Karissa Tunis

Family Conversation Starters – Easter Fun

We hear all the time how important it is to open up the lines of communication. Communication improves relationships with partners, friends, and coworkers; but we can’t forget that it also improves our relationships with our children.

Taking the time to have a genuine conversation with your child can be so much fun and so insightful! It also helps to build up a great family bond, which is why we are offering a few family conversation starters to go a long with each curated collection of content….

A Cute Easter Treat for Kids

Here is a cute Easter treat for kids that could be passed out to friends, used as a party favor, or even as a place setting on a table at a springtime gathering. It’s an adorable spin-off of the traditional s’more! However, Easter S’mores use a peep instead of a traditional marshmallow. Add in a graham cracker and chocolate to make this sweet Easter treat. We put all contents in a plastic baggy, stapled to a piece of card stock, and added a cute note that said, “You’re one of my favorite peeps”.

This was a fun treat to put together with my daughter for her preschool class! Continue scrolling for more photos and some additional fun Easter activities that are perfect for kids!

This article is written by Carey Martin Bender
For more on this topic, check out the full Easter Fun collection

Easter Treat for Kids – Easter S’mores

HERE ARE 3 MORE EASTER THEMED CRAFTS & TREATS I KNOW YOU WILL LOVE:

Easter Activities for Kids – easy and fun Easter activities for kids

Jelly Bean Tree – cute and inexpensive Easter decor

Easter Jars – adorable chocolate bunny jars are easy and delicious

For more on this topic, check out the full Easter Fun collection

Featured Contributor: Carey Martin Bender

Carey Bender is a wife, mom, and entrepreneur. She is a fashion lover and a fitness fanatic who is always looking for a DIY project, a perfect cup of coffee, and inspiration around every corner. Carey adores Lancaster County living, but is always dreaming up her next adventure.

Autism: Rule #1

In all honesty, there really are a lot of things to know and learn about autism. Clearly, after more than a decade of navigating the autism learning process, I will freely admit, I’m still learning. Lately though, as my boy is getting older, there are things I wish I’d known sooner, done differently. The one piece I wish I’d learned first in our journey is something I’ve come to see as the first rule of autism and the prevailing smart point. Of all things autism, this is the one I wish I’d internalized in those very earliest moments. Continue reading below to learn the Autism: Rule #1….

Feeling Safe is The End Game – How to help an Anxious Child

Being the mom of an anxious child is life changing! It changes the lens through which you read any parenting situation. It changes the tone of your voice; the ability to be spontaneous (ok, parenting in general orders a ceases and desist letter there); and it seriously changes your family dynamics. Changing doesn’t mean worse however. Well, yes it does sometimes. But it can also open your heart and enrich your brain as you struggle to learn new approaches to ordinary things. Continue reading below to learn how to help an anxious child feel safe again.
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Autism: The Shaky Bridge To Hope After Receiving an Autism Diagnosis

When parents are first given the diagnosis of autism, they are immediately swamped with questions that begin to lead them on their quest for answers throughout their journey. It can feel like a daunting task. But as you search for answers, there are a few things to keep in mind when receiving an autism diagnosis.…

Traits and Symptoms of SPD

According to WebMD.com, “Sensory Processing Disorder is a condition in which the brain has trouble receiving and responding to information that comes in through the senses.” I have read studies that say anywhere from 1 in 20 kids, to as many as 1-6 kids, struggle with SPD. But no matter the correct number, it seems to be growing. Whether by diagnosis or by educating parents to have their children tested, it seems SPD affects a lot of people around us. Continue reading below for an in-depth look into the symptoms of SPD….

Toeing the Line of Special Needs and How to Find Balance as a Special Needs Family

My daughter B has a sensory processing disorder that impacts the way she experiences the world. B is not autistic, at least not by today’s standards. But many of her sensory and anxiety issues are typical of autism. Until recently, children presenting her behaviors remained unclassified and untreated because in so many ways, B is “normal”. She’s highly articulate, charming, and smart as a whip. She also couldn’t pull a shirt over her head until she was nearly five and only recently began walking on her heels. She will go from the happiest kid in the room to a sobbing mess in a nanosecond because of a loud noise or an open banana – apparently bananas are the foulest smelling things on the planet. Continue reading below to learn how to find balance as a special needs family….

