Catholic Social Services parenting co-ordinator Sue Whyte wants parents to "notice the little things" rather than focus on problems.
"Often what happens is we notice everything that's going wrong. It's hard to remember the things that are going right."
Rather than focusing on poor weather or a child's messy bedroom, parents needed to find ways to look beyond perceived problems.
"If it's rainy, it's OK to put on your raincoat and go for a walk in the rain and you can still have a picnic inside - have it on the lounge floor," she said.
Holidays also provided ways for parents to teach their children important life lessons.
Ms Whyte also said it was the child's problem if they did not make their bed, or dressed themselves in mismatched clothing.
"Is it my problem or is the child's problem? Is it worth fighting over?"
She noted we lived in a society in which children thought they needed to be entertained all the time.
However, she believed they could easily do it themselves and parents did not need to feel responsible.
For those concerned about spending a lot of money during the school break, she offered the idea of giving children $20 a week to spend.
This way they could decide what they wanted to do and learn the value of a dollar.
It was important to stick to the allowance and "not bail them out", she said.
"If you keep solving all their problems, how are they doing to learn to fix it themselves?"
