So our seven year old daughter has been going through a bit of a “phase” recently.  Argumentative, back-chatting, highly emotional in some of her reactions, sour puss faces etc.  I know this is pretty normal for most kids at various times but it has ramped up in intensity recently.  Hubby and I are both wondering “is it us?”, “is it her?”, “are we not parenting properly?”, “what are we doing wrong?”, “has she been a devil-child in hiding all this time?”.  Not knowing what to do, I turned to the experts to do a little research for myself and  I’m glad to say there was some relief at hand and not in the form of an alcoholic beverage or prescription. 

Some of you may have heard of Piaget’s childhood developmental stages.  Well it just so happens that 7 yrs of age (on average) is the transition point between the “pre-operational” (2-7 yrs) and “concrete operational” (7 – 12 yrs) stages, hence the terrible two’s being before “pre-operational” and the even more terrible teenage transition at (12-13) the end of the “concrete operational” stage. In the middle therefore is another volatile transition point we now have a name for……… The Stroppy Sevens!!!!  Phewwwww, so it’s not just us having this issue. Below is a short helpful list of things to think about when parenting a child of this 6-7 age bracket during this transition period and what to expect.

The Good Stuff:

At this age they will be gaining an increasing level of focus, and increasing level of patience (believe it or not), an ability to focus on activities that require longer periods of time, better cognitive skills, better communication skills (hence more arguing), and better physical skills (hopefully less careless knocking over of drinks at dinner-time!!)

The Challenging Stuff:

They are learning how to handle setbacks and begin self-regulation, explore boundaries and identity, and embrace the torturous art of whining.  Talking back, as they develop better communication skills their complaining or arguing is expressed more verbally and logically. Perfectionism, being easily frustrated with not being able to achieve a specific goal.  Remember bad behaviour is part of their maturing process, but it needs to be managed well…

Behaviour Management:

• Help them identify and express their emotions appropriately and in socially acceptable ways.
• Make talking a priority.
• Set boundaries and limits that are clear.
• Use quiet time effectively.
• Set a positive example in your own tone when communicating with them.
• Teach them how to take a breath or count to ten when feeling a strong emotion.
• Reward charts can be effective for this age group, but rewards don’t have to be immediate like they are when children are younger. Daily rewards can add up to something at the end of the week to develop their patience and longer term thinking.
• For really negative behaviour there needs to be a consequence e.g. taking away something important to them for a period of time, or banning TV or computer time if that is their thing.

So be encouraged, it’s not just you.  It seems there is a name and identity to this wobbly transition stage that no-one ever told us about………The Stroppy Sevens!!

That’s the thing about having kids, you’ve never done it before, every stage is something new and you’re often left feeling is something normal or am I failing as a parent. This is exactly why we created ParentTV.

Here’s a random and interesting fact.  Did you know that it takes on average 7 years before the parent of a child suffering with OCD takes them to get help.

That’s the thing with being a parent things become so normal to us because we live with our kids everyday that we often miss stuff.

Most parents deep down will often wonder if there is an issue going on with their child whether it be related to social development, sleep, food, behaviour, anxiety, speech development and the list goes on.

So to help out with this we brought together some of the world’s leading parenting educators all in the one place. These educators are qualified and top of their field working with parents and children every single day.  They include psychologists, psychiatrists, pediatricians, sleep consultants, dietitians, occupational therapists, speech pathologists, lactation consultants autism consultants to name a few.

We went and filmed hundreds of 2-5 minute videos (because we know how time poor you are) with these experts answering the questions we know parents are asking.  

The other great thing that ParentTV allows you to do is personalise your profile.  When you sign up to ParentTV you create profiles for each of your children with the name, age and any challenges / information you are after.  You can then click on a child’s individual profile and the platform shows you the video specific to the age and development of each child. It does the work for you to show you exactly what you need specific to your kids. So the next time your child is going through a cray cray stage you can get a heads up from ParentTV rather than spend your time wondering if you are failing as a parent.

ParentTV is a place where you can come as a parent, and check in on those thoughts you have when you are lying in bed at night wondering what you should do to help your child who is struggling.

We give you the confidence to know whether it’s normal, what to do if it’s not and some strategies you can use as a parent to help them out.

It’s not about trying to change how you parent or tell you what to do it’s about making sure parents have access to credible information when they are worried as small changes and tweaks can make a massive difference in the lives of our kids.

So that’s what we do at ParentTV.   

With ParentTV, parents can now get extra support around everyday issues that come up with our kids. Check out what we have put together here. There are 5 of our most-watched videos right there on the home page which we would love you to watch for free right now, or search all of our topics and our great panel of experts if you need help with something that isn’t covered in those first videos.

They say it takes a village to raise a child … welcome to the village.