For those who missed today’s Livestream, or want to go back and check on something I said, here’s the transcript!
Category Archives: Parenting
Out from the Clutches of Worry, Fear and Control
Over on @parentingforward, @cindybrandt was talking about the way we worry as parents. She said, “Every parent worries. To love is to worry. What if that doesn’t have to be true? What if we can learn better coping mechanisms for our anxieties so that we don’t exchange them with our children? What if we don’tContinue reading “Out from the Clutches of Worry, Fear and Control”
A ‘Third Way’
Do you ever feel backed into a corner in an argument? Or forced to choose sides between polarizing forces? Perhaps in your intimate partner or family relationships? Perhaps in our wider, increasingly divisive social sphere? One of the biggest relationship-savers that Trevor and I have discovered over the last few years is to recognize whenContinue reading “A ‘Third Way’”
National Coming Out Day
Today is National Coming Out day. This is a picture of my husband and I at our local Pride Parade this summer wearing t-shirts that said “Free Mom Hugs” and “Free Dad Hugs”. But we are more than allies. We are a straight-passing, mixed orientation marriage. That means that, in my case, I am attractedContinue reading “National Coming Out Day”
To A New Special Needs Parent As My Eldest Leaves For University
Welcome to a fantastic journey – one you never asked for, signed up for or (probably) trained for. As much as it feels that your world has come crashing down around you, or that you can’t possibly handle this, the truth is more complicated than that. The truth is that there will be high’s and lo’s to this journey that you may only be able to appreciate down the road. The truth is also that you already have the one key ingredient for success: you love your child.
4 Lessons I’ve Learned as a Disabled Parent of Kids with Disabilities
This post was first published on ‘The Mighty‘ March 11, 2019, but I always like to repost my writings here as well. https://themighty.com/2019/03/disabled-parent-disabled-children/ I’ve spent my entire life in the disabled world, so I’ve seen lots of personal stories about living with a disability and what that’s like, and I’ve seen lots of stories about people’s experiencesContinue reading “4 Lessons I’ve Learned as a Disabled Parent of Kids with Disabilities”
Autism, Cat-munication and Joining
What do you do when you realize your child has Autism but your research listening to #ActuallyAutistic folks leads you to think that ABA and IBI isn’t a great option for your child? For parents looking for something better, joining can be a powerful alternative. I participate actively in a number of parenting message boardsContinue reading “Autism, Cat-munication and Joining”
Back-to-School Checklist – Rhythm, Ritual and Rest
Today we’re going to finish our ‘back-to-school checklist’. We’ve already looked at ‘next right steps’ and ‘celebration’, and today we’re moving on to Rhythm, Ritual and Rest.
Back-to-School Checklist – Celebration
The wonderful thing about ‘next right steps’ parenting is that it gives us lots of chances to CELEBRATE with our child! And children desperately need more celebration!
Back-to-School Checklist – ‘Next Right Steps’
This week I want to remind you of three of my favourite tools for raising adults by 18 – ‘next right steps’, celebration, and rhythm, ritual and rest.