Homeschool?! FREE Sanity Saving Printable's

I wanted to share some of what I have been working on as I get prepared to homeschool my guy's starting tomorrow (bless my heart.)  I am sure there will be tweaks to make over time, but I wanted to at least have some semblance of a plan!  I have included blank pages as well as how I have things set up for my family.

Hugs Friends.  We can learn to do hard things.    

-Lindsay

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My Favorite Emotional/Behavioral Strategies & Resources

1.  Adjust expectations to meet capacity so no one loses  their marbles!

2.  Reframe the Behavior

Source: Dr. Stuart Shanker Self-Reg Website

3.  It doesn't have to make sense to you 

to feel real to them.

4.  Meet Them Where They Are At (Not Where You Think They Should Be) And Give Support Accordingly

5. Address challenging behavior when both you and the child are calm and regulated. Not a moment before.   

Websites

A Fine Parent

Beyond Behaviors-Dr. Mona Delahooke

Bright & Quirky

Empowered To Connect

Lives In The Balance-Dr. Ross Greene

Self-Reg Dr. Stuart Shanker

Trust Based Relational Intervention Video's-Dr. Karyn Purvis/TCU

The Brilliance of Understanding

I recently viewed the HBO version of the play “Every Brilliant Thing."  This one-person play provides insight into the experience of a husband and child of a woman who has clinical depression, and ultimately loses her life after years of battling symptoms of that illness.  The play features a list created by her child that identifies things worth living for.

There is one character, however, who we don’t get any insight into—that of “Mum” herself.  The play, told in retrospect and flashbacks, does not feature her viewpoint or experience.  She is referred to as someone who “finds it hard to be happy.”  Someone who is “sad.”  Someone who does “stupid” things.  Someone who does not focus on “every brilliant thing” worth living for. Without Mum’s perspective we are missing a critical piece of the puzzle, and are left perplexed by her seemingly inexplicable actions. 

Last year I wrote my own list titled “Things That Didn’t Suck Today.” Catchy right?  To be fair, I was at what would turn out to be the tail end of nearly 2 ½ years of acute symptoms of clinical depression.  This wasn’t my first rodeo.  All told, 9 of the past 22 years have been spent battling this disorder.  I have studied it, lived it, visited doctor’s, and read countless self-help books covering topics from better sleep to rearranging Chakra’s, all in the search for a cure, or at the very least, strategies to lessen the intense mental, physical, and emotional suffering. 

While I did not choose to have a mental health disorder, I am grateful that I can find meaning in my experience, and share what I have learned along the way.  "Every Brilliant Thing" will be performed tomorrow evening at the high school near my home.  It is an opportunity to discuss, demystify, and bring better awareness and understanding to the subject of mental health, and specifically mental health disorders such as depression.

Below are some resources that I often share that might help give perspective and voice to those, who like Mum, experience symptoms of depression.  Because connecting and communicating the experience of those who suffer with those who can provide support, is something that would truly be brilliant.

CLINICAL DEPRESSION IS AN ILLNESS

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER:  Know what you’re up against!  Fear and stigma are often the result of misunderstanding.  Learn about your and/or your loved one’s illness. Spend 5 or 10 minutes on one of the following websites to get a better understanding of what you’re facing.  NAMI      The Mighty      Child Mind

VALIDATION AND EMPATHY CAN BE LIFE SAVING:  Provide validation and empathy of the experience.  Here is a great short animation from Brene Brown on empathy.  Self-compassion, and compassion from others can be life saving when you have a mental illness.  Bottom line?  You, dear friend, are not alone. 

COMMUNICATING LEVELS OF DISTRESS IS CRITICAL: Because asking “what’s wrong?” does not always yield an answer that conveys what is being felt, a 1-10 mental health scale can be useful to identify the intensity of what is being experienced.  Similar to taking someone’s temperature with a thermometer, this tool is meant to illustrate the amount of suffering occurring, but will not necessarily show the cause of the suffering.  

FREE Zones of Regulation Posters

Hi friends!  I spent the morning working on this project.  These printables are modified from the original created by Alayna Nichols to meet some of the needs we have been having in our home.  (A full post is coming....but today we need groceries so it will have to wait! :)  The printables below are sized to be 11 x 14 prints.  You can also print them as 5 x 7's-you will just lose the bottom colored portion. If you need a different size, let me know!  

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Below are a few of the most recent posts....Enjoy!

💗-L

Changing How We Approach School Discipline

Inconceivable!

“You mock my pain.”

“As you wish….”

“I’m not a witch, I’m your wife!”

“Anybody wanna peanut?”

“Have fun stormin’ the castle!”

If you are a child of the 80’s or 90’s like I am, you might recognize those quotes from the movie the Princess Bride.  I recently introduced my three boys to this essential classic.  They were hesitant at first with mom’s choice for family movie night,  but were won over in the end by the witty banter, sword fights, and Rodents Of Unusual Size.  Towards the beginning of the movie, the character Vizinni repeatedly (and incorrectly) uses the word “inconceivable.” After several repetitions, his co-criminal,  Inigo Montoya, looks at him quizzically and comments “You keep using that word.  I do not think it means what you think it means.”

There is currently a term floating around social media and in popular culture that is consistently used incorrectly, and causes me to echo Inigo’s refrain.  Every time I hear it, I cringe.  Every. Single. Time.  The word? OCD.  As in “I just organized my shoes by color.  I am sooo….OCD!”  “Are you OCD? Take this quiz to find out!” or mugs and t-shirts adorned with the words “Obsessive __________ Disorder.”  Fill in the blank with any word describing one of your hobbies.  

You keep using this word.  I do not think it means what you think it means. 

Friends. Could we please stop using life threatening mental illness as a cutesy description for personal preferences?  OCD is not something you can be.  Just as someone cannot be "so cancer" or "so diabetes".   You can have an illness, yes.  But you cannot be an illness.

Now I promise I’m not trying to be super politically correct here.  I can take a joke.  I’m not easily offended.  I have a sense of humor, and I really love to laugh!  So why not just let it go?  No harm, no foul right?  Because words matter.  How we discuss something influences how we perceive it. 

When we use mental illness diagnoses as a joke, how can people with them ever hope to have their pain taken seriously?

Currently there is great fear and cultural stigma surrounding mental illness.  It is going to take a million tiny changes to transform that culture.  One of those changes is the way we speak about mental illness.   By simply changing the conversation, we can begin to work together to create a society where anything but sincere compassion and empathy for those who experience symptoms of mental illness would be truly inconceivable.