Dr. Jerrod Brown joins me again today for a rather heavy important topic - FASD and Problematic Behaviors: A Neurobiopsychosocial Perspective.

Dr. Jerrod explains -"My goal today is maybe to tease apart what could be going on if someone does engage in

*"There are a multitude of factors we need to take into account. I

Grab a cup of coffee, a pen, and a notebook! Get ready to learn!

Parenting is hard, we all know that. While I believe it is one of the most important jobs in life, that doesn’t mean it is easy. My early view of parenting (before I had kiddos) was a sun-filled kitchen with happy kiddos who wanted to help me with the dishes or set the table. In my pre-child view, I was showered, dressed in nice clothes, and had make-up on every day. Then I had kiddos. 

Six kids later, four through adoption, I’d grasped the importance of schedule, proactive parenting, and these tips I’m sharing with you today. My sunny view returned despite the cloudy and sometimes stormy days. The tips I’m sharing today are like a buffet. Pick and choose what works for you. The point of the practical tips is to bring the sunny view of parenthood back into your life, i.e., alleviate decision fatigue and bring more peace and power in your parenting. Let’s get started!

 Renee Mill, a clinical psychologist, and a neuro psychotherapist, is a returning guest. She joins me to talk about a super important topic for trauma-informed parents - parenting neurodiverse children. Parenting is hard. Add some neurodiversity to the mix and you've got a whole new level of difficulty. We also deal with shame and guilt.

Renee shares-

"We have to find a way of coming to terms with who they are and learning to value them. That can be quite a long journey. It’s a delicate balance between being a loving and committed parent but finding a space where you can actually allow yourself to work through those, what parents call, “ugly” feelings."

Dr. Jerrod Brown is back to talk about blood sugar dysregulation.

"So, when you think of disruptions in one’s blood sugar, it could be hyperglycemia, our blood sugar goes too high. It could be hypoglycemia, where it goes too low. Or it could just be up-and-down fluctuations of your blood sugar levels throughout the day. I think a  lot of people always think that maybe this only applies to people with diabetes, but if you skip a meal, if someone has a tendency to always skip breakfast, that can have an impact on blood sugar levels. It absolutely can make it go lower."

If your child is struggling with lots of dysregulation and you've ruled out everything else, you might want to look into blood sugar regulation! 

Grab a cup of coffee, a notebook, a pen, and get ready to learn with Dr. Jerrod!

One of the major stressors when raising kiddos with Capital Letter Syndromes/trauma histories is getting food on the table. When you’re going through a period of adjustment to kiddos coming “home” or a season of medical issues, jumping through hoops to get a diagnosis, or your kiddo is stuck in a cycle of regression, getting food on the table is overwhelming, and often on the list.

This practical tip to help eliminate decision fatigue and give you more peace and power in your parenting is actually two-pronged. First of all, in our culture, we seem to eat on the run – a lot. When we do this, going through a drive-through before soccer practice or skipping sitting down at the table for meals, it affects us physically, mentally, and emotionally. 

Grab a cup of coffee and join me as I share why family meals are so important, weekly meal plans, and a more in-depth explanation of the concept of the snack basket!

Continuing a series of practical tips, my friend Megan joins me to introduce us to Freezer Cooking! 

Megan shares -

I have a Child with capital letter syndrome. For YEARS prior to connecting with the right professionals and getting a diagnosis, things were so difficult. I couldn't cook meals because I was constantly intervening and trying to manage meltdowns. 

I couldn't load up in the car to go get fast food because that just resulted in fighting, meltdowns, and even unsafe behavior in the car. 

I felt like routines were non-existent. 

I was exhausted and I felt like my life was in constant chaos. 

After a LONG road, I finally found a routine for myself that helped get my family on a routine--it was a way to get food on the table on time, which led to getting kids to bed on time, and even getting to spend some quality family time together. Most of all, it was one routine I learned to manage that allowed me to feel successful again. I went from feeling like I couldn’t accomplish anything, to feeling like even on the hardest days at least I could get a nutritious meal on the table for my family. 

Grab a cup of coffee and an apron! Get ready to learn about the routine of freezer cooking with Megan!

This is the first podcast in a series of Five Simple Practices To Alleviate Decision Fatigue and Give You More Peace and Power in Your Parenting.

One. Create (and use) a schedule. Creating a schedule seems like a no-brainer especially when you have many time-sensitive responsibilities on your calendar. Raising kiddos with trauma histories and/or Capital Letter Syndromes makes this practice doubly important. For instance, if you know your kiddos need to get out the door for school, baseball, a therapy appointment, or fill-in-the-blank, you write it on your calendar.

A schedule is freeing. It – as the headline promises – alleviates decision fatigue and gives you more peace and power in your parenting. What? How can a schedule do that?

Listen to learn more!  I walk through two scenarios, one without a detailed scheduled plan, and the second with a detailed plan. Grab a cup of coffee and learn the importance of a schedule explained in a practical detailed way that you've probably never heard of!

Dr. Jerrod Brown is back to talk about Positive Psychological Traits. I'm super excited about this positive episode -things we can do in our own lives to promote positive thinking and mindset. As Dr. Jerrod points out, we talk about a lot of heavy topics on a regular basis on this podcast. This episode is a nice encouraging break.

The approaches Dr. Jerrod shares are holistic and practical things you CAN integrate into your life starting today.

If you're ready for a positive boost to your parenting practices, grab a cup of coffee, a pen, and a notepad, and listen!

*If you missed the first article/podcast in this series, start here.

A growing body of research suggests that trauma (like childhood abuse, family violence, or food insecurity, among many other things) can be passed from one generation to the next.

With the scientific knowledge that trauma can be passed from one generation to the next, we can become discouraged and want to give up. When kiddos come “home” to us with trauma literally embedded in their genes, add that to our own trauma and we may be tempted to throw our hands up in the air and say, “I give up!” Or something like, “I guess trauma is part of our story. We’re stuck in a repeating cycle. Nothing we can about it.”

For me and my family, that meant forming new beliefs, habits, and practices. That's exactly what I'd like to talk about on this podcast).

Grab a cup of coffee and join me as I share how we can begin our healing journey!

Intergenerational trauma is a concept developed to help explain years of generational challenges within families. It is the transmission (or sending it down to younger generations) of the oppressive or traumatic effects of a historical event.

A growing body of research suggests that trauma (like childhood abuse, family violence, or food insecurity, among many other things) can be passed from one generation to the next.

Here’s how: Trauma can leave a chemical mark on a person’s genes, which can then be passed down to future generations. This mark doesn’t cause a genetic mutation, but it does alter the mechanism by which the gene is expressed. This alteration is not genetic, but epigenetic.

https://www.psycom.net/trauma/epigenetics-trauma

Genetics are passed down. Trauma is passed through the genes as well

Research conducted by Dr. Joan Kaufman, Director of the Child And Adolescent Research and Education (C.A.R.E) program, and colleagues found that “early life stress caused epigenetic changes that lowered the trigger required for a stress response.” 

Grab a cup of coffee and join me as I share some powerful practices to break the cycle of intergenerational trauma.