Parenting Pep Talk #6 – Wave to Mummy

Parenting Pep Talk is an occasional series of guest posts all about encouraging other parents by sharing some of our happy moments, the advice that has worked for us and some positive words of encouragement.

 

Today’s post comes from the lovely Sanna, a chocolate-loving, photography-obsessed mama, always up for new adventures. Her blog Wave to Mummy is about the London life of a career mum and stay-at-home dad (with a toddler girl in tow). She loves photography and capturing those wonderful little everyday moments her family shares, and in her family lifestyle blog she writes about interiors, kids fashion, family moments and travel.

 

1)   Tell us a little bit about you and your family.

I’m called Sanna, and I’m 32 years old. I’m originally from Finland, but I moved to London nearly a decade ago and have just stuck around since.

My family is me, my husband David (born and bred Londoner) and our 2 and a half year old terror toddler, also known as Aili. I work in a Central London office and my husband stays home taking care of our daughter.

 

2) How would you describe your parenting style?

My parenting style is probably just plain practical. I’ve always been a great believer in trying to take cues from your children. They are much smarter than you would ever think, so perceptive, and if you spend a bit of effort in trying to understand them and their motivations your life becomes much easier.

I really like the attachment parenting philosophy, but in practice I think you also need to do what is right for your family and only you know what that entails. For example, we did the controlled crying sleep training, which was quite horrible to begin with. That said, it ended up helping both us and our daughter to sleep much better, and as a result our whole family is better off.

3) What’s your favourite thing about being a parent?

Little fingers caressing my back. Slobbering kisses on the nose. Kisses and cuddles. The unconditional love.

I also love seeing my daughter change and grow up and becoming a little person in her own right. The little streaks of independence are wonderful to see and I wonder what she will make with her life. I’m excited to see what she will do with what she has.

4) What piece of advice have you been given that you found especially helpful?

Trust your instincts.

You know your child the best, you are an expert in them and their behaviour. If you are convinced something is wrong don’t take no for an answer. And if you are convinced something will benefit them or your family, do it. You know best.

5) What one piece of encouraging advice would you give to a new parent?

It shall all pass.

Just try and relax, there will be so many phases and difficult situations you will have to face. Your child will irritate you and at times you will just be counting down to bedtime. But just remember that it will all pass, they will get older, you will get wiser, and in the meantime try not to sweat the little things.

6) Can you share one of your favourite parenting moments?

I think there have been many, but one very recent one relates to potty training. It was one of those little parenting successes if you like.

My daughter was for a long time afraid of the potty, especially when it came to number two. She just refused to do one on the potty and would insist on getting a nappy on and doing it in a nappy.

So one evening after we had been doing potty training for a bit, I sat down with her. Her on the potty, me next to her. We read books, we sang songs, we played games.

Eventually I got out her new favourite toy – a fairy magic wand. It had all the bells and whistles, including sparkles, feathers and ribbons hanging off it. And as we were sitting there I did some magic. I told her I was going to do a ‘poo magic’ so she will poo in the potty, and ran the magic wand all over her back and arms and legs, an then tonked her on the head. I sat there repeating this about half an hour until she finally did her first poo in the potty!

It was a huge help in encouraging her and for the next few potty sessions she always remembered to ask for ‘poo magic’. Thankfully she is now confident enough to do it all by herself, no wands required!

 

7) Anything else that you would like to share to encourage other parents?

Not so much as words of encouragement, but I have written a few posts based on my experiences that might be helpful to other parents! Very recently we have been dealing with potty-training, so if you are in that stage you might find these tips from potty-training experts useful, or if you are flying with kids, you might find my post about how to have an easy flight with your baby handy.

 

 

You can connect with Sanna on the following social networks:

Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Instagram
Bloglovin

 

Thank you Sanna for sharing your words of encouragement, advice and happy parenting moments.

 

If you’d like to share some of your positive parenting moments on the Parenting Pep Talk, then let me know in the comments below and I’ll email you with more details.