Little Minds Thriving
Welcome to Little Minds Thriving - an organisation focusing on infant and child mental health and supporting parents and caregivers with their incredible task of supporting these little ones to thrive.
It all started with working within health settings and witnessing the importance of adult caregivers on the health and wellbeing outcomes of kids and young people. What we know from research and from our own clinical practice and experience is that the relationships between kids and their grown ups is the most critical factor for their ability to manage stressors, learn to get along with others, and feel safe and confident in the world.
Connection doesn’t have to be complicated and for parents and educators the little moments matter. In our lives as grown ups however things inevitably get in the way. Sometimes we can even get in our own way - feeling pressure to parent perfectly, or trying so hard to give the kids we care for all of our attention all of the time.
A daycare educator who works in the infant room at a busy daycare recently spoke to me about how guilty and overwhelmed she feels at the end of the day. Trying to meet all of the needs of all 8 babies in the room often left her feeling like she was failing. Similarly, parents and their work, caring, household and community responsibilities can leave very little time and energy for experiencing true and slow connection with their kids. Some experts talk about 10mins a day that we can squeeze in - I think even then chunking our time or scheduling it (even in our own minds) can feel laborious.
So what do I think helps? Slowing down the little moments of connection - pointing out the jacaranda trees on the drive to kindy, making eye contact when your son tells you about his favourite dinosaur, and going out of your way to ruffle their hair when walking past them or count their toes when putting on their shoes. These little moments serve to fill their cup (even just a little bit) and likely ours as well.
To talk to us about coming and talking to your parents group, or your daycare or school contact us using the form on the website.
Take good care!
Clare
Little Minds Thriving