After three days of 115-degree (F) weather here in the Pacific Northwest, I found myself more tired than usual. This week I'm talking about what you can do to get past the guilt that wells up when you slow down so you can actually get some rest.

No matter how much we may want to, we can't control our kids. We can't control their emotions, their development, their preferences, or their choices. This week, I'm sharing my experience moving through the heat bubble that record high temperatures to the Pacific Northwest and the two questions that helped me reframe my mindset and actually enjoy the weekend. Asking yourself these questions is a helpful practice any time you're facing circumstances that you can't control, whether it's a weather event, global pandemic, or a challenge you're facing with your child.

It's normal to feel disconnected from your children at times. With that said, it's also very possible to build stronger connections with your children. This episode focuses on how you can create more consistent connection, and what misconceptions may be standing in your way. All in less than ten minutes, so you can listen while you drink your coffee and then get on with your day.

I've got a bit of a different spin on power struggles than we tend to hear. Most advice out there focuses on how to handle power struggles: give them warnings, give them choices, offer incentives or consequences to get them to comply. Did you catch that? Most advice about handling or avoiding power struggles is built on the assumption that the goal is compliance. We want to get them doing what they're "supposed" to do without all the resistance. It's not bad advice. It just glosses over the root cause of the power struggle: You and your child have different thoughts about what they should be doing. And it's compounded by your expectations that they defer to you. That they comply. Claim your self-coaching guide: https://partnered-path-parenting.ck.page/2dcf2e7426

We place so much pressure on ourselves as parents to live up to a certain standard. We also want to do right by our kids. and we certainly don't want to be that family - you know the one - their kids are running all over the restaurant, screaming and throwing things, and losing it when it's time to leave the park. Their kids never get along and aren't speaking to each other by the time they're adults. We don't want to be that family, but we secretly worry that we are. Especially if our children are highly sensitive and emotions run high. Life sometimes feels like a s#&! show, and when it does, most parents either beat themselves up for letting it get this bad or not having it figured out by now, or they throw in the towel because they feel like there's nothing they can do. But neither of these approaches really serves you. This episode is about finding a better approach to those weeks or months that life feels like it's spinning out of control.

So far we've been talking about what it means to be highly sensitive, and what your child's sensitivity might require from you as a parent. This episode is a big one because we're going to dive into overstimulation and big emotions. Many of my clients come to me because they are dealing with one of these two challenges, and they're feeling overwhelmed and exhausted. Understanding what to do when your child is experiencing big emotions, and how to bypass overstimulation can provide so much relief, and that's exactly where we're going in this episode.

Dr. Elaine Aron defines four core traits of highly sensitive people: Depth of Processing, Overstimulation, Emotional Reactivity, and Sensing the Subtle. Over the next two episodes, we're going to dig into each one of these, look at what it means, and talk about the challenges it can create for you and your HSC. For this episode, we're going to focus on the first and last traits: depth of processing and sensing the subtle. I like to talk about these two together because they both contribute to how easily your child gets overstimulated and how often those big emotions show up.

Welcome to the Partnered Path Podcast! My name is Julia McGarey, and I'm a life coach for parents of highly sensitive children. It took me several years after I first heard the term "highly sensitive" to realize that I am a highly sensitive person, and while it's a term that is becoming more mainstream, there are still a lot of misunderstandings and misconceptions when it comes to sensitivity. In this episode, I give you an overview of what it means to be highly sensitive, and what this trait can look like in children. If you have any suspicion that your child might be highly sensitive, this episode is your starting point. And if you don't? It's worth listening anyway. Highly Sensitive Children (HSCs) are the canaries in the coal mines. They show us exactly where old-school parenting strategies fail children, and they help us see how we can adjust to better serve the social and emotional needs of all children in our lives.