Grounding is a discipline technique which many parents use when their children have gone against their wishes. They can forbid them from attending social events – parties, sleepovers, play-dates for a specific period of time (long enough for them to reflect on their behaviour) or they can stop their children doing certain activities – watching television, using the wii or playstation, any ‘punishment’ that the parent thinks their child will learn from.

Every so often I get an opportunity to do something different. There was the swimsuit photoshoot that I did to show girls that women come in all shapes and sizes (yes I actually posed in a swimsuit), there was the chance to present an award at an Awards ceremony (and make a speech) and more recently there was an opportunity to be part of an amazing website http://ideamensch.com/. I was recommended to be part of it and the reason I said yes is because I love the quirkiness and profile of the site.

Despite your child being shy it is still very important that they are able to build and maintain positive peer relationships in and out of school. Having a shy child should not mean loneliness and it should not be a barrier to making friends. What it does mean is that they mean need a helping hand from you.

Help them interact with small groups of children or just one at a time. Ask your child to invite some classmates to your house after school or at the weekend.

My children seem to have a love/hate relationship with boundaries. They love them because they make them feel safe and secure but hate them because it means they can’t do whatever they want when they want.

Parents set boundaries so their children know what they can and cannot do, and they know what is expected of them. They are part of growing up. If there are no boundaries then there are no consequences and children need to learn about adhering to rules – because they are everywhere. If a child receives everything they want it can make them spoilt and unappreciative of simple pleasures.

Would you say your child is resilient? In other words do they cope well with tricky situations and do they learn from their disappointments? Not all children are resilient but it is one of those traits that we want our children to have. So how can we help them become a little tougher, bounce back more?

1. Well for starters we can take a step back from their life. Children are so much more capable of dealing with and solving problems than we give them credit for. So when they have a problem don’t jump in and solve it for them.

Wouldn’t the world be dull if we were all the same? - we looked the same, liked the same activities and even had the same opinions. No-one would ever argue or would they?

I contributed to an article last week about a woman who was bullied because of her red hair. It struck a chord with me because I have auburn hair and it is unusual but I was never picked on because of my hair but I knew several other children who were.

Where is your child learning respect? Is it at school or is it at home – or both. Respect, I believe begins at home. If we want our children to be respectful, we have to be. But what does that ‘respect’ look like?

Respect is about calling each other by our proper names/nick names/real names if they don’t offend – Mum, Dad, John, Jill, Mumsy, Poppa. It is talking to each other instead of shouting, asking others if you can use/have something of theirs, it is talking nicely to each other, making time and thinking about other’s needs.

All children need sleep but not all children want to go to bed when they are told. Some want to stay up and continue the fun they were having playing, others want to be obstructive and some just do not feel tired. I saw a child a while ago who did not like bedtime because he said, ‘sleep was boring’. It is isn’t it but it makes us feel better once we have had a decent amount of it.

It can be difficult to let go of your children – let them go off with their friends and have social freedom, let them go to the shops on their own or walk to school – even letting them make choices for themselves.

There are times when ignoring our children is the solution to our child’s behaviour. You know what I am talking about, ‘Ignore the bad behaviour, praise the good’.

But what do you ignore your children for? Is it for adverse behaviour – swearing, hitting or shouting? Do you use it when your child is whining? Is ignoring any child a bad thing to do? And when do you start listening again to your child and no longer ignore them?

I would love to know so please share your thoughts with me.