this already happening for you? Would love to know how you get the conversations rolling!!

Spring has Sprung!

2010-09-21T17:54:00.001-07:00

Spring has definitely sprung here at Little Billies. We have been enjoying the beautiful warm days out in the garden and have already snuck in a few good Aussie BBQs!

We are all feeling slightly more motiviated and a spring clean on the house is already happening.

I want to also challenge you about a Spring Clean of your parenting. Maybe there are a few things that aren't quite working for you at the moment. Is there a particular behaviour issue that you can't seem to tame? Or perhaps there is a part of your routine that just plain old isn't working! Brushing your teeth at night time is always an interesting experience for us here.

So while the motivation starts to increase in your home in this beautiful Aussie spring weather, let me encourage you, to make a list of a few things that aren't quite working at home with your children and begin a spring clean. Think outside the box about overcoming the issues. Search the net for a bit of help in creativity, there are plenty of resources out there!

Maybe you could even try one of Little Billies charts for kids?

There is no better time to start than NOW!

LABELLED

2010-09-13T00:01:00.000-07:00

Yes, LABELLED, and I did mean to type it in caps!

One of our kids have been labelled. It was something that we have tried to avoid. We wanted our child to be able to live their life without being able to hide behind a label or live up to the expectation a label could bring.

From early on in our child's life, we believed that a label might come their way. We had naively thought, that if we don't get the child assessed that we could avoid the label. Ummm, no.

Our child is who they are, regardless of the label. People can see the flaws and the potential of our child without knowing the label. Just because we, the parents, tried to stop the label coming, didn't mean it was hidden from others!

Our child's teacher has LABELLED our child. The teacher recently pulled me aside to have a conversation about it, and then sent me to the Head of School to chat about it. I was then asked to go and have our child assessed.

I will openly admit.... I have really wrestled with this whole thing. I never wanted my child to be labelled. I think once someone is labelled people have preconceived ideas of what that label means and whether or not they are ignorant or knowledgeable there is still an expectation of what it will mean. We all adjust how we interact or treat differently LABELLED people, whether it be subconsciously or consciously. I know I have done, whether it be rightly or wrongly. I guess that is why I have tried to avoid a label on my child.

The reality is however, in family and social circles I have already unwittingly helped to attach this label to my child. In just sharing the battles and triumphs of parenting, I have revealed WHO my child is and the LABEL that comes with that. In simply sharing our lives together we become aware of the labels that should be attached to the people in our circles. Whether the label is from a professional or a personal observation is irrelevant in my opinion. The label still exists with the pre-conceptions.

So as I have begun to process the label that is attached to my child it has given me a greater awareness of all the labels. It has made my heart ache for mothers who have their children labelled. Whether the label is ADD, ADHD, Aspergers, Autism, Average, Overweight, Gifted, Talented..... whatever the label is, I think it comes with strings. That as soon as that label is slapped across the head of a child the child is then treated differently, differently in how we think we should treat them, given their label of course.

The lesson I have learnt in this, is that we are all labelled. That regardless of the label, that child is full of potential, still has a whole life ahead of them with a course not yet mapped out. They are still have weaknesses and vulnerabilities.... we need to love them, for who they are and where they are in it!

Is your child labelled? Do you have any tips with how to help others relate to your 'labelled' kid?

Our friend 'Leggy' the frog

2010-09-10T04:26:00.001-07:00

We have a frog! We didn't buy it and it certainly wouldn't have been my choice in pet!

The frog has been living in a storage box that houses the kids bikes, in the backyard. He has been living there for over a year now.

Every now and then we find him in odd places around the backyard, but he always seems to go back to the storage box....

My little billie was very game last week and for the first time, picked up the frog and proceeded to name him 'Leggy'.

Leggy then proceeded to have a tour of our backyard and sat so tamely on little billies hands for the tour. He even weed in little billies hand, to which created squeals, initially of surprise and eventually delight.... only little boys could find delight in that, surely!

Miss Little Billie is desperate to have a hold of 'Leggy' but just like me, she just isn't game enough, yet.

I have googled trying to find out what type of frog it is. I haven't found out what it is, but I do feel fairly safe to rule out that it is a toad at least! LOL.

So it makes me think.... family pets. Do you have a family pet? What kind of pet do you recommend and how old were your little billies when you introduced them?

Kids Jobs / Chores

2010-08-30T03:35:00.000-07:00

For children, a job can be one of the prime keys to the magical world of adults, one that lets them take on grown-up tasks and responsibilities while learning grown-up skills.

Raising Children Network.

I have a 5 year old (or at least will next week) and a 3 year old. I want to start teaching them important life skills, through jobs around home. I want to make them feel valued members of the family, through their contribution to the family. Plus the fact that they are still young enough to be excited about being given 'jobs' to do, especially when pitched the right way.

We have started a little mantra at our house 'a family who works together, plays together'. I started this before we had any set jobs. I wanted my kids to understand the importance of pulling together as a family before they felt the 'responsibility' of the jobs.

A few months ago I introduced laundry, and will do a post about that another time...

Last week I introduced cleaning toilets. There are three toilets in our house. So we have now designated toilets to clean, we all do it at the same time because.... 'a family who works together, plays together'.

I have also bought my kids the safest looking vegetable peelers I could find, so that they can peel the carrots and potatoes for me while keeping fingers in tact!

Now I must admit I did stop and have second thoughts.... surely my kids are too young for me to be teaching them these jobs???

However, tonight Christie from Childhood 101 put a link up on her facebook page. I am now convinced that my kids are not too young. It is important, no it is my parental duty to teach them these life skills. The age of starting is debatable, however I think as long as the expectation of the job is kept age appropriate there is no harm in teaching them now.

How old are your kids? Do they already have responsibilities in your home to complete jobs / chores?

A little blemish or black spot?

2010-08-09T00:01:00.000-07:00

WARNING: for clean and tidy people, please do not judge me - I am embarassed about my black spot!!

