Tantrum of the Week

The backpack opens, you see what needs to get done, and your whole body tenses up. Sound familiar? This week's tantrum is the nightly homework fight, and let's be honest, we're often having a tantrum about it right along with our kids.

Homework meltdowns don't always look like kicking and screaming on the floor. They can look like tears, arguing, a million stalling techniques ("I'm hungry," "I just have to go get a pencil"), or a kid who completely shuts down. In this episode, we talk about how to lower the heat in the moment with a simple reset, and why that refusal might not be defiance at all. Often it's a kid who has used up every bit of willpower keeping it together all day, or who is scared of getting it wrong in front of the people who matter most to them.

When we see our child as misbehaving, we're inclined to punish. When we see them as struggling, we're inclined to support. From there, we'll walk through building a routine that removes the nightly negotiation, how to find out how much homework really matters for your child, and why letting natural consequences do the teaching can be one of the most powerful lessons of all.

The goal isn't a house with zero homework struggles. It's a smaller fight, less often, and a little more peace in your evenings together.

Hang in there. You got this.

Thanks for listening to *Tantrum of the Week* with Lynn McLean, LCSW-S, Registered Play Therapist–Supervisor™.

New episodes each week to help parents understand and respond to their child’s biggest feelings with calm, confidence, and connection.

Learn more about play therapy and parent coaching in Houston, Texas: https://www.houstonfamilytherapyassociates.com/

Follow us on Instagram: @lmcleanlcsw

Check us out on Facebook: Lynn M. McLean, LCSW

📩 Join our email list for parenting tips and updates: https://lynnmclean.podia.com/newsletter

❤️ If you found this helpful, please follow, rate, and share the podcast to help other parents find support.

It's bedtime, and you just found out the field trip permission slip was due yesterday. Your seven-year-old is in tears, you're juggling three different practice schedules and a big work deadline, and before you know it, you've joined them in the tantrum. Sound familiar? You're not alone.

This week's tantrum is a mutual one, and we're talking about what to do in the moment and what's really underneath it. First, take a breath. Nobody did anything terrible here. You're human, your brain is overloaded, and your kid is still little. We'll walk through how to calm yourself so you can help your child calm down, what to fix first (hint: it's probably not the emergency it feels like), and how to forgive yourself and empathize with your child, even if the problem can't be fully solved.

Then we'll zoom out to the bigger issue: activity overwhelm. So many of us treat every opportunity like an obligation, afraid our kids will fall behind if we say no. But research shows more activities don't reliably mean better outcomes, and after a certain point they can just add stress and anxiety. You know your child better than any coach or teacher ever will, and if your gut says you're doing too much, trust it.

Thanks for listening to *Tantrum of the Week* with Lynn McLean, LCSW-S, Registered Play Therapist–Supervisor™.

New episodes each week to help parents understand and respond to their child’s biggest feelings with calm, confidence, and connection.

Learn more about play therapy and parent coaching in Houston, Texas: https://www.houstonfamilytherapyassociates.com/

Follow us on Instagram: @lmcleanlcsw

Check us out on Facebook: Lynn M. McLean, LCSW

📩 Join our email list for parenting tips and updates: https://lynnmclean.podia.com/newsletter

❤️ If you found this helpful, please follow, rate, and share the podcast to help other parents find support.

They were fine. You picked them up, they were fine. The car ride home, fine. And then — over a snack they asked for — everything falls apart. In this episode, we talk through one of the most common (and most confusing) parenting moments: the after-school meltdown. We dig into what's actually happening underneath the tears and defiance, why a "great day" at school so often leads straight to a breakdown at home, and how to stay grounded when your own patience is running thin too. You'll walk away with a simple way to think about those first twenty minutes home — and a small shift that can change how the whole evening goes. If this sounds familiar, you're not doing anything wrong. Come sit with us for a bit.

Thanks for listening to *Tantrum of the Week* with Lynn McLean, LCSW-S, Registered Play Therapist–Supervisor™.

New episodes each week to help parents understand and respond to their child’s biggest feelings with calm, confidence, and connection.

Learn more about play therapy and parent coaching in Houston, Texas: https://www.houstonfamilytherapyassociates.com/

Follow us on Instagram: @lmcleanlcsw

Check us out on Facebook: Lynn M. McLean, LCSW

📩 Join our email list for parenting tips and updates: https://lynnmclean.podia.com/newsletter

❤️ If you found this helpful, please follow, rate, and share the podcast to help other parents find support.

