Marcus and Mackapilly - Brisbane Youth Service

Living in a small unit that we could only stay in for three months, two children not living at home, a two year old daughter and a little one on the way, all we knew was that we wanted our family together.

We didn’t want our children to have the same childhood as we did.

We started seeing Renee from the Centre for Young Families at the beginning of this year. During this time we have moved from our short term unit to a house that we can stay in for two years and will suit our growing family. We have also learnt so much about our children’s needs and our parenting skills.

Completing the Circle of Security Parenting Course for the last couple of months has been great; Renee and the course explained so much of what was going on in our children’s lives. Doing this course has made our parenting skills better in so many ways.We didn’t always understand our daughter’s needs– we just saw the behaviour. We thought she was just looking for attention and being naughty. But as the course went on we realised she could have been frustrated because she couldn’t explain how she was feeling, what she wanted or was feeling scared or overwhelmed. We also learnt that when she would come to us and want our attention, she wasn’t looking for attention, she was coming back in from exploring to refill her cup.

Now that we have completed the parenting course we have a better understanding on what she needs and wants and what is going on for us as parents. We have not only improved our parenting skills for our two-year-old but now have a better understanding of our two older children as well. We are hoping to have them move home with us next year.