See that black dot next to my toothbrush? Well, I have learnt to live around it. It has been on my wall next to my toothbrush for at least 12 months. For some reason everytime I clean the bathroom cleaning off that black spot hasn't happened. I just haven't made the time or forgotten about it.

I have learnt to adjust to that black spot. I put my toothbrush in the toothbrush holder in a particular angle to ensure that after brushing my teeth I avoid my toothbrush making contact with it.

It doesn't bother me, I have learnt to live with it. Except that if anyone ever came into my bathroom and saw it I would be embarassed! The reality however, is that life would be easier with it gone. If I just remembered to clean it, have the right tool (or approach), I could clean that little stain and then it wouldn't matter how I put my toothbrush into that holder EACH and EVERY time I brush my teeth.

As I consider that black spot that I have adjusted to and learnt to live around I think it can be a good demonstration of how sometimes as parents we adjust to our little billies to avoid their black spots!

One classic black spot in our house is the colour of bowl, plate, cup, knife and fork etc etc. The way to work around the black spot is easy, make sure that I always give pink to Miss Billie and Blue to Master Billie. But sometimes the RIGHT colours dinnerware is in the dishwasher!! Plus the fact that me, Big Billie didn't want to have to go through the cupboards and find the right thing EACH and EVERY time just to avoid the confrontation, tears and crying that would occur in 'you gave me the wrong coloured bowl..... I wanted the pink bowl!!' and then the odd times when they decide they need to mix it up and low and behold they want the green and orange bowls and I am not a mind reader!!!

I did however, let the black spot grow. Initially I did think what harm could it really be in giving their meals on their favourite colours? Well, it was ok until one day I went to a friends house and both of my kids got really upset and also tantrum like when they did not receive the RIGHT COLOUR CUP! I know it is horrifying isn't it??? Well, it was. Both children were a little bit out of control over the whole situation and it was then that I realised that this black spot, although was ok at home, was not cool when we were out and about. That any black spot that I do not teach my children about at home will get bigger and rear it's ugly head when I least expect it and publically!

So, back to my toothbrush black spot. I decided it was time to get rid of it. I thought it would be simple and would kick myself that I hadn't gotten rid of it sooner. I also thought that once removed there would be no evidence that it had been there before..... well I was a little shocked!

I should have dealt with that black spot sooner. Regardless of my scrubbing that black spot is still there. Yes it is somewhat smaller, but it will come back, I couldn't remove all traces! I let it grow and now, I will see it rear its ugly head time and time again.

Oh yes, the coloured bowls and things.... I did decide to deal with that too! I decided to teach my kids to have a 'good attitude*' about what they were given, in this instance (at least). I taught them to be thankful that they had plates and bowls and spoons, etc. I also gave them language. I taught them over time, when they were disappointed with what they got to say 'thank you, I didn't want the pink bowl, but that is ok, may I have the pink bowl next time?'.

I wanted to teach my kids to embrace and understand that they will not always getting want they want. I wanted them to know that sometimes with the right attitude, manners and words that there is a hope that next time it will be right. I didn't want them, to not be able to express their desires. I think it is important to do that. However, there is a right way and a wrong way of doing that.

Just like my toothbrush, I did leave it too long. There is a little stain left behind. If I am not careful it will grow again. As soon as I am aware now of that black spot returning I make sure I give them the wrong colour, as it provides me a teaching moment and to remove a little stain from my kids!

Do you know of a little black spot in your house that needs dealing with? I would love to hear about it and maybe how you plan to tackle it!

A black spot shared is a black spot halved! LOL

ps: *'good attitude' is a magnet reward in the Stage 2 set of magnets that are included with our reward charts.

What do you recommend for my 7 year old?

2010-07-13T07:58:00.000-07:00

While we answer customer enquiries, we are also adding them to the blog (every now and then) in that it hope it might help some other parents out there!

We recently received this email:

I am looking to order some of your reward charts, but am a bit overwhelmed by all the choice and what may be suitable J

The basic issues I want to tackle with my 7 yr old are:

I guess basic morning and evening routines, they are starting to get a challenge with being told 20 million times

Keeping room clean

Basic behaviour - yelling, arguing with me all of that stuff.

I think he is also at stage where he needs pocket money for say keeping his room clean, putting clothes in wash basket, hanging towels the simple stuff.

This is our response:

We can recommend two products to you based on what you have outlined. They are the Morning & Bedtime Routine and the Reward Chart (5+).

The Morning & Bedtime Routine will help in the challenge of you being a permanent voice recording of the tasks that need to get done both before school and before bed. This chart will provide your child with all the cues (or expectations) of what needs to be done, prior to your son being able to have free time and/or a reward magnet to go on his reward chart, to earn pocket money. When setting up the routine, it is important to go through the process with your child the first few times. Clearly demonstrate the expectation for each task. Then at your child's completion of the morning and bedtime routines if the expectation is not met, they understand why they have not received a reward magnet. The morning and bedtime routine chart includes magnets that colourfully and visually depict the things you have outlined above in keeping his room clean, hanging towels up, putting clothes away as well as things like pack and unpacking lunch boxes and bags, etc.

You may also want to consider adding the optional extra set of School magnets, as this will also create a cue for your son on packing his school bag with things like library bags, sport equipment, etc.

The Reward Chart will help you with the basic behaviour issues, as well as rewarding your son for completing his morning and bedtime routines.

The Reward Chart (5+) includes reward magnets for clean room, homework done, obedience, patience, self control and kindness to name a few. With our Reward Charts we recommend to parents that they identify 3 or 4 behaviours to concentrate on at a time. Then spend some time with your child explaining what behaviours you are looking for and describing/role playing/demonstrating on how they could display these behaviours to you. Then as you see your son demonstrate the behaviour, reward him with a magnet for his chart. At the conclusion of the chart (filling up all 10 squares) you can reward him with whatever you wish, however given his age and your email, we would of course suggest pocket money! Once you identify that you son's behaviour is improving in some key areas you can change the reward-magnets around and choose a new area to focus on.

Do you like your children?

