Parenting Your Sensitive Child

This week I want to really dive into what you can expect from my group program, Intentional Legacy Creators. Doors open for the fall cohort on Sunday, September 25th, and as that day approaches, I want to be sure that you are clear on the structure of the group, but also on the value of being in a group like this and why I created it. I created ILC because I wanted to build a container that would...

Now that we're settling into school, I want to take a little time to talk about how we can work with our kids' teachers. There is a long-standing trend of separating school and home in American culture, and it doesn't serve our children, our families, or our teachers. In this episode, I'm discussing what this looks like, and how you can start to shift into a more collaborative relationship between...

A couple weeks ago, while we were visiting family, my daughter got to have her first ever Nerf gun battle with her cousin. It was epic! She had so much fun. They even let her take a mini-nerf gun home with her. Well, she was playing around with it when we got back to her grandparents house, and she accidentally shot somebody in the side of the head. This week, I'm sharing this story as an example...

Summer is drawing to a close in the US, and that means many of you are transitioning back to school. Your child's schedule is changing and so is yours. This week we're taking a look at one of the common tendencies as we aproach big transitions: waiting. When you know change is coming, you're more likely to tell yourself you just need to hold out a bit longer to start that new project, or wait a fe...

This week we're taking a look at the subtleties of the language we use to describe our experience of parenting. Parenting is challenging. It's challenging for everyone. But what does it mean if parenting feels tricky? *** Are you on my email list? Claim any one of my free resources here and join the party! http://partneredpath.com/resources/ --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com...

We've been having a lot of fun around here over the past few weeks, including unexpected visits from out-of-state friends! One of the things that bubbled up in conversation over the weekend was this idea that we are somehow failing our children. It's fascinating; our brains throw out these critical assumptions, and we just believe them. We believe we must have made a mistake as parents and created...

One of the things that comes up when we shine the spotlight on you and your thinking from the very start is something I call Belief Denial. This is something that has come up for me in my own work with my coach, and I've seen it come up for my clients, too. See, this work we do is a bit like an excavation. We are looking for what's happening internally for you in those moments when you are having...

This week we're talking about how having the right amount of information can help a child who is spinning out in fear or anxiety about something that doesn't SEEM like it should be a big deal. If you find yourself thinking, "You're worried about that? That's really not a big deal. Would you please calm down," this is the episode for you. In this episode, I mention the beta offer I have going until...

Today we're talking about something that happens if you're trying to control your reactions as opposed to changing them. I call it creepy calm. This is very closely related to what I talked about in Episode 17: Cultivating Patience. It's a by-product of what I call white-knuckling patience (or calm). Essentially, it's when you have an emotional reaction to whatever your child is doing or saying, b...

. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/julia-mcgarey/support Get full access to The Blackbird Chronicles at juliamcgarey.substack.com/subscribe This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit partneredpathparenting.substack.com

Once or twice a month (at least!) I have a day when I just need to slow down. I either have a headache, brain fog, fatigue, or all three. For me, it's most likely a result of whatever's going on with my thyroid that day, but really the why of it isn't that important. What we're talking about this week is the specific circumstance of illness or fatigue and the beliefs I see parents carrying that in...

. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/julia-mcgarey/support Get full access to The Blackbird Chronicles at juliamcgarey.substack.com/subscribe This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit partneredpathparenting.substack.com

We've all heard the expression, "Work smarter, not harder." Really, it's about taking considered action, rather than taking action for action's sake. And if there's one thing most parents are good at, it's jumping into action! In this episode, we're taking a look at five different ways you can conserve your energy and do LESS, and still give your child the support they need. --- Support this podca...

Deciding to leave the ways of the past in the past (spanking, timeouts, or any other reward/punishment system) and forge a new path forward is the first step towards a new way of parenting, but it's definitely not the last. Forging your own path forward is not easy, simple, or straight-forward. It is multi-faceted and layered. Not hard, necessarily, but definitely on-going. Today we're talking abo...

Today we're breaking down the PATH Process. The PATH Process is my signature approach to navigating challenges with your children. It informs my own parenting daily, and it guides all of my coaching, even when I'm not teaching it explicitly. It consists of four steps: Pause, Acknowledge, Tell, and Help. Although it sounds simple, each step comes with its own challenges and mental barriers, and und...

When you pour water onto a sponge, eventually it hits a point of saturation. It doesn't matter how slowly you pour, every sponge has a point at which it can't take on any more water. And if you squeeze a saturated sponge, what happens? Water shoots out. Your child is like that sponge. Every conflict, every power struggle, every transition, every unexpressed emotion, and every additional layer of h...

Friendships can be hard for highly sensitive kids, and if your child happens to be highly sensitive and gifted, it adds another layer of challenge. It's hard for us, as parents, to watch our children struggle to make and keep friends. So, in this episode, we're exploring the challenges that highly sensitive children face when it comes to friendships, as well as how you can help them work through t...

. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/julia-mcgarey/support Get full access to The Blackbird Chronicles at juliamcgarey.substack.com/subscribe This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit partneredpathparenting.substack.com

. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/julia-mcgarey/support Get full access to The Blackbird Chronicles at juliamcgarey.substack.com/subscribe This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit partneredpathparenting.substack.com

This week we're talking about The Show. It's the show that comes on when your child pushes your buttons. The Mom Show. The Dad Show. The Grandma/Grandpa/Uncle Show... We're talking about it because so often the action of parents taking responsibility for their emotions and learning to temper their reactions is framed by the negative impact it might have on the child. Big reactions are a source of...

This week we're talking about a drive that I see in many of my clients and in the world around me, and that is the drive to fix things for their kids. I remember reading an article seven or eight years ago about how this generation of parents was morphing from helicopter parents - parents who hover - to snowplow parents - parents who clear all obstacles for their child, making life too easy. I wan...

In this week's episode we're talking about the power of offering your children choices. Regardless of what parenting books you've read (or haven't), you have probably heard that it's a good idea to offer your child choices. And I agree. Having a say in what they do is empowering and can help reduce the number of power struggles you are experiencing with your child. However, sometimes I talk to par...

Say your child is trying to do a Lego set that is a little advanced for them and they give up as soon as they hit the first confusing bit. Or they want to draw a picture of a unicorn and it doesn't come out exactly the way they want it to. And it seems like they are just too much of a perfectionist or they lack perseverance.  But really they haven't built up the skill of tolerating and working thr...

Today we're talking about how we view our children and the language we use to describe them. The language we use matters. It has the power to shift our thinking, even if it's subtle. And sometimes a subtle shift in thinking is all it takes to set us on an entirely different course. Now, I want to get a little more specific because my intention with this episode isn't to explore our language use in...

. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/julia-mcgarey/support Get full access to The Blackbird Chronicles at juliamcgarey.substack.com/subscribe This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit partneredpathparenting.substack.com