The Hour

“Hrumph. Why do we need parenting classes? Are we not good parents?” my husband was mildly shocked when I suggested we went to a Triple P session. We both gazed at our three boys who were, uncharacteristically, laughing nicely together. And, as it happens, I think we do as good a job as the next family, but that doesn’t mean we always get it right or that it’s easy.

As the cliché – and the blurb on the Triple P website – says kids don’t come with instructions. If you’re anything like me, before the first one arrived you’ll have had lots of fanciful ideas about how you were going to bring them up. Your children would love vegetables, books and discussion about current affairs. They would not whine at you for junk food, be bribed with cash or told to sit down in front of the telly for the sake of a bit of peace.

Triple P is a parenting programme that was developed in Australia and "is one of the world’s most effective parenting programs because it’s one of the few that’s been scientifically proven to work".

Apparently it provides a toolbox of solutions for parents and lets them choose the strategies they need.

Now with three children I suppose I’m doing OK inasmuch as we aren’t the worst family out there, but, then, we are a long way from being one of those fantastic high-achieving, crafting together kind of families.

I find that we’ve just sorted out one vexatious issue – like the time I decided the children should pitch in with the housework – and another one pops up. We’ve just had a bit of a go at getting the kids to eat a better and wider diet and I can already see some early puberty storm clouds on the horizon. We’ve also had to deal with bullying – as victim and perpetrator, sibling wars, nasty attention-seeking behaviour, dreadful table manners, cheek and ill-tempered issues arising from a ‘blended’ family.

Like most people we’ve just muddled though getting advice from a range of sources from my mum to the internet. Then I spotted that the Triple P parenting scheme is being launched in the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde area. At first glance I wasn’t even slightly interested – perfect looking people grinning smugly from website pages didn’t seem to have much to do with me. I’m neither a family in crisis nor all that keen on ‘professionals’ telling me what to do.

However, I read on and the whole thing started to chime with me. One mum Dee said: “I would definitely recommend Triple P to anyone. It focuses your mind and helps you engage with your children more positively – and that can’t be bad for anyone.”

From what I can see, there aren’t going to be any miracle solutions, much more likely a healthy dose of common sense plus some stuff I probably knew anyway if I thought about it long enough. I’m off for my first session The Power of Positive Parenting on Monday. I wonder if it will cause a domestic revolution in my house...

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If you live within Glasgow City and Renfrewshire Councils HS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, are offering the Triple P programme free to local parents in libraries, schools and other venues throughout the area. Find out more about your local seminar on the Where to Get Help section on the STV Positive Parenting site.

If you don’t live in these areas, you can still get help with parenting. Simply go to our Top Parenting Tips section for help with everything from toddler tantrums to handling difficult mealtimes.