2010-07-09T21:56:00.000-07:00

Firstly I would like to say that I love my Little Billies very much! Sometimes so much that it can hurt. I can physically ache at the thought of them being hurt or sick. Now, having said that and so that you know where I am coming from I can write the rest....

I recently sat outside school, waiting for the bell to ring. I sat next to a mum who I like a lot, we have chatted a bit before in the past and I think we are on the same page with many of our approaches. I casually asked her how she was going..... she instantly told me it was tough, that her little one was not sleeping well at night and that just the night before she had laid in bed next to her husband and they had discussed whether it was ok not to like your kids.

I have an friend, who is of simliar age to me. He a little while ago told me about his teen years and how he would often get frustrated with his parents and inform them in no uncertain terms that he did not like them anymore. His parents (much to his annoyance) would reply calmly 'what, and you think we like you?'

Both of these conversations have made the wheels turn as I have pondered these encounters. I have thought about my own childhood and my parents and now about how I parent and my response to my children.

Although I can readily admit I have thought 'I don't like you' about my children, it is not true. The truth is like I said earlier, I love them more than I could have imagined. However, there are parts of them that I don't like. Just like there are parts of me that I don't like. But you know what, we are works in progress. Who really has arrived? No one!

So while I can reflect on not liking (parts of) my children, I can also say the same for me and even my husband, family and friends.

As I grow and learn, sometimes the parts of me that I don't like are magnified, it makes it hard for me to step out of the light of them and I have to face them and make a choice to change. Not easy, but necessary to continually evolve to be who I was destined to be. Just like my children.... they are fresh and new, still in their formative years and still have sooo much learning and shaping of their character. What a privilege that I get to know them warts and all and that I will be part of their journey.

A friend of mind recently posted this comment on facebook, sharing about her 3 year old:

'She brings out the best in me, she brings out the worst in me... She can give me tremendous joy along with causing me extreme exhaustion and frustration... her concept fo time is very different to mine, when I'm in a hurry she likes to take her time, when I want to take my time, she wants it to happen NOW.... most days I put her in bed feeling deflated, defeated and dreading antoher day, but once she's asleep I miss her and an't wait to see her again in the morning....'

What products for a Kindergarten child?

2010-07-06T08:40:00.000-07:00

I get quite a few emails asking for help. Mums in particular wanting to know what products would be suit their child's stage and behavioural needs.

I thought I might share these and my responses, in case it may help you....

So here is a recent email from Vanessa:

My eldest daughter commences Kindergarten next year and I've been looking for a weekly organisational calendar for her, so she can see what's happening, also a daily routine chart to help her organise herself - teeth brushing, homework, packing her school bag, and reward chart so she can start earning pocket money to go into her school banking account.....simple chores like tidying up toys, setting the table and putting her shoes/clothes away.....

Mostly, I wasn't sure which magnet packs I need - she does activities such as swimming, gymnastics and she'll be attending care one or two days after school....

can you help me ?? thank you in advance........

Our response to Vanessa:

Vanessa, what a great time to start this organisational process with your child! With 6 months until the start of a new school, you will be able to teach your child some great organisational skills as well as the specific tasks involved in getting ready in plenty of time to make the transition of those busy school mornings a lot easier!

Firstly, you are interested in the My Week Chart. This chart comes in a range of designs and colours and includes both the Social & School magnet packs. These cover the activities that you have outlined in your email as activities your daughter is already involved in.

The social pack includes:

Sleep over
Gym/movement
Clubs
Mum date
Family visit
Art and craft
Holidays
Church
Birthdays
Library
Dance
Shopping
Grandparents x 2
Music
Dad date
The park
Play date x 2
Playgroup
Family outing
Swimming
Blanks x 2

and the school pack includes:

Library day
Sports
Canteen
Music
Before school care
After school care
Parent helper
Test
Excursion
Sport Carnival
Homework x 2
Assembly
Scripture
Reading Groups
Maths
News day
School day x 5
Blank

The daily routine pack you mentioned, we call the 'Morning & Bedtime Routine', this is a chart that includes 50 magnets that visually depict tasks that are typical for getting reading for the morning or for bedtime.

The morning pack includes the following magnets:

toilet trip
brush teeth
brush hair
sunscreen on
wash face
blank
wash up
pack lunch
breakfast
pack bag
pyjamas off and away
shoes and socks on
get dressed
underwear on
free play
morning job
make bed
up on time
bag in the car
medicine
devotions/story
vitamins
3 x 'ready for the day' magnets that fit in with the My Reward Chart series of products

and the evening pack includes:

bathtime
hang towel
brush teeth
wash face
toilet trip
free play
tidy toys
ready on time
homework
evening job
vitamins
mum/dad time
bed time
devotions/story
medicine
bag away
clothes ready
pyjamas on
clothes away
unpack lunch box
dinner time
wash up
3 x 'ready for bed' magnets that fit in with the My Reward Chart series of products.

Both of these products, the My Week Chart and the Morning & Bedtime Routine chart work very well together. As your child will be able to identify each day from the week chart if there are additional things that she will need to pack in her school bag for school, or for an afternoon activity.

The morning and bedtime routine charts both includes a magnet in each pack for a morning and an evening job, however if you wanted to include specific jobs, there are blank magnets that you could write the specific task on in a whiteboard marker. However, a lot of the simple routine type chores are itemised as individual magnets, like putting clothes away and hanging up towels, etc. There is also a 'reward' magnet for completing both the morning and evening routine chart, which helps this chart to work well with the reward chart, as you have mentioned.

The Reward Chart we would recommend would be the Reward Chart (5+). This includes reward magnets such as clean room, homework done, as well as virtues such as patience, self control and kindness to name a few. As mentioned earlier, this works very well with the Morning & Bedtime Routine chart.

As these three charts are very popular for this age group, we have actually packaged together a 'bundle' that will save you a little bit of money! The School Kids Bundle includes:

My Week Chart
My Morning & Bedtime Routine Chart
My Reward Chart (5+)

I hope this helps, however I am always available by email if you have any questions!

