When we speak of trauma- our minds can automatically wander to events like wars, house fires, car accidents, a death in the family, and fill-in-the-blank. While all of the above is true, what about the sweet five-year-old we are watching fall to pieces in meltdown in front of us? We’re scratching our heads trying to figure out what is going on. The truth is, we all have trauma buckets. Some of us are born with empty buckets, others are born with a bucket that already has trauma - the six risk factors for trauma. When our kids have trauma in their bucket from birth or shortly thereafter, we must assume that any stress or new trauma can cause their bucket to fill quickly, causing meltdowns and overload. Knowing what sorts of trauma our kiddos have experienced helps us understand and help our kiddos. We can keep an eye on their trauma buckets to aim at keeping them from overflowing. Grab a cup of coffee and join me as I explain the layers of the trauma bucket.