Whoever said, “Sticks and stone can break my bones, but words can never hurt me,” lied. When one of our kids says something that just gets under my skin and pushes all my buttons, I’m quick to defend myself. Sometimes words hurt more than the physical aggression. “You never do anything for me!” My primary...
The worst feeling in the world is feeling powerless against our kids’ challenging behaviors. In an effort to regain control, we often threaten, yell, and assign ineffective consequences. Here are the top 5 mistakes parents make when using consequences: We forget to reflect and regulate first which results in reacting instead of responding. We address...
Less sunlight, disruptions in the routine, increased anticipation. It’s the perfect storm for our kids to lose their ever-loving minds which means we’re not far behind. Thank you, mirror neurons. With some intentionality, we can have less stress and more joy during the holidays. [bctt tweet=”You can have less stress and more joy during the...
When we’re parenting kids with crazy challenging behaviors, it’s easy to become a mom we don’t recognize anymore. We start drowning in negativity. We want to be better moms but don’t know how. I hardly ever raised my voice until I was parenting children with ADHD and complex trauma. Then, I became a screaming lunatic....
Whether you’re headed to a parent-teacher conference or a formal IEP meeting for your child with ADHD, it can be intimidating to feel like it’s you against the rest of the team which may consist of teachers, administrators, guidance counselors, and specialists. [bctt tweet=”Here are 4 things I wish someone had told me when I...
To medicate or not to medicate. That problem feels like the biggest looming question if you have a child with ADHD. It’s even more complicated if your child has multiple diagnoses or came to you through adoption. [bctt tweet=”To medicate or not to medicate? #adhdparenting” username=”corkboardblog”] In full disclaimer, I am not a medical professional...
I live with PTSD. It’s one of the prices we paid when we adopted. It’s something that’s tricky to talk about because I don’t want to throw my kids under the bus. Their hurt and trauma are not their fault. However, child on parent violence is a real thing. And there are definitely not enough...
Lack of felt safety is one of the five reasons kids misbehave. So what is felt safety? Our nervous systems have an instinct called “neuroception.” This is how we unconsciously distinguish whether situations or people are safe, dangerous, or life-threatening. When our kids have experienced chronic stress or have differences in their brain function, like...