About This Site

My name is Harriet Morris - this is me with my son Louis, who was born in September 2005.

Louis went from being a relatively placid baby to a very boisterous toddler in what seemed like the blink of an eye - obsessed with climbing, running and generally getting his own way.

In spite of all this, I can definitely say that toddlerhood is a very rewarding experience, and I love (almost!) every minute of it.

My Background

My professional background is teaching youngsters with problems, most recently mainly those with Autism and other Special Needs. In 2008 I also taught child development (ages 0-5) at a college of Further Education.

As Louis grew into toddlerhood, I began to notice how I was using my professional skills to successfully manage my son's behaviour.

I realised that many of the techniques that work with youngsters with Special Needs also work with toddlers - giving advance warnings of change such as turning the TV off; clear, brief instructions; distraction; keeping calm and being positive, etc.

Real advice For Real Parents

Childcare books and websites are full of great advice and explain their theories well.

However, many of them lack specific tips and ideas about dealing with tricky situations - for example they tell you to 'keep calm' if your child has a tantrum.

After 2 hours sleep, a kitchen wall adorned with your toddler's latest Weetabix painting and 3 irritating cold calls from double glazing salesmen, it seems to me that some specific suggestions are also needed in this situation!

One of the aims of this site is to fill this gap. Every child is different, and I have steered clear of turning the site into a self-indulgent advice shop for dealing exclusively with my son. I have backed up my own experience with research and talking to other parents.

Not every idea will work with your child. As with parenting in general, it's all a question of trial and error.

This website also gives you practical ideas on how to make the most of your time with your toddler.

Because parenting will never win the award for moneysaving lifestyle of the year, the emphasis is on having fun without breaking the bank.

The great thing about young children is their brilliant imagination and boundless enthusiasm for everyday things like ladders, cats and sticks.

I have thought up lots of low-cost and no-cost games and activities on this site that your child will enjoy as much as - if not more than - anything that Toys 'R' Us has to offer.

It was around this time that I started thinking about creating my own website. Louis was 2-and-a-half, I was pregnant and loving spending more time with him. I vowed that I would never again break my heart working a draining and stressful full-time job when I could be with my son (soon to be sons!).

My only problem was that (Microsoft Word, surfing the net and emailing aside) I was completely non-techie. Surely there was lots of complicated codes and maths involved?

I originally wanted to do a cheap wedding site, so to research it I googled 'cheap wedding' - the 3rd site on the first page of google was exactly what I was aspiring to do. In fact it was so good, I thought "How can I ever compete with this?" Swiftly followed by "Who did this woman use to build her website??"...and that's how I came across Site Build It! You can read my review of Site Build It by clicking on this link.

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