You know the feeling? It's Sunday night, you've had a great weekend, and the second you open your calendar app your shoulders tense up. Practices, school events, work stuff, and oh right — you still need lunch stuff for tomorrow. That dread doesn't turn into "okay, I got this." It turns into snapping at everyone around you, staying up too late trying to get ahead, and starting Monday already wiped out.

This week we're talking about the parent tantrum — what happens when the invisible mental load of being the family's project manager finally catches up with you. We get into why this isn't about being disorganized (it's not!), how the dread can start showing up before the week even begins, and the belief that a "good parent" has it all together, every lunchbox perfect, every kid thriving 24/7. Spoiler: it doesn't have to look like that.

We talk through giving yourself permission to be imperfect, handing off tasks to your kids (yes, even the little ones can learn the washing machine), and why taking care of yourself isn't selfish — it's what keeps you able to show up for them.

Thanks for listening to *Tantrum of the Week* with Lynn McLean, LCSW-S, Registered Play Therapist–Supervisor™.

New episodes each week to help parents understand and respond to their child’s biggest feelings with calm, confidence, and connection.

Learn more about play therapy and parent coaching in Houston, Texas: https://www.houstonfamilytherapyassociates.com/

Follow us on Instagram: @lmcleanlcsw

Check us out on Facebook: Lynn M. McLean, LCSW

📩 Join our email list for parenting tips and updates: https://lynnmclean.podia.com/newsletter

❤️ If you found this helpful, please follow, rate, and share the podcast to help other parents find support.

We usually think of tantrums as something kids have — but this episode is about the tantrum parents have. You know the one: a folder of school paperwork, an offhand comment from a teacher, or a social media post about another kid's reading level, and suddenly you're spiraling, panicking, and up late Googling tutoring programs. We unpack why that anxiety shows up disguised as productivity, why one data point rarely tells the whole story, how kids absorb our worry even when we don't say it out loud, and what actually helps a struggling learner more than another worksheet or flashcard session. Spoiler: it's your calm, not your curriculum.

Thanks for listening to *Tantrum of the Week* with Lynn McLean, LCSW-S, Registered Play Therapist–Supervisor™.

New episodes each week to help parents understand and respond to their child’s biggest feelings with calm, confidence, and connection.

Learn more about play therapy and parent coaching in Houston, Texas: https://www.houstonfamilytherapyassociates.com/

Follow us on Instagram: @lmcleanlcsw

Check us out on Facebook: Lynn M. McLean, LCSW

📩 Join our email list for parenting tips and updates: https://lynnmclean.podia.com/newsletter

❤️ If you found this helpful, please follow, rate, and share the podcast to help other parents find support.

Top 10 Tips to Survive the School Year (Without All the Tantrums)

The excitement of new backpacks and first-day photos has worn off, and now it's week three: homework is piling up, shoes are missing, and everyone's exhausted. In this episode, we're tackling the small daily friction points that build up until someone (kid or parent) blows up.

You'll get 10 practical, easy-to-implement strategies for the school year ahead, including how to set expectations you can actually stick to, why a dedicated homework station cuts down on power struggles, how to protect sleep without obsessing over wake-up time, and why praising effort matters more than praising results. Plus, the most important tip of all: taking care of yourself, because you're your household's emotional thermostat.

You don't need to overhaul everything. Just pick one idea that fits your family, and give yourself grace on the days it doesn't go perfectly.

Thanks for listening to *Tantrum of the Week* with Lynn McLean, LCSW-S, Registered Play Therapist–Supervisor™.

New episodes each week to help parents understand and respond to their child’s biggest feelings with calm, confidence, and connection.

Learn more about play therapy and parent coaching in Houston, Texas: https://www.houstonfamilytherapyassociates.com/

Follow us on Instagram: @lmcleanlcsw

Check us out on Facebook: Lynn M. McLean, LCSW

📩 Join our email list for parenting tips and updates: https://lynnmclean.podia.com/newsletter

❤️ If you found this helpful, please follow, rate, and share the podcast to help other parents find support.

This week's tantrum doesn't look like a tantrum at all — it's a high schooler flatly refusing to go to school. As the first day approaches, junior-year pressures (college talk, testing, shifting friendships) are piling up, and instead of melting down, this teen just digs in: I'm not going. You can't make me.

We talk about why a parent's instinct to argue and persuade often backfires, and how getting curious instead — asking open questions, playing detective — can uncover what's really going on underneath the resistance. Plus: how to shrink an overwhelming first week into manageable steps, and how to solve social friction (carpools, shifting friend groups) without caving or over-fixing. If back-to-school season is turning into a standoff at your house, this one's for you.