Rollercoastering through life

2010-07-04T05:20:00.000-07:00

Life is always going up and down and around sharp corners and then you can loose the pit of your stomach as you go down that huge hill to then only feel thrown around as you go hit that sharp bend.....

Do you ever feel like this? Do you ever feel that you just get to the top of that hill and think wow, smooth sailing from here and then another hit, that tight corner knocks you out of nowhere....

No matter how far I get in this thing called life, I often get to that hit and I am surprised. Why do I get surprised??. Surely history tells us that this is not a new revelation by any stretch of the imagination that there is always something coming around that next bend.

So, when I want to curl up in the fetal position, hide under the covers and give up, will I?

I sure hope I don't!!! I haven't yet. I have been blessed with a half glass full look on life. When the hit comes I get up (I so want to sing that song right now ... 'when I get knocked down, I get up again, nothing is ever going to keep me down')

I just wanted to encourage you that whatever is going on with your little billie, in your parenting in your role as mum, daughter, sister, friend to rise up and keeping going! Your little billies are watching!

She was a nice girl...

2010-07-01T04:29:00.000-07:00

I love teachable moments!

We were driving through McDonald's Drive Thru (I know bad food, but I do like the coffee). Both kids were in the back. We have talked to the little machine and placed our order and drove up to the next window.

A lovely teen girl, smiled at us through the window, asked us for our money, exchanged in some niceties about the day, gave us our change and told us to move to the next window and have a nice day. It was probably a minute interaction if that!

Miss 3 pipes up from the back, 'oh what a lovely girl'.

I suddenly realised that this was a teachable moment. I asked my kids what was it that made her lovely? Do you think it is nice to be lovely?

As the conversation followed the progression that I was hoping it would I then asked them...'so she was lovely, do you think you are lovely?' and of course they said yes, because the characteristics that they were drawn to in that girl, they could see in themselves!

Had a teachable moment recently? Please share...

An alternative to time out!?!

2010-06-24T03:08:00.000-07:00

My world was a little bit rocked last week when I read this post at Planning With Kids.... it made my head start to spin.... the alternatives to time out?

I started to think. What are the other options, sure there is reasoning, turning a blind eye, bribing and probably a few more. Well today, Planning with Kids did this post about the alternative. Now I have some reading to do. So this post may be a bit premature in putting my thoughts out there, but hey we are all on a journey together right?

I will first admit I do use time out. I do find it quite effective too. We seem to use it most when the kids are tired, they are less able to control themselves which can result in emotional outbursts as well as them being physical in terms of pushing and shoving.

For our household time out is about gaining self control or having some time to reflect on their actions and work out what would have been a better response to a situation. We have found the time away from us, the situation, the sibling to be effective in allowing the kids some time for reflection.

Now when I say reflection, I honestly do not think my 3 and 4 year old go to the 'step' and sit there and contemplate what they did and what mum thinks of my actions and if I had of done A, then B would have been the result and I would not be here..... but in those quiet few moments I think it does give them time to cool down and disconnect from whatever caused their outburst.

We don't have a set time for time out, we use to... but from our experience it is all about giving the child the time to remove themselves from the situation, we actually allow them to monitor how long they need in most cases these days (for the four year old at least, the three year old isn't quite at that responsibility yet).

At the conclusion of 'time out' for our children we ask them 'why are you here', 'what could have been done differently' and 'how can we make it right'... we then do kisses and cuddles and if need be they trott off and say sorry and kiss and make up with anyone else they need to.

What I hope time out is teaching my children is that if they find themselves in a situation where they don't have control or feel angry, or are upset, that they may have the courage to step away from the situation and when they have had time to cool down, think or adjust that they might be able to choose the right response. I am hopeful that 'time out' is a life skill just not a discipline technique. So often I say stuff and then wish I had of given myself some time to stop and think about my response!!! I am sooooo good at foot in mouth!!

Now, in saying all that I would also like to add, from what I have read on Planning with Kids, I would like to read Children are People too as recommended by Nicole and try 'bringing children in close'.

I would also like to add from my very limited knowledge of this approach that I can understand how I think it would help to build strong relationship between parents and children. That in that moment when my children would toddle off down the hall to time out, that instead of adding to their hurt and then feeling alienated that they would be very close to me and feel comfort.

I must admit I have already had the chance to dabble in this! Miss 3 threw herself to the floor tonight in a spectacular fashion because she wanted the blue cup (of course, I am so sorry I do not read minds!!) ordinarily she would have been sent to time out and instructed that when she was ready she may come back and say nicely to me and with manners that she would like the blue cup, she may come back. At this time I would tell her no she couldn't have the blue cup this time, but if she remembers to ask before I pour the drink next time and with her manners I am sure I would be able to do that for her.

However, tonight as she went to stamp her feet I pulled her in close. She resisted, so I hugged her tighter and whispered in her ear 'I know you are disappointed you didn't get the blue cup, maybe next time you can remember to ask me nicely before I pour your drink'. Her response? She softened in my arms did a sweet little chuckle and said 'yes mummy, next time I will say please can I have my drink in the blue cup'.

What do you use at your house?

Kids Hooked on Praise

2010-05-26T21:02:00.000-07:00

I recently had an interesting online chat (brief chat) about kids getting over praised. So I thought it might be timely to ask Eleanor Formaggio, Childhood Behavioural Specialist from Parent with Potential for her insights on the topic.
Here is what she had to say on the topic:

As parents we are encouraged to praise our children but can it be too much?

Children are motivated by parental acceptance and approval which has been linked with good self-esteem. The most common way of displaying our acceptance and approval is through praise. Praise and encouragement often leads to more positive behaviour and in this article explores how to avoid the pitfalls of too much praise.

Making praise work:

Make praise specific: Does your child know how they have pleased you? Try to notice specific improvements your child is making and comment on those, focus on what or how they have done something. Instead of saying a broad statement like “good job” elaborate by saying what you noticed “I noticed how you shared your toys today with little billy “you got dressed all by yourself – that’s great”.

