Philosophy
It’s OK to Wear Earplugs
This was a game-changer for me, so maybe it will be for you: You’re allowed to wear earplugs. It took until about 2021 for me to confirm something that I had suspected for a long […]
At Home
Everything is Sensory
PSA: Everything is “sensory”! (And, again, like I mentioned yesterday…”sensory” is actually an adjective, not a noun…that’s me being pedantic, but it is something that really indicates to me whether I’m talking to somebody who […]
Autism
Dear Autism
Dear Autism, You are the reason why my little boy gets passionately invested in particular things the way that he does. Ever since he was tiny it has always been this way, because of the […]
Philosophy
The “One Right Thing”
The WHY behind what parenting choices we make matters sometimes maybe even more than WHAT parenting choice we make. About four seconds before bedtime, my then-4yo switched which toy he wanted to bring to bed […]
At School
Let Them Be 5
There is no need to borrow worry from the future. And that’s exactly what this kind of thinking is: it’s borrowing worry. 5 year olds are not just future adults. They are also present 5 […]
At Home
“Sore Loser”
To speak in very general terms of averages — because that’s all I can talk about, is average child development, not your kid’s specific child development — 5-6 is when children start to really become […]
Child Development
Things We Don’t Know
“Sometimes, my son asks me a question. If I tell him I don’t know the answer—and I truly don’t know the answer—he’ll get mad and protest, ‘you DO know!’ How do I explain to him […]
Philosophy
The Stories We Tell Ourselves
I read a post in one of my favorite facebook groups the other day that made something so incredibly clear to me, that I sometimes struggle to put into words clearly enough for other parents […]
At Home
Diagnosing
If a child called “oppositionally defiant” could label the adults in their life, what kinds of things might they call them? Needlessly antagonistic? Endlessly demanding? Perhaps their adults themselves would receive the diagnosis of ODD […]
At Home
Everyone is Sensory
PSA: Everyone is “sensory”. 😊 (A second, more pedantic, more pet-peevy PSA: “sensory” is an adjective, not a noun!) Everyone in the world has a sensory system. Everyone interacts with the world around them through […]