Thanks for listening to *Tantrum of the Week* with Lynn McLean, LCSW-S, Registered Play Therapist–Supervisor™.

New episodes each week to help parents understand and respond to their child’s biggest feelings with calm, confidence, and connection.

Learn more about play therapy and parent coaching in Houston, Texas: https://www.houstonfamilytherapyassociates.com/

Follow us on Instagram: @lmcleanlcsw

Check us out on Facebook: Lynn M. McLean, LCSW

📩 Join our email list for parenting tips and updates: https://lynnmclean.podia.com/newsletter

❤️ If you found this helpful, please follow, rate, and share the podcast to help other parents find support.

It's the first day of middle school, and the shirt your kid loved last week is suddenly "unwearable." Cue slammed drawers, tears, and a full refusal to go. In this episode, we unpack why tantrums from bigger kids can feel so much more intense and personal and what's really going on underneath (hint: it's not about the shirt). You'll get simple, practical steps for staying calm, helping your child reset, and getting out the door without a battle.

Thanks for listening to *Tantrum of the Week* with Lynn McLean, LCSW-S, Registered Play Therapist–Supervisor™.

New episodes each week to help parents understand and respond to their child’s biggest feelings with calm, confidence, and connection.

Learn more about play therapy and parent coaching in Houston, Texas: https://www.houstonfamilytherapyassociates.com/

Follow us on Instagram: @lmcleanlcsw

Check us out on Facebook: Lynn M. McLean, LCSW

📩 Join our email list for parenting tips and updates: https://lynnmclean.podia.com/newsletter

❤️ If you found this helpful, please follow, rate, and share the podcast to help other parents find support.

A familiar school, a big surprise, and a stomachache that won't quit. This week's tantrum: a third grader finds out their best friend isn't in their class — and refuses to go to school the next morning. We talk through why anxiety can cause very real physical symptoms, how to respond without arguing or getting stuck in a power struggle, and how to send your child off with confidence (and welcome them back with pride). If mornings have been rocky at your house lately, this one's for you.

Thanks for listening to *Tantrum of the Week* with Lynn McLean, LCSW-S, Registered Play Therapist–Supervisor™.

New episodes each week to help parents understand and respond to their child’s biggest feelings with calm, confidence, and connection.

Learn more about play therapy and parent coaching in Houston, Texas: https://www.houstonfamilytherapyassociates.com/

Follow us on Instagram: @lmcleanlcsw

Check us out on Facebook: Lynn M. McLean, LCSW

📩 Join our email list for parenting tips and updates: https://lynnmclean.podia.com/newsletter

❤️ If you found this helpful, please follow, rate, and share the podcast to help other parents find support.

Tantrum of the Week: Surviving the First Day of Preschool

Back-to-school season is creeping up fast, and for some little ones, that means a big first: starting preschool. In this episode, we tackle a tantrum that's all too common this time of year — a preschooler who melts down at drop-off, clinging, crying, and refusing to let go, even after weeks of careful preparation at home.

We talk through why this kind of separation anxiety is so normal (and so hard on parents too), and walk through practical, in-the-moment strategies you can use the next time it happens: staying calm so your child can co-regulate with you, working with teachers on a soothing handoff, using transition objects like a photo or favorite stuffed animal, and setting up predictable, event-based routines your child can actually understand and rely on.

If you're dreading drop-off this fall, this episode is your reminder: this is a learning process for both of you, and it gets easier with consistency and time.

In this episode:

• Why preschool can be a great fit — when the timing and setting are right
• What to do in the moment during a drop-off meltdown
• Building consistency, routines, and a clear pickup plan
• Using transition objects and partnering with the school

For more parenting tips, free downloads, and to join our email list, check the link in our bio!

Thanks for listening to *Tantrum of the Week* with Lynn McLean, LCSW-S, Registered Play Therapist–Supervisor™.

New episodes each week to help parents understand and respond to their child’s biggest feelings with calm, confidence, and connection.

Learn more about play therapy and parent coaching in Houston, Texas: https://www.houstonfamilytherapyassociates.com/

Follow us on Instagram: @lmcleanlcsw

Check us out on Facebook: Lynn M. McLean, LCSW

📩 Join our email list for parenting tips and updates: https://lynnmclean.podia.com/newsletter

❤️ If you found this helpful, please follow, rate, and share the podcast to help other parents find support.