Provide praise that encourages the potential for the child to talk about the experience of what they have done “You looked happy when you got dressed all by yourself” this allows them to think about their feelings and analyse their own efforts.

Also being aware that some children don’t like praise to be given publicly, so if you have a child who is more gentle in nature or quiet, he/she may benefit from more individual praise.

If you think your child is praised too much.

Don’t stop totally - but limit the praise to behaviour you want to see more of and make it count.

Children learn quickly and some children require much more positive attention and encouragement than others. If your praise isn’t encouraging a change in behaviour it may not be working and try one of the approaches given above or seek some help.

If your child appears to be in a habit of calling you for affirmation or praise often, to see what they have accomplished or are doing?

Try to lead into the praise with a question? This will hopefully get them to think more consciously, for themselves, about what they have achieved and give you an idea of what to praise them for if it is appropriate. “Oh I see you’ve built tower out of lego, what do you like most about it?”

Help children to develop their own sense of satisfaction and self-acknowledgement, hopefully they can draw on that experience in the future when faced with the same situation. “How did it feel when you did that?”.

Our sincere thanks to Eleanor for this guest blog post! I love that she has given us the tools in language to get our little billies to internalise some of the praise.
Would love to know how you are going on the praise-o-meter....

Self Control

2010-05-16T05:02:00.000-07:00

I was reading Be a Fun Mum, a blog I read quite often. I actually love this blog as Kelly often talks about being a positive and proactive mum, which is what Little Billies tools are all about! Quite often I nod in total agreement with her posts.

One of the most recent posts on Be a Fun Mum was about 'hands behind backs' a phrase that Kelly uses to keep her children from touching things in stores, etc.

At our house, we use 'self-control hands'. I know, a very daggy phrase!!! BUT, I wanted our kids to understand (at some point, they are probably still too young yet) that this principle can be applied across many, many areas of life.

Self Control hands is something that we actually practise every day. So what is it? Well, I ask the kids to show me their self control hands and they have to hold their hands together, as if they are praying. By having a physical thing to do, it avoids some of the temptation to reach out and touch, whatever it is that they are suppose to leave alone.

How do we practise this? Well it is really quite simple. Every dinner time, before I serve out the plates I ask the kids to show me their self control hands. There, they sit holding their hands together on the table top. They sit like that until all the meals have been served out to everyone, everyone is seated and we are ready to begin the meal. It avoids them sneaking bits and pieces of their plate while teaching them some good table manners.

This lovely little skill comes in handy too! You know when you are in a shop of breakables.... and how the kids just want to touch and pick up everything.... well, now you can ask them before entering the shop to show you their self control hands (or perhaps you can come up with a better name!) and let them know the expectation of when we leave the shop you can let go.

With a little bit of practise I am sure you will be pleasantly surprised at the self control your child will be able to demonstrate!

Oh, and there is a whole magnet dedicated to self control in the My Reward Chart | Stage 2 pack. There are lots of applications for this magnet, so that your child can be rewarded for their self control!

Can you suggest a better name? Are you actively teaching your child self control, I would love to hear your experiences.

The Best of me, for the best of them....

2010-05-12T12:00:00.000-07:00

I never realised how much I considered parenting subconsciously until I started a blog.... I often think about things and my approach as I read many of the great blogging mums posts out there in cyber space. I only write, not because I think I have the answers or that I am an expert, but just in the hope that perhaps some of my thoughts and considerations may help some of you to have light bulb moments :)

I must admit that as a mum I often fall into the trap of letting things go in my excuse of it being for the good of the child. So I can leave the housework in the name of playing with the kids, or doing homework, or trying to teach them a value through play. I can let the washing go undone for a few too many days, paying bills or giving my husband the attention that he deserves all in the name of being a good mum....

The reality is, I believe I have it wrong and am constantly changing where my compass is pointing to trying to get that balance right. While I believe play is extremely important, especially with my children, not just their play by themselves... I believe it is equally important for me to 'model' all the other important facets of life.

It is my job/role/responsibility to teach my children time management/responsibilities and self-discipline. The good old saying 'action speaks louder than words'. By doing a little bit of 'work' every day we can manage our house and have more time to play.

For me this happens through the structuring of our days (with two little ones at home). It is about building in job time - so I can model that it is important that we clean the house, wash the clothes, make the beds, etc. By doing this every day I am teaching them this self discipline and habit while modelling to them the way to do this effectively and efficiently. It is also teaching them to get on with the job!

My appearance is also important - this is something that has definitely suffered in my role as mum. This is something I must not let go of. I must look after myself and dress nicely (and I am no yummy mummy by any stretch of the imagination). If I don't do this I am sub-consciously saying to my family that I do not value them, that they are not worth the effort for me to look my best. Also, I am not teaching my children about what clothes match, what is appropriate dress for different occasions. I am particularly mindful of this with a very young daughter who already demonstrates a desire to look pretty, I want to model to her what pretty is.... that it is about being dressed tastefully and appropriately, that I can be pretty despite my size and body shape, that it is about using what I do have.

When I became a mum, I didn't stop being a sister, friend, daughter, co-worker, neighbour, etc. When someone in my circle needs help I want to be able to offer something to help lighten their load. If my life is in chaos and I am not living my best, how do I possibly make the time to give a piece of me to help someone else? I want to model this to my children, I want my children to know that it is important that we have outstretched arms to help pull others out and be able to stop life short and lend a listening ear or give a hug when someone is down..... by having my life under control I can do this, I know how to make space because I am not chasing my tail. I can also talk my kids through this opportunity and give them the time and space to know the why of caring for others in practical and tangible ways.

Looking after our possessions, having a place where everything lives and packing up when we are finished and activity. By me modelling and requiring us to pack up and put things away I am hopefully teaching my children to value the possessions that they do have. We minimise wasting time looking for lost scissors, toys or newsletters if everything is put away and in its place. When I think about this one, I think about the skills that I am teaching my children in terms of being tidy. Will we escape the messy and slobby of teenagers by instilling this in them now, I don't know, but gee a girl sure can try!

