self-regulation
Staying Conscious & Mindful Through Meltdown
(Another post where I just walk you through my thought processes during a particular day.) I pull up in the driveway expecting an evening at home, but my son is already in the driveway asking […]
The Shoe Rules
Earlier this year, I bought my 5yo “Apollo” new shoes. Apollo’s approach to clothing has always been pretty much functional. He’s gotta wear clothing to go out in public so whatever goes on his body […]
The Joy of Challenge
I had a student recently who I wanted to give a fidget to. He already had a fidget for his classroom, but I had recently got a big bag of fidgets and found a particular […]
Power & Safety
Exerting power over a child just for the sake of exerting it is a threat to the child’s feelings of safety, and they know it. They’ve been living in this world for however many years, […]
They’re Not Playing Dangerously
“They’re actually not playing dangerously.” I tell this to my own body. My own nervous system. My own fight-or-flight response. Because of the way the noise feels. It pounds against my ears. It sends jolts […]
“Not Letting” Them Whine
This post has an audio and video recorded version for those who prefer to learn by hearing rather than by reading. Scroll to the bottom for the video of me reading it. Someone recently asked […]
How the Feelings Connect to the Actions
It can be really tricky to teach children how to understand the emotions inside of their bodies. It feels obvious after you already know all the emotion words — maybe, depending on how in tune […]
What Roles the Team Has
One thing that’s really challenging for adults in all contexts—parenting, or professional contexts—is balancing between how much autonomy and how much protection to provide to their child. That’s why when I was writing this reminder […]