On The Hard Days

...AND you get to decide if you hold them! The theme for our mini-episodes this week is boundaries . Each day, I'll touch upon a way I view this topic that has helped me understand and accept myself as a mother of a neurodiverse child. Thank you so much for tuning in. Does this episode resonate with you today? Please reach out and send me a DM on Instagram , or email me at ontheharddays@gmail...

*Special Introduction: Mothers Together re-opens on September 1st! This is the place you can't find anywhere else on the internet - a judgement-free community with small support groups for moms like us, raising neurodiverse kids. Head to ontheharddays.com/motherstogether to sign up! In This Episode: Charlotte is a mom who, just like the rest of us, fights fiercely for her child. We discuss at...

*Special Introduction: Mothers Together re-opens on September 1st! This is the place you can't find anywhere else on the internet - a judgement-free community with small support groups for moms like us, raising neurodiverse kids. Head to ontheharddays.com/motherstogether to sign up! In This Episode: Amy is a caregiver coach, a parent advocate, an author, and the mom of a neurodiverse child. I...

What an episode! Mathilde not only has neurodiverse children, but she herself has ADHD. She also has a doctorate in neuroscience and is the co-founder of Fly Little Dragon (see more below!) In this great conversation, we touch on: -Using PLAY techniques to help with executive functioning struggles -Rethinking how we get our kids to do tasks they hate (such as chores) -Giving ourselves permission t...

If you follow me on IG, you know I've been quiet the last week or so. We've had an unexpected, tragic death in our family - completely altering our lives. In this mini-episode, I talk more about that, a funny story about Mr. 5 and how he's processing grief, and a neighbor whose words brought me back to the microphone. It's an 11 minute update on appreciating this life - even on...

Guys, I'm switching things up on you this week! Today's episode is...just ME! I have a lot to talk about, including: -What happened AFTER the rock-bottom parenting moment (see Episode 1!) -The difference between Level 0, 1, or 2 Support -Launching my support group community, Mothers Together. Ready to sign up for Mothers Together? Click THIS LINK.

Abigail hit on SO many truths about raising our neurodiverse kids - especially when it comes to education and giftedness. She talked about the fears we have, as moms, in meeting our kids' out-of-the-box needs, but if we push past them and lean in to who our kids truly are, we will meet their needs and ours. Abigail's son makes an appearance in this episode (more than once!), really bring...

Chrystal is an active military wife and mom - and this is important because every time she moves (and it's quite often), she loses her entire support system! Her child has struggled immensely, and Chrystal does a beautiful job of explaining the system of traumas (both little and big) that she goes through in her motherhood. One of the most real and raw conversations I've had yet on the s...

What we've all been missing is - support. After months of talking with so many of you about how YOU feel  in raising your neurodiverse child, it's clear that you're not getting the support you need - the comradery, the solidarity, the understanding without judgement.  Until I met you guys, neither was I. In this bonus mini episode, I'm giving you guys an inside look into my bra...

Stephanie Smith has a gifted, learning-disabled child. Relatable? Twice Exceptionality is the focus of our talk, as Stephanie brings just the right amount of blunt realness to make you vigorously shake your head and say - "That's my kid!" (Or at least I did that, multiple times.) We talk ALL about raising 2E, neurodiverse kids. Specifically, we focus on: -Recognizing the gifts in ne...

Guys. I struggled to find the right title for this episode, because Kim dropped so many golden nuggets - how could I possibly represent all that she said in one sentence? We talked ALL about raising 2E, neurodiverse kids. Specifically, we focused on: -The importance of being an authority to our 2E kids (but in a positive way) -How being inconsistent as a mom is often better than consistency The im...

If you have a neurodiverse child in school, you'll know that our society's system of education doesn't often meet their needs. Delphine Rule is a special education teacher and an advocate for parents raising out-of-the-box kids. In this important episode, we discuss how and why parents need to advocate for their kids in a school setting. -Bonus episodes of my motherhood journey come...

I really, really love this episode. This was one of those where I continued to think about it, days after recording. Kendra Rogers has four neurodiverse children. Four. If anyone understands being deep in the trenches of tough motherhood moments, it's her. But in our conversation, she's excitedly telling me all about her children's STRENGTHS. Because not only does focusing on their...

Welcome to my first bonus episode of the ongoing series, "A Day In The Life". I'm excited to start bringing you weekly content that goes back to sharing my journey in raising a neurodiverse child.  After today's episode, all future "A Day In The Life" episodes will be featured on my Patreon. You can find that at patreon.com/ontheharddays . Thank you for your ongoing s...

Does your out-of-the-box child feel misunderstood at school? Listen to the story of Alesssandra Rosa, whose son was kicked out of MULTIPLE preschools and has led her on a mission of advocating for the education of not only her own child, but of asynchronous kids everywhere. This one may just hit home! -Support the show (and get bonus content like exclusive episodes and Zoom calls with me!) by goin...

What does your inner voice tell you about yourself as a mother? In this episode, the wonderful Jasmine Turner discusses the power that mothers have, the importance of tapping into the true "you", and trusting your gut. It was such a powerful episode that I continued to think about it for days after we recorded! I hope it does the same for you! -Support the show (and get bonus content lik...

*Trigger Warning*: The first 16 minutes of this episode discuss the topics of infertility and pregnancy loss. "It's shifting from that old paradigm of that harsh discipline, of like, the child is an extension of us, and the fixing, and the behavior-based, and the time-outs, and the rules, and the achievement-based - it's more like just that processing it together, living it together...

*Warning: There is swearing in this episode. Do not listen with kids around!* "We talk about mental health being important, but what's important is being open to what you have, and being open to the fact that it's gonna be a journey to heal. And actually, what's crazy? What's crazy is the journey never ends."

"Respecting that your child's emotions are different to yours, and giving them space to have them - and a safe space. Giving them the knowledge that, no matter how you feel, 'I love you, my love is unconditional, I don't love you more when you're quiet or well-behaved or listening to me. I love you all the time. So much so, that you are screaming at me right now but I&apos...

"But I think when you have this idea of how things are gonna go, and they don't meet those expectations, it can be really difficult as a mother....When I started seeing [rage], I had no idea that could be a symptom of anxiety. I thought I was just mean now. And that makes me so sad to say! Am I just not a nice person anymore? Do I have no patience, no tolerance? But it's anxiety bec...

"I played out a whole scene in my head. Those are intrusive thoughts and I didn't know this at the time, I thought this was normal. I knew I was a worrier, but that's all I knew." "So that's not normal?" "That's anxiety. That is anxiety. I don't even like the word 'normal'. What is normal? It's not that it's not normal. But it i...

"I fell in love with changing people's lives. It fills my cup. It makes me happy. You know, being a stay-at-home mom, you're in this constant rut of doing the same things every day. You're doing dishes, you're doing laundry, you're cleaning, you're vacuuming, it's everything constantly. You're doing all their needs, which is great and I love them, but I...

"In my experience, what I've found is more of a gentle parenting, respectful parenting approach seems to work best. And really helping them build that feeling vocabulary, and helping them manage their emotions through the use of strategies. So really ultimately what we  want is these kiddos to be able to get to a place of internally managing their emotions like we do as adults, but of co...

"And it's like, 'Give me a SECOND. I need to go to the bathroom. What part of that do you not understand?' And it goes into this like, 'Who Am I?' Like, I cannot recognize who this person is speaking and it's like I'm standing outside of my body, staring at this person yelling, being like, 'What are you doing?' But I have zero control over it.&quot...