So my moral, is being the best I can, not letting those little things slide. But staying on top of things because ultimately it will lead to an easier time..... now I am not saying that I will never fall of the organised wagon, but when I do all it requires is for me to pick up and keeping going..... I am also not into giving yourself a hard time when the wagon slips, because the reality is, this is life and sometimes we hit potholes in the road and that wagon might jump and a bit of the load might fall..... that is ok... that is what we have girlfriends, sisters and families for to help us get the load back up on that wagon and keep going.

Holding On

2010-05-09T12:00:00.000-07:00

Holding On - from the My Reward Chart | Stage 1

I personally love this magnet. I am not quite sure what it is about it. I think my affection for it has deepended as I have experienced customers confusion as to what this magnet could possibly be for, or hearing the kids interpretations of what it is about.

The latest and greatest interpretation was from a 4 year old boy, who thought it was a boy doing chin ups, so he did a few push ups on the floor and told his mum that he had completed his exercise and therefore needed to be rewarded! - I just love it!

Holding on for toddlers and preschools can be a tricky thing! The possible uses of this reward magnet are pretty diverse:

Holding hands to cross the road
Holding onto the pram at the shops
Holding on to go to the toilet (staying dry)
Holding on when waiting for mum to finish a conversation - teach them to place their hand on you to indicate that they want to talk, but to wait there quietly while you finish talking.
Holding on to their own belongings when you are out of the house - you know how the insist of taking their favourite toy and then you end up carrying it!
Holding on while you are on the phone and waiting for you to hang up before launching into their next conversation with you.
Holding on can also be used as having patience, eg having patience at the dinner table while you dish up dinner....

As you can see from this magnet (like all of the magnets in the Little Billies range) that although specific enough in topic to be understood by a small child, it is generic enough to be adapted to a multitude of purposes.

Little Billies products colourfully and visually depict the behaviours, skills and heart attitudes for 'rewarding' your child because it is important that children understand what it is that they are being praised. Children can sometimes miss why they are being rewarded with the traditional star type charts.

Have any other thoughts on how 'holding on' could be used or funny interpretations? I would love to further deepen my affection for this poor little billie who is holding on!

Routines for Babies

2010-05-06T12:00:00.000-07:00

My Baby Day Chart helping mums create an easy, flexible routine.....

How quickly a baby changes! Their sleep times, feed times and ability to 'play' are constantly evolving. When I first brought my children home from hospital I would write endless notes about what routine we were up to! Were the feeds 3 hourly, or 4 hourly, or were we already introducing solids?

With the introduction of the Baby Day Routine (magnetic routine chart with magnet activity-stickers) all those scraps of paper with notes of our routine are no longer needed! We now have a very visual schedule of what was 'typical' for our day and the flexibility to alter it quickly if the day wasn't working out as planned.

The other positive to this visual routine is that now, when dad comes home from work he canvery quickly see where we were up to in the routine and pitch in. Visitors who came to lend a helping hand, also had the ability to work out what was required of the baby, no more miscommunication!

Not only does this chart work brilliantly for mum who is suffering pregnant brain and can't remember where she is up to, but this product grows with the child into the toddler years!

Creating a visual routine for a child, that a child can interpret. This is creating clear expectations and boundaries to a child reducing tantrums and frustration and allowing mum to cross of all those items on her to-do list...... but more about the My Day Chart in another post.

Making for Others

2010-05-02T12:00:00.000-07:00

Making for Others

In late 2010 we had a mum contact Little Billies who had been using our charts for a little while. She shared with me a little sub-culture her and her friend had about 'make a magnet for that' for lots of activities that happen in day to day life. I love that they had a list that they had created between them.

We had been listening to the feedback from mums of what was missing from our My Day magnet set and the My Week magnet set. With the list from this particular mum and the artwork collection we had, based on what other mums had suggested Little Billies came up with a miscellaneous pack.

Making for others is one of the magnets in the miscellaneous pack.

I love what this magnet stands for and have loved using it with my own children. If there is a birthday coming up, we put up the magnet to mark out a time in our day when we can make the birthday person a card.

I love that this magnet is others focused. It is about teaching our children from a very young age about thinking of others.

It will also help parents though, by scheduling a time in the day to create something for a sick grandparent, cook a meal for a neighbour with a new baby, make a card to thank a teacher for taking special care when the child hurt their knee.

I personally think that our culture is too self-focused. We keep being told by the media that the most important person in the world is 'you'.

I want to start to make that shift, let's teach our children to put others first, to love them as they would want to be loved. The simple idea behind this magnet 'making for others' can provide a visual reminder to you, an opportunity to teach your child, and a wonderful opportunity for your child to learn the importance of others.

What is your approach in teaching your children to care for others?

The benefits of a Little Billies reward Chart

2010-04-28T12:00:00.000-07:00

There are many reward charts available in the market place today.

There is a fantastic range of colours, styles and applications.

The benefits of Little Billies Reward Charts are many, and here is why:

Little Billies reward charts are endorsed by a Childhood Behaviour Specialist (you can read all about it here.) Giving you the confidence that these charts are an approved approach by an expert.
Typical reward charts use ticks or stars to acknowledge good behaviour with your child. Little Billies colourfully and visually depicts the behaviours so that your child is clear on exactly what it is they are being praised for.

