023 - Navigating the Holidays with Emotionally Intense Kids - With Jami Kirkbride

Welcome back to "Parenting the Intensity!"

In this week's episode we are welcoming Jami Kirkbride, mom of 7 and licensed professional counselor, to tackle the rollercoaster of emotions and challenges that come with raising emotionally intense kids during the holiday season, or any period of life where unpredictability, lots of people and tiredness come into play. With personal anecdotes and professional knowledge, we dish out tips for understanding sensory processing, managing anxiety, and handling family gatherings. Jamie's shares strategies and resources, and she's all about prioritizing the needs of our unique kiddos over any outside influences. So, grab a cup of something soothing and join us for an episode full of resources to navigat the holidays with emotionally intense kids.

3 key takeaways

1️⃣ Understanding the child's efforts: Children with sensory processing issues often put in tremendous effort for daily activities that come easily to others. It's crucial to recognize their unique triggers, provide sensory tools, and schedule breaks to support them.

2️⃣ Family Support and Adaptation: Educating family members about our child's needs is key to creating understanding and support. Prioritizing the child's needs over external judgment is crucial, especially during the holidays.

3️⃣ Self-Care and Trusting Instincts: Parents play a vital role in modeling self-care and trusting their instincts. It's okay to let go of ideal expectations and adjust plans to accommodate the needs of emotionally intense kids during the holiday season and let ourselves off the hook too!

"Only after I took the risk of really communicating some of our struggles and the differences that we were seeing with him, did my parents start becoming more open minded"

Where to find Jami

Website Parenting with Personality

Beind the Behavior: A Uniquely Wired Child

Facebook Group

Instagram

Jami also has an app with a free course on how to manage meltdowns. Get the app on Apple or Google

Resources mentioned by Jamie

Brain body parenting book by Mona Delahooke

Sensory processing 101 book Dayna Abraham 

Show notes and transcript of the episode over here

Make sure to subscribe to our podcast for future episodes and leave a rating and review, that helps us get in front of more parents. Don't forget to check out the resources mentioned on our website at www.parentingtheintensity.ca

Join the "Parenting the Intensity Community" to find the right things that works for YOUR child and adapt them to YOUR reality.

To be able to enjoy your life and kids, not always being afraid of the next outburst

Take a deep breath, keep going, we’re all in this together!

Music by Oleksii Kaplunskyi from Pixabay