This Is Not What I Was Expecting

In the real world the holidays don't always go as planned. In the moment things can feel like a disaster but so often looking back they're some of our favorite memories. In today's podcast the Parent Alliance team shares some of their favorite mishaps and ideas for managing those holiday expectations.

Help your child prepare for holiday socialization with ideas from the Understanding your child's social battery tip sheet: https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/understanding-social-batteries

What are your favorite holiday mishaps? We'd love to hear! 

For one on one support at no cost to parents of children with behavior and mental health challenges in PA visit: https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/one-on-one-help

Find out more about the PA Parent and Family Alliance and how you can support our work at https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/donation

To access any tip sheets and booklets we talk about visit: https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/parenting-resources

To be the first to know about our events, read stories of success from families raising children with mental health challenges and more sign up to join the Parent Alliance community: https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/join-the-community

It's never easy to talk with your child about topics that are scary, awkward or safety focused. But when your child has anxiety, depression or any mental health challenge you, as a parent, can feel like you're walking a tightrope between giving them the information they need and not needlessly upsetting them. Join Melissa, Perl and Chrissy to hear how they navigate those tough parenting conversations.

If you're concerned about your child's mental well being here's a tip sheet on How To Talk To Your Child About Suicide  https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/talkaboutsuicide

For one on one support at no cost to parents of children with behavior and mental health challenges in PA visit: https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/one-on-one-help

Find out more about the PA Parent and Family Alliance and how you can support our work at https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/donation

To access any tip sheets and booklets we talk about visit: https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/parenting-resources

To be the first to know about our events, read stories of success from families raising children with mental health challenges and more sign up to join the Parent Alliance community: https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/join-the-community

This fall the Parent Alliance team held a youth, young adult and parents conference. We learned so much we wanted to share the highlights with those who couldn't make it. Join us to catch up without having to leave your house.

We won't be posting next week since it's Thanksgiving but we hope you have a nice day filled with love and peace. 

For one on one support at no cost to parents of children with behavior and mental health challenges in PA visit: https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/one-on-one-help

Find out more about the PA Parent and Family Alliance and how you can support our work at https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/donation

To access any tip sheets and booklets we talk about visit: https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/parenting-resources

To be the first to know about our events, read stories of success from families raising children with mental health challenges and more sign up to join the Parent Alliance community: https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/join-the-community

We shared the Parent Alliance's tip sheet for Understanding your Child's Social Battery: https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/understanding-social-batteries

We're always here to provide one on one parent peer support to parents living in PA at no cost: https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/one-on-one-help

For one on one support at no cost to parents of children with behavior and mental health challenges in PA visit: https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/one-on-one-help

Find out more about the PA Parent and Family Alliance and how you can support our work at https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/donation

To access any tip sheets and booklets we talk about visit: https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/parenting-resources

To be the first to know about our events, read stories of success from families raising children with mental health challenges and more sign up to join the Parent Alliance community: https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/join-the-community

We shared the Emotional Safety Planning tip sheet. There's versions for parents, kiddos and we didn't leave out our Spanish speaking parents! There's a version for you as well. https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/emotional-safety-plan

It's also never too early or too late to help our children learn some mindfulness exercises. Check out those along with morning affirmations and other quick tips for your kiddos and yourself! https://www.youtube.com/shorts/xbcaVtrY2jM

You can also check out the Mindfulness webinar Awaken Pittsburgh did for us: https://youtu.be/ih-VSk-a4gs

For one on one support at no cost to parents of children with behavior and mental health challenges in PA visit: https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/one-on-one-help

Find out more about the PA Parent and Family Alliance and how you can support our work at https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/donation

To access any tip sheets and booklets we talk about visit: https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/parenting-resources

To be the first to know about our events, read stories of success from families raising children with mental health challenges and more sign up to join the Parent Alliance community: https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/join-the-community

If you live in Pennsylvania and would like to work one on one with a Parent Alliance teammate reach out to us here: https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/one-on-one-help

For one on one support at no cost to parents of children with behavior and mental health challenges in PA visit: https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/one-on-one-help

Find out more about the PA Parent and Family Alliance and how you can support our work at https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/donation

To access any tip sheets and booklets we talk about visit: https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/parenting-resources

To be the first to know about our events, read stories of success from families raising children with mental health challenges and more sign up to join the Parent Alliance community: https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/join-the-community

We talked about and shared the following resources today: https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/bullying-prevention 

For one on one support at no cost to parents of children with behavior and mental health challenges in PA visit: https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/one-on-one-help

Find out more about the PA Parent and Family Alliance and how you can support our work at https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/donation

To access any tip sheets and booklets we talk about visit: https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/parenting-resources

To be the first to know about our events, read stories of success from families raising children with mental health challenges and more sign up to join the Parent Alliance community: https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/join-the-community

We talked about a lot of resources available on our website. 

Check out our Juvenile Justice eBook https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/juvenile-justice-ebook

Other tip sheets we talked about, like the Social Battery tip sheet can be found here: https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/tip-sheets

We're still putting the finishing touches on the Friendship eBook. Visit our What's New page to see it as soon as it's published: https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/what-s-new

For one on one support at no cost to parents of children with behavior and mental health challenges in PA visit: https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/one-on-one-help

Find out more about the PA Parent and Family Alliance and how you can support our work at https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/donation

To access any tip sheets and booklets we talk about visit: https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/parenting-resources

To be the first to know about our events, read stories of success from families raising children with mental health challenges and more sign up to join the Parent Alliance community: https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/join-the-community

This week we really rely on the excellent information from the PA Education Law Center (ELC) and their truancy resources: https://www.elc-pa.org/truancy/

Check out the webinar the ELC did for us on the topic of Truancy. Attorney Wakelin did an excellent job of breaking down each important section of the law and clearly spelling out how schools should be working with Pennsylvania parents to help their children attend rather than punish them for missing. https://youtu.be/lzT5OVYS9aY

If you'd like to talk with a Family Support Partner about your specific challenges reach out to us and schedule a free one on one appointment https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/one-on-one-help

We understand because we've been there.  

For one on one support at no cost to parents of children with behavior and mental health challenges in PA visit: https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/one-on-one-help

Find out more about the PA Parent and Family Alliance and how you can support our work at https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/donation

To access any tip sheets and booklets we talk about visit: https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/parenting-resources

To be the first to know about our events, read stories of success from families raising children with mental health challenges and more sign up to join the Parent Alliance community: https://www.paparentandfamilyalliance.org/join-the-community