When home becomes the battlefield

CREATING A HOME WHERE KIDS WANT TO COOPERATE CAN BE ACHIEVED AS MIKE BAIN FOUND OUT IN OUR BUSINESS MATTERS SERIES

When a family goes to war, the casualty toll usually has long term effects.

A word out of place or anger can inflict more damage to a child than any ballistic missile.

For Cambridge ‘super nanny’ Jessie Buttons her contribution to a volatile family environment could be likened to the United Nations peace keeping force.

And like UN peace keepers, Buttons has travelled the world bringing peace and harmony as a nanny to the rich, but not necessarily the famous.

Now Buttons is settling back into life in Cambridge after a management position with a Sydney Montessori preschool and she’s using her insight into childrens’ behaviour, temperament and nature to help parents be mum and dad.

‘‘The knowledge I have gained through my own experience, I want to pass on in order to create harmony in the home,’’ she says.

Every child is born with a unique nature Buttons explains, if your first child was an angel it doesn’t follow the next one will be.

‘‘The knowledge I have gained through my own experience,I want to pass on in order to create harmony in the home.’’

‘‘Now my mission is to educate parents, nannies and educators on why children behave the way they do.’’

Her most frequent clients are those families getting close to despair.

‘‘My task is observing how a child relates within the family dynamics,’’ she said.

‘‘Sometimes, a solution is obvious, but sometimes its deeper and more complex, being an observer I can see what is working and what isn’t.’’

If it’s a family with older chil- dren, the process could involved the facilitation a family meeting.

‘‘This is where we discuss and establish family values. I usually let each member contribute four core values, this gives all a sense of empowerment into the family make up.’’

Subjects covered can relate to the roles of parents and children in responsibility, discipline, what they value the most and how to achieve them.

At the end of each session with a family Buttons will write a formal report outlining the issues she observed and includes an agreed action plan.