emotional regulation
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Is a Broken Bone the Same as a Fracture?
For the first time in weeks, I thought I’d finally got an afternoon to myself. Then a phone call from school changed everything. A broken thumb, a full arm cast, and suddenly all the progress we’d worked so hard for felt like it was slipping through our fingers. As my son asked his usual big… Continue reading
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Can You Take a Picture of Me? PDA Bedtime Ritual Explained
A reflection on PDA bedtime rituals and how a simple nightly request from my son asking me to take a photo of him as he falls asleep has slowly become an essential part of his routine. What began as a small habit has grown into a powerful source of comfort, trust, and connection. Continue reading
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Why do we always see people we know?
Small town life means you always see someone you know. For my PDA son, that’s one of the hardest part of leaving the house. Continue reading
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What’s Your Plan for Today? The Reality of Parenting Exhaustion
Four school runs. A full working day. Hours spent helping my son regulate after school. This is the invisible reality of parenting exhaustion when you’re raising a PDA child struggling with school. Continue reading
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What Colour is Calm?
What does calm actually feel like for a PDA child? A heartfelt look at anxiety, meltdowns, and the reality of PDA emotional regulation in everyday life. Continue reading
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Grandma, can you please just stop talking?
Parenting a PDA child taught me that sometimes the most powerful communication strategy is saying nothing at all. Discover why silence, presence, and reducing demands helps children with PDA regulate and feel safe. Learn practical ways to support without overwhelming—through quiet connection instead of words Continue reading
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Does my sister love her friends more than her family?
“Does my sister love her friends more than her family?” My 7-year-old son asked me this question recently, and it made me realise he wasn’t really asking about his sister at all. He was trying to understand something much bigger — how love works, and whether it can exist for more than one person at… Continue reading
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Elf on the Shelf: Adjusting for Unique Family Needs
Elf on the Shelf was never meant to be this complicated. But when your child experiences the world differently, even festive traditions need careful thought, constant tweaks, and a lot of emotional labour. This is how Elf on the Shelf really looks in our house — and why it’s never been about the elf at… Continue reading
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How Do Fireworks Work?
I was surprised it had taken this long for him to ask. We’d had seven firework/bonfire nights in his lifetime and for every single one of them, he’d loved it yet he had never asked how fireworks work. Out of all the events that children go to or are part of, this was the one… Continue reading
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How has your back to school gone?
It’s the question I’ve been asked more than anything else over the past few weeks. Understandable, given the school avoidance we went through last school year. For two weeks straight, it’s all I’ve heard: “How has your back to school gone?” And honestly—it’s a hard one to answer. If things were going well, I almost… Continue reading