We have developed two stages for our reward magnets. This will help give parents the benefits of rewarding age specific behaviours for their children. There is a pack specific for the toddlers and preschoolers and a pack for children who have started school.
Our charts are magnetic and the reward-stickers are magnetic too! Which means that the life of the chart will out last the it's need in your household. There will be no need to purchase any more stickers, or new charts, because our products are great quality and have been made to last.
Our reward-sticker magnets not only focus on behaviours but also heart attitudes. We are helping parents to instill values into their children through the use of these charts, which can sometimes be a hard thing to praise children for. This is especially important as Australian schools are currently making the move to values based education. Help reinforce your child's learning from school to home or equip your kids before they even get to school.
The reward-sticker magnets will help to develop pre-reading skills through word and picture association.
While all of our reward-sticker magnets are predefined in topic eg good eating. The terms used are generic enough to be able to give the flexibility to use them for a myriad of behaviour modification applications. Good eating could be used for sitting on their bottom at the table, using utsensils, no talking while their mouth is full, etc.
Being all magnetic, means that your reward chart can have pride of place on your fridge! The hub of the home. A great visual reminder for the child to demonstrate the required approach and a great reminder for parents to keep up the positive and consistent approach to parenting.
For the price of a piece of clothing, you can have your own reward chart that will help you modify your child's behaviour and give them a great foundation to life!

Good Listening

2010-04-25T12:00:00.000-07:00

I thought it might be time to highlight the magnets (reward and activity) that are available through the Little Billies products. I will be doing this on a regular basis and have decided to start with Good Listening. I hope to inspire you with ideas that you possibly have not thought of when using our Reward Chart | Stage 2 or even give you ideas in areas that you may be finding difficult at the moment.

"Listening to others is the foundation for every relationship your child will create, it's worth the time it takes to teach. Not to mention, parenting a child who listens is WAY easier than parenting a child who ignores you." Source: Hubpages.com.

Listed below are ways you can require good listening of your child:

listening and following mum and dad's instructions
listening to siblings/friends and acknowledging them
listening and not interrupting a conversation (learning the art of conversation)
listening and not just hearing (good eye contact, bodies facing towards those who are speaking to them, and giving the speaker their undivided attention)

In order to be able to reward our children with good listening they need to understand what is first required, to be able to then demonstrate it good listening in whatever form you are trying to teach them.

Some ways that we can teach our child this skill:

give them our undivided attention when they are talking
teaching them about body language and watching others as they are talking
giving our children eye contact when we are talking with them
not interrupting or talking over our children when they are talking
ask our children about our daily interactions and conversations and asking them to talk about them, so you can observe their listening skills.
read them stories and then ask questions about what they remember

An approach we have tried is to ask our children before we give an instruction to show us where their listening ears are. They grab both ears and then give us eye contact. It is then we have been able to give the instruction and know that they will listen. By asking our children to complete this physical step we are beginning the process of teaching them to be an active listener. This strategy is about teaching them to listen to us as parents. However we will need to try other strategies to teach them the art of listening in the other points as listed above.

Do you have tips or approaches that you would like to share in how you are teaching your children to be good listeners?

The Good Listening magnet is available in the My Reward Chart | Stage 2 in our store.

Little Billies products are endorsed

2010-04-18T03:42:00.000-07:00

There are so many different opinions and philosophies on the best approach to parenting. It was important to us here at Little Billies to ensure that we were offering parents tools that the 'experts' approve of.

We were delighted when Childhood Behavioural Specialist made contact with us in late 2009 in regards to our Parenting Partners. Then when they offered endorsement ou of our products, well to say we were thrilled would be an understatement.

Eleanor (owner of Parent with Potential) holds a Bachelor of Applied Social Science Degree majoring in Counselling and works as a Child Behaviour Specialist.

Eleanor is the mother of three boys and has a special interest in how personality affects behaviour which led to her developing The Preschooler Personality in 2004. Eleanor has been supporting families with children for over 7 years. Her previous professional and work experience has involved facilitating and co-ordinating resources for families, including a support group for new mothers, a support group for mothers experiencing postnatal depression and co-facilitating a self esteem and behavioural program for primary children.

Below is the letter of endorsement from Parent with Potential:

As the owner of Parent with Potential Pty Ltd, I’d like to offer my endorsement of Little Billies, Positive Parenting Tools developed by Sarah Dawson. Sarah Dawson, the owner of Little Billies shows great initiative and resourcefulness in the design and thought of her products, aimed at helping parents and especially children through routine charts and reward charts amongst other parenting tools.

As a child behaviour specialist, I am particularly impressed with Little Billies reward charts and routine charts. What sets Little Billies apart from other reward charts is the clear pictures and descriptions that can be used by a large age group. The reward charts in particular are specific and clear about what the child is being rewarded for which is lacking in many ‘traditional’ star chart or reward chart formats. This leads to specific behaviours that can be targeted and worked on over a period of time until a child has mastered certain tasks or behaviours.

Sarah has a real skill in being able to identify need and develop tools that are easily applied and reinforced, by even a young child who would be drawn to the bright pictures and magnetic features.

I am also aware that Sarah consults with other professionals from time to time to provide input. This is very reassuring that the tools that Little Billies offers are not just developed by a mother but in consultation with a range of qualified practitioners dealing with children and parents in the fields of psychology, teaching and counselling.

Discipline & Self Control

2010-04-07T15:48:00.000-07:00

There are so many differences in what 'discipline' means to each individual. I decided to look it up and I was quite surprised at the long list of search results:http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/discipline

So here are the two definitions that sit most comfortably with me and my interpretation...

Discipline (1)- Training expected to produce a specific character or pattern of behavior, especially training that produces moral or mental improvement.

Discipline (2) - To train by instruction and practice, especially to teach self-control to.

So, discipline (1) I like because it talks about training. This term for discipline talks about training their character for moral and mental improvement. I think that if you talk about 'disciplining' a child in terms of this definition, that you would take parenting very seriously. It is not going to be an accident that your kid turned out ok.* Parenting is a serious job. We only have one chance to equip our children to be the very best that they can be, yes we will all make mistakes (I have already made a million!) and they will impact our children in some form. However, if we are deliberate with our approach in training their character for moral and mental improvement, it is my hope that my children will become all that they were destined to be. That even in my shortcomings (and Mr Billies) that for the most part our training will withstand these bumps and our children will be able to acknowledge for the most part that we seriously considered how to develop their character.

