The holidays are rife with potential opportunities for parents and kids to get over stimulated and temporarily lose the ability to keep their emotions regulated. Routines are non-existent, meal schedules often get disrupted and everyone’s blood sugar goes down. Just think of all the pressure leading up to school letting out: plays and performances, finishing school projects, too many parties, gifts for teachers and gifts for friends; And this is just for the children. Parents have additional pressures: budgeting for gifts, big meals, shopping for everyone, wrapping presents and mailing presents, cards to get out, office parties and office presents, packing everyone up and traveling to relatives, and all that rich food around — and many more I haven’t listed! It takes being proactive to plan for all of this and keep your equilibrium at the same time. It is very important for parents to take care of themselves and be able to stay within their own window of tolerance during this busy time. When you are present and calm, then you can help your child to calm down.  Kids often take their emotional cues from their parents and are very sensitive to the emotional health of their parents. Some therapists say that a child can only be as calm as their parent. Also, there is some new research that shows that when a parent has a very stressful day and has difficulty remaining regulated, the next day the kids have a bad day.

Our kids who have been home less than two years or who were raised in orphanages their first three years, have stress systems much less developed than their typically developing peers. They are very prone to revert to Continue reading Emotional Regulation: Holiday Tips