Well hello there stranger! I’ve been MIA for a month and I’ve missed your posts and interactions. But as of today, I’m back, and can’t wait to catch up on some great posts here! What have I been doing all this time? (Besides doing the happy dance upon the arrival of my new escape Kindle?)…
Category Archives: Problem Solving
The (Not So) Fine Art of Negotiating With My Tween’s Bipolar
We’re getting ready to go to the beach. It’s New Year’s Day. (Yes, I know I’m lucky. Truly grateful!) While I’m packing, my daughter with anxiety disorder and Bipolar is escalating. She follows me around the house as I collect towels, bathing suits, beach shoes. “You threw out my old swim suit?!” She accuses, screaming…
Soothing An Anxious Child
Some kids just pop out of the womb self-assured and confident. Mine, not so much. Raising 2 former foster kids, assurance is like a foreign language in their minds! It’s been a huge learning process for us to figure out what works and what doesn’t in helping them find confidence in stress. And I know…
Homework Strategies for Moody Kids
A few weeks back in school and all the old frustrations are in full swing. The pencil-breaking. The paper-ripping. The weeping. The gnashing of teeth. You’d think schoolwork was, in fact, hell on earth. But really it’s just hell to a child with a learning disability. Especially one that’s at the mercy of bipolar mood…
New year to begin…
I know what your thinking…NEW SCHOOL YEAR? How many days till school starts??? I have a friend that started counting the minute summer started. I enjoy our homeschooling time together. I love the beginning of a new year…the goals for the year, the dreams of what you want to work on, the reality of what…
Trusting Our Kids to Live Their Strengths
Sometimes, I’m amazed at my own craziness. Like when I plan to go to the store at the last minute before dinner with hungry kids and a child with SPD who forgot her jacket. Or when I go hiking in flip-flops…. “Mom! Are you okay?” My 4 year old yelled over the rushing water that…
Would you let your child scale a mountain?
She grabbed the rock above her and pulled herself up. The water rushed cool and quick over our soaked shoes. Steadying herself, my 5 year old reached for the next rock a few feet above her. In the high altitude, we both breathed hard, but her determination pushed us farther as we climbed the waterfall…
Strange Milestones We Have Met
Something strange has happened to my perception of childhood milestones. Perhaps because it took my daughter a little longer to meet many of them, I’ve sort of made up my own list along the way. It’s not that I’ve given up watching for the standard markers, it’s more that I appreciate events that other parents…
Update & buying friends…
So here goes, today was the orthopedic appointment I talked about 2 weeks ago. No surgery this summer, is what the doctor said. But he may need it further down the line probably 2 more times. I checked to make sure he wasn’t near retirement yet…he assured me he had at least another 15 or…
Leaping Past the Labels
Monkey is 8 years old and does back handsprings in my living room. Not my favorite place for that, admittedly, but considering as a toddler in foster care she was Failure to Thrive, and that she has Bipolar and Anxiety… I’m just happy she’s doing any leaping at all! Gymnastics and dance get her through…