Now for discipline (2). This definition I also really like because it talks about teaching the self-control. I think for me, this is about teaching my children to listen and trust that inner voice that they inside them. I recently went to a presentation by Mel Hayde, author of Terrific Toddlers and she talked about the fact the self control was what stopped children from doing wrong, often kids know that what they are doing is wrong, but what stops them from completing the action. The reality is we can teach them all we like the right and the wrong, but if they don't learn to listen to their own inner voice (the one mum and dad helped train) what is to stop them from stealing a car, punching a kid when they are angry, etc.

I think then the biggest issue of this one is modelling self control to my children. Not to yell when I am cranky, not to eat that next biscuit when I know I have really had enough, not to sit on the computer writing blogs when I should be washing clothes (hehe), etc. They say actions speak louder than words! I really do hope that I can model self control and talk my kids through it.....

So how can you actively teach your kids self control? Well perhaps it is sitting at the table patiently without sneaking food while they wait for dinner to be served, waiting in their rooms until mum and dad say that the day has begun in the morning, having moments of quiet and learning about verbal self control (no talking, this is a great skill for school), following through on a job and not dropping clothes on the floor but walking the two more steps and putting them in the clothes hamper. When they are crank or a little bit out of control, teaching them to remove themselves and gain control (time out) until they have gained control and you can talk calmly with them.

Are you actively teaching your kids self control? What is your approach....

I Simply Remember my Favourite Things...

2010-03-08T15:34:00.001-08:00

Houseboats, Sunsets, warm evenings, lazy afternoons fishing, tanning, ice cold Coke, chocolate covered peanuts on the bottom of the bed on Easter morning. No peanuts have ever tasted so good! These are some of the memories I hold close. It is how my family spent every Easter for many years. However you look at it, this became a family tradition and it was special to me. So much so, that my husband proposed to me on a houseboat at sunset during April. We have not continued this particular tradition for our own family, but are aware of creating our own traditions that our children will cherish in years to come.

One of our favourite family traditions that we would like to pass on is a big sit down feast with friends and family on Christmas Eve, with twinkling lights on the tree and lots of candles and music. Every October we go up the coast with 3 other families and have a ball on the beach, scooter ride and eat dinners together beside the pool. The children (and adults) look forward to this holiday tradition all year and book the next one before we even leave.

No matter what kind of childhood one had, most have a tradition (even if really small) that is reflected on with fondness and warmth. What are your favourite childhood traditions? We know that children are not just grown in a bubble, they are grown within a family. So, creating or continuing family traditions is a small part of building a good heritage or a strong foundation that lasts.

As children develop there are loosely three periods that can be seen. The imprint period is the window of development in which young children are ‘all ears’. They listen and want to know what mum and dad think in order to know what they themselves think. They are more accepting of parent’s opinions without much question of deeper values and beliefs. You will recognize this period by the - oh so familiar - ‘Why?’ question. “Why do we drive this way to school mum?” This period passes quickly.

“What and how we teach during the imprint period should align with the requirements of young children. They love games, stories, songs and other activities that can be used as powerful tools in the process of teaching them our family beliefs and values.” (Heritage Builders).

As families generate and follow traditions, each family member feels part of something bigger than themselves. Thus the bond of the family is strengthened and a sense of security in the child is established. This precious time can be a vehicle for creating strong family ties and conveying the values important to the family.

So what exactly are Family Traditions?

The dictionary says that traditions are ‘beliefs and customs handed down from generation to generation.’

Traditions are practices or beliefs that create positive feelings and are repeated at regular intervals. They're more than routines, which are ordinary, everyday activities that require no special behavior and involve little emotion. Often traditions are handed down from generation to generation, but every family can create its own traditions as well.

Traditions encourage connections between immediate family members and previous generations. Family researchers, Nick Stinnett and John DeFrain say that traditions are the "we always" of families, such as "We always put the Christmas tree up on the 1^st of December," or "We always watch a DVD and eat popcorn on Saturday night." Since certain traditions have meaning that is special to certain families, they create feelings of belonging and closeness. By spending time together in a fun and special setting, family members grow closer.

In his book The Intentional Family, family scholar William Doherty says that as family bonds are weakened by busy lifestyles, families can stay connected only by being intentional about maintaining important rituals and traditions. Effective traditions promote a sense of identity and a feeling of belonging. They also promote a feeling of safety and security within the family by providing a predictable and familiar experience. Family members have something to look forward to which gives them a sense of assurance in a hectic and ever-changing world.

Old family traditions often serve to connect the older generation with the new generation, encouraging interaction through shared activities, and can also offer a way for families separated by distance to feel close.

Practical Ideas

Here are ideas for creating meaningful family traditions:

Strive for a few meaningful traditions. Too few traditions and families will struggle to stay unified. They begin to forget or ignore important events in family member's lives. Too many traditions and they lose their ‘uniqueness’
Establishing traditions. New traditions takes planning and effort. First decide on a goal that you would like a new tradition to help you accomplish. Pick a good time to start the tradition and think about how often it should be repeated. Decide on activities that can be included and the importance of these activities. Choose traditions that include every member in the family. Be sensitive to the needs of all family members. Keep in mind that every family is unique; do not try and recreate what works for your neighbour, as this may not fit your family’s needs or personalities. Also don't overwhelm your family with too many new traditions. Pick one or two and see how it works. Above all, it should be fun!

Even Dr. Phil reiterates the importance of traditions. "Parents, don't be fooled. Your children will often roll their eyes at traditions, but believe me, they make a lasting impression and they would miss them if they were gone."

Our sincere thanks to Collett Smart, Life Smart Solutions for this wonderful contribution to our blog. You can visit Collett's site at www.lifesmartsolutions.net.

Collett has been working with children and their parents for almost 20 years. She holds a Bachelor of Education degree, as well as an Honours Degree in Psychology with a specialisation in Special Needs.

Collett is a qualified counsellor and offers counselling to children, adolescents and their families. She uses her skills in Play Therapy for young children and provides counselling for teenagers in both private practice and as a School Counsellor. She has experience running Life Skills workshops on various topics for teachers, parents and teens.