Angela O'Brien is a personal organizer and mom of two. Her daughter (20) has Down syndrome and her son is a college senior. Today Angela discusses the stress of deciding what's next for her daughter while also managing her grief that being empt

Overwhelm from Managing Care

Nov 27th, 2023 42m 36s

Whether it's issues with school, friends, mental health, or physical health, the issues don't slow down just because there's already too much on our plates! This week Stefanie discusses the new issues plaguing her kids and how she wants to go

Anxiety and the Irritable Child

Nov 13th, 2023 47m 59s

Is your anxious child hard to live with? Do they walk around with a cloud over their heads ignoring the sunshine? Today Stefanie talks about how chronic irritability has a strong association with high levels of anxiety, and how hard it can be t

Explaining and Celebrating Your Neurodiversity: An Interview With Children’s Book Author Sivan Hong

Oct 30th, 2023 1h 3m

Sivan Hong, a mother of two boys, is the author and illustrator of the bestselling children’s book series Super Fun Day , which shares social stories about kids with neurodiversity (autism, ADHD, dyslexia, etc.).Today we discuss the importanc

Losing Yourself to the Chaos

Oct 23rd, 2023 54m 35s

You may have noticed a lack of episodes lately, and I am sorry! This episode is somewhat an explanation and apology and also a look inside the chaos inside my brain. If you're raising a tricky kid it's possible you will relate to the constant

When Life is So Crazy You Can't Even Manage to Record a Podcast

Oct 4th, 2023 31m 44s

Hi Villagers! Thank you for your patience this week. I'm sure some of you were really wondering where WTF was this week. Like all parents of tricky kids, life can go off the rails sometimes. On this episode Stefanie discusses her week of chaos

Things I Do to Make Life a Tiny Bit Easier

Sep 25th, 2023 52m 12s

I'm sure we all had an idea of how parenting would look for us, and then we were handed tricky kids. I've talked about lowering the bar before, so today I talk about a few strategies I use to try to make life a little easier.A Podcast for Peopl

Advocating Fails

Sep 18th, 2023 49m 28s

If you try enough doctors, treatments, and medications, you're bound to have some failures. Today Stefanie discusses her recent rough introduction to a new clinic and how badly the first session of neurofeedback went.A Podcast for People Raisin

After School Restraint Collapse and Masking: Why Our Kids Fall Apart After School

Sep 11th, 2023 1h 4m

If your child is grumpy, angry, emotional, and a hot mess after school, you may find it confusing because their teacher says they were great all day for them. Well, research shows that children fall apart after school BECAUSE they were great al

I'm So Very Tired. Are you?

Sep 4th, 2023 31m 53s

Happy Labor Day Villagers! If you're anything like me you're grateful for this three day weekend because you are TIRED. I wish I had some magic solutions to fix our chronic exhaustion, but today I can tell you how I'm doing and how I'm survivin

Mental Load: How Handling All the Thinking in a Family is Crushing Us

Aug 28th, 2023 53m 48s

Have you heard the terms "default parent" or "mental load"? SO many of us by default, are the ones that are doing the invisible work of running a household. This is an issue that mostly effects women (let's be honest) and the majority of us w

When You Cry at the Back to School Open House

Aug 21st, 2023 22m 39s

Villagers! Why must raising tricky kids come with public crying?? I thought I had "all the things" ready for back to school, but at the open house I was hit with a surprise that left me hiding in a corner trying to collect myself. Luckily we o

Back to School: Dealing with 504 Plans and IEPs

Aug 14th, 2023 1h 13m

It's Back to School time, and for a lot of us, that can mean a return to stress related to our tricky kids. According to IDEA, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act "All children are entitled to a free and public education in the leas

Finding a Way to Fill Your Cup

Aug 7th, 2023 41m 1s

I know we've all heard to put your oxygen mask on first and that you can't pour from an empty cup, but aren't we all nodding along and then trying to care for our families when we are completely bone dry? Parents of tricky kids somehow manage t

Genetic Testing and the Role It Plays in Treatment Strategies

Jul 31st, 2023 44m 8s

We did Genesight testing on our trickiest kid and today I discuss the results and how they are informing our treatment plans. I also share how hard things have been and how we are trying to put one foot in front of the other.A Podcast for Peopl

Interview with Family and Marriage Therapist Amber Trueblood

Jul 24th, 2023 1h 10m

Amber is an author, podcaster, parenting expert and coach and family and marriage counselor. She has written a book, The Unflustered Mom: How Understanding the Five Anxiety Styles Transforms the Way We Partner, Parent, Live, and Love.I think we

Women with Neurodivergence and How They Are Often Overlooked

Jul 17th, 2023 1h 47m

Statistics show that when considering neurodiversity, girls and women often get overlooked. Things are improving, but still have a ways to go. In the 1990's 1 girl for every 9 boys was diagnosed with ADHD. By 2020 that number grew to 1 for eve

Raising Teens Is Tricky; Raising Teen Boys Can Be Even Trickier!

Jul 10th, 2023 1h 29m

Ben Dyson is back! You may remember him from his foster-to-adopt episode where he tells the story of growing his family from 2 to 4 boys. His oldest is now 16 and driving! Today we discuss teaching a kid how to drive, strategies to keep them s

How We Talk to Kids About Sex, Porn, and Consent

Jul 2nd, 2023 1h 22m

Today Kevin Knight joins Stefanie to discuss a subject that's hard for a lot of parents; Sex. They are by no means "experts', but they can tell you how they've handled things so far and what has been challenging for them. If you don't have any

When Medication Fails

Jun 26th, 2023 37m

This was a doozy of a week for our household. We had to make some changes to our anxiety kiddo's medications and it backfired in an explosive way.Today Stefanie shares what that looked like and how they survived the week. If you take medication

Lower the Bar for Your Tricky Kid So They Can Succeed and Feel Good About Themselves

Jun 19th, 2023 39m 58s

Children with ADHD receive more than 20,000 negative messages by the time they are 12. Often they feel like a bad kid, because they're behavior is corrected constantly. And if you're a "bad kid" why even try to be "good"?Today Stefanie discusse

Emotional Collapse and Finding a Way to Celebrate Neurodivergence

Jun 5th, 2023 41m 13s

School may be out, but exhausted kids can still have emotional collapse after a fun day at camp. Stefanie discusses how her week has gone and her constant reviewing of strategies for how to get through those sensitive hours when your kid is tir

The Miracle of EMDR and How it Can Help Process Trauma

May 29th, 2023 1h 3m

EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a therapy tool that has been getting a lot of attention lately. Using bi-lateral stimulation, like buzzers buzzing back and forth in your hands, while a trained therapist walks a client th

Toxic Masculinity, Gender Roles, and Navigating the Tween Years

May 22nd, 2023 1h 24m

An interview with Kevin Knight, father to a 13 year old boy and 11 year old girl. Kevin is an athlete and the grandson of a pro football player. He coaches his son's football and lacrosse team and explains how the old way of pushing and yelling

Not an Episode. Sorry!

May 15th, 2023 2m 34s

Hey y’all! Just when I thought my migraines were under control, they came and smacked me down. I had to cancel content for this week’s episode, but I promise content is in the works!A Podcast for People Raising Tricky Kids