Recognizing Separation Anxiety Disorder

“My stomach hurts.” “I can’t sleep;” “Can you close my closet?” “Can I just sleep with you?” Sound familiar? You are not alone – and neither is your child. Obviously, all children have times of anxiety when leaving their parents, or meeting new people, or going to a sleepover for the first time. Most will even go through a period of wanting to sleep in your room. But most toddlers or young kids grow out of that. What they don’t generally do is stay awake all night long, miss school, throw random tantrums about leaving you; or turn down sleepovers with their close friends. What they don’t generally do is bring that anxiety into the school years. Continue reading below to learn how recognizing separation anxiety disorder can better help you understand your child and their needs; and find out how to best help your child through this….

Curiosity or Anxiety? How to Identify Anxiety in Children

Kids are curious. Very curious. And we like that, we want that, we encourage that. Curiosity leads to interest, to learning, to an engaged child. But what if it leads to something else? Is that curiosity actually masking anxiety? Continue reading below to discover how you can identify anxiety in children through the questions that they ask.

This article is written by Dana Baker
For more on this topic, check out the full Child Behavior and Mental Health collections

HOW TO IDENTIFY ANXIETY IN CHILDREN THROUGH THEIR QUESTIONS

It took me a while to notice, to see that there was something else going on in my little girl’s head – to see that her questions were morphing into something slightly different. When her “how does or what is” shifted into more “what if’s”. What if this happens, what if that happens.

What if’s can hide – or reveal – fears. My daughter needed to know what’s happening, when. Change of plans agitated her; then she’d wonder what if it doesn’t go as planned? What if something goes wrong?

Many anxious kids have good imaginations and yes, she has a huge imagination! I just love all the creativity bursting out of her. I want to bottle it up sometimes so I can let it out and breathe some joy into the world. But when her imagination starts filling in questions with worst-case scenarios, I think uh-oh. Now, what do I do?

HOW TO HELP AN ANXIOUS CHILD

Well, it turns out what we don’t want to do is tell her not to worry. Honestly, that helps practically nobody, ever. In fact when I tried that — because of course, it’s the first thing I did – she just took the imagined outcome further and further. Finally, I realized that instead of my just saying “it’s ok” and “don’t worry about it”, I should take another tack.

So I try walking her through whatever the fear is to get her to reassure herself. Sometimes if it’s easy, I just talk her through the fear to show her she is ok and does have the strength to handle it. Often she’s not feeling confident or is out of her comfort zone. I say, “Looks like you’re pretty worried about this, what can we do to help calm you down? “ Sometimes she can bring herself back with that. Sometimes we have to dance or stomp it out. And other times it comes down to breathing. Just breathing with her. In and out, ever so slowly.

So notice the questions your child is asking; ask some of your own. There are many, many answers.

But expecting them to just get over it, isn’t one of them.

How To Get Your Child Through An Anxiety Attack

As a parent, having a child with anxiety can be very hard at times. Your heart breaks for them, and yet you are also feeling the effects from the anxiety. Here are two incredibly helpful articles to shed light on how to best help your child during and after the anxiety attack. Best of luck – you got this!

In this article Dana provides insight into how you can help your child cope with their anxiety and shift your family dynamics

Here are expert tips for helping your child calm down in the midst of their anxiety and panic attacks

For more on this topic, check out the full Child Behavior and Mental Health collections

Featured Contributor: Dana Baker

Dana Baker is a writer, editor, not-so-perfect mom of two, and a Parent and Teen Coach. She help families reconnect and find a way around the walls that cause such isolation and dysfunction in these years. Dana offers advice from the trenches, a non-judgmental ear and tips/feedback based on the science of psychology and the reality of parenting. Read her blog and follow her on social media.

- - Website: parentinginreallife.org
  - Facebook: @parentinginreallife
  - Twitter: @Danaparenting

Checklist for a Family Living with SPD

Rachael shared with us her personal and emotional story about her two daughters that have SPD (sensory processing disorder) and anxiety. You can read her full story about their family living with SPD here. And for your convenience, we have put together a free printable checklist for a family living with SPD. This highlights what has helped Rachael and her daughters cope with SPD and anxiety.

Print this out and keep on hand as a valuable resource. Hopefully it will inspire you to try something new, or provide you with some fresh insight. Living and caring for someone that has SPD can be challenging. But the great news is that there are many wonderful resources and tips that can help make life much easier!

Best wishes!…