Sitting in a Car

Let’s chat today about your secret fears. I’m talking about fears that are so secret, you don’t even know you have them. Sometimes, you might skip having sensitive conversations with your kid, for loads of good reasons. ‘The timing wasn’t right!’ ’I wasn’t sure what to say.’ Things like that. But the real reason might be something else. We all have thoughts in our head that we mightn’t even know are there. And these thoughts hold us back. And if we don’t know something is wrong, we can’t fix it. When it comes to having chats with your kid about sexuality, relationships and consent, there are loads of secret, scary thoughts that many parents have that come up a lot. I’ve come up with 9 of them. (Yes, I actually made a list!) These secret scary thoughts stop you from taking small steps forward. And there are lots of tiny changes, tiny steps you can take that open up convos with your kid(s). These convos can help your kid(s) to be more confident, caring and respectful. You kid can learn to keep themselves safe in a world that puts huge amounts of pressure on them. Your kids need us to help empower them. And you are well able to do this. Once you examine those scary secret thoughts of yours, you start setting yourself free. And I’m here to help you with that. I have a FREE course coming up. It’s going to give you the time and room to look at your thoughts. You can have a think about what might be holding you back - and then do something about it. So that you can feel confident about taking those tiny steps and having those sensitive chats with your kids. Does this sound good?! Great!

‘Whose job is it to talk to our 12-year-old boy about sex?’ What a great question. Is it a mum’s job to talk to a young teen boy about sex, puberty and relationships? Or is that the job of a male parent? Here’s the thing. Parents are just people! And we all have different things we’re good at. So who should do the talking depends on what our personal skills are. What if you BOTH find it terrifying and awkward?! Well, then, think of it this way. Could one or both of you push yourselves out of your comfort zone, just a tiny bit? Could you find tiny, tiny ways, to move the conversation forward? Some aspects of parenting, we do because they come naturally. And some don’t come naturally at all! But maybe we can decide to stretch ourselves a liiiiittttle bit. Because we know how much our kids will benefit if they feel they can talk to us. And let’s face it, if they’re happy, we’re happy.

It's back to school time! That will feel either YAY or BAH HUMBUG depending on your personal parenting style and how your kid reacts to school. If you have a kid who is starting secondary school this year in Ireland, I've a special treat for you. This podcast will help you think through the HPV vaccine (Human Papilloma Virus - linked to cervical cancer and a few other cancers too): 1. What do you think about the HPV vaccine 2. Why the vaccine is useful 3. How to search for accurate information on the vaccine 4. How to start a convo or a text conversation with your kid about STIs in general If you feel a little bit anxious about that then you are a COMPLETELY NORMAL PARENT. Don't worry. Just listen to what I'm saying. No pressure to do anything different. Catch you again next week 🤓👋🏼 x Sarah