Do You Ask for Help?

Posted on 15/10/2019 by

Parenting a highly sensitive child (HSC) can be exhilarating and exhausting. It can be a minefield and a maze. Your HSC can take your breath away one moment and steal every drop of patience you have the next. Parenting any child is a rollercoaster ride; parenting a HSC is full of highs and lows. What do you do during those lows? Do you ask for help? Many of us don’t. But we should.

Coloured handprints - do you ask for help?

This was a blog post that wrote itself in my head this morning as I stood in front of my son’s teachers with tears in my eyes after the most dramatic morning of this school year.

There comes a time when you don’t have the answers, but you know that someone else just might know where and how to find them. There comes a point when you need help. It’s as simple as that. But you have to ask for it. And that doesn’t always feel comfortable does it? Continue reading →

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Today is World Mental Health Day – Here’s Why That’s Important if You Are Highly Sensitive

Posted on 10/10/2019 by

Today is World Mental Health day. Mental health issues are not always as visible as physical health issues. Talking about mental health problems doesn’t always feel comfortable. The aim of World Mental Health day is to raise awareness about our mental health and how we can provide support for mental health conditions.

Today is World Mental Health Day - Here's Why That's Important if You Are Highly Sensitive Cover

“Some of the greatest battles will be fought within the silent chambers of your own soul.”

Ezra Taft Benson

Suicide Prevention

This year the focus is on suicide prevention. Every 40 seconds, someone loses their life to suicide. According to the WHO, more than 800,000 people die by suicide a year, making it the principal cause of death among people fifteen to twenty-nine years old.

Let that sink in.

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5 Ways a Highly Sensitive Child Can Empty Their Bucket in School

Posted on 08/10/2019 by

Imagine a child putting every sound, feeling, sight, emotion and experience of their school day unfiltered into a bucket. What comes home is an overwhelmed child struggling to get their full bucket home before it spills over. Wouldn’t it be better to give a child the chance to stop that bucket from filling in school? Here are five ways every highly sensitive child can empty their bucket during a school day.

5 Ways a Highly Sensitive Child Can Empty Their Bucket in School

A Bucket for a HSC

I first started using the analogy of a bucket with my eldest son when he started primary school. That was eight years ago and the idea of the bucket lives on in our home. You can read all about the idea of giving a HSC a bucket here: We’re the Bucket Family.

A bucket is a great visual tool that a young child can understand to help describe their emotions. They can easily tell you when they feel that their bucket is full, or nearly full.

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Book Release: 101 Ways to Help Your Highly Sensitive Child Empty Their Bucket

Posted on 30/09/2019 by

It has been a labour of love and a long time in the making, but “101 Ways to Help Your Highly Sensitive Child Empty Their Bucket: Calming Tools During Times of Overwhelm” is now a fact. It’s been published. It’s available. It’s live. Ok, you get it.

Book Release: 101 Ways to Help Your Highly Sensitive Child Empty Their Bucket

This pocket sized guide is full of ideas to help you prevent your child’s bucket spilling over. Fifteen to twenty percent of the population is highly sensitive.

Highly sensitive people (HSP) process deeply, intently notice, and absorb their surroundings. A HSP’s nervous system quickly becomes overloaded which turns into a feeling of overwhelm. This manifests itself in many ways for a child – from tears to meltdowns.

It’s like carrying a full bucket around – and this book gives you tips to not only empty that bucket, but to help you help your child prevent their bucket from filling.

101 Ways to Help Your Highly Sensitive Child Empty Their Bucket: Calming Tools During Times of Overwhelm

Why Have I Written “101 Ways to Help Your Highly Sensitive Child Empty Their Bucket”?

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Don’t Push a Highly Sensitive Child: Sleepovers

Posted on 24/09/2019 by

Highly sensitive children (HSCs) are often the children who don’t look forward to school camp. They are often not thrilled about the idea of staying somewhere overnight without you being there too. But with patience and acceptance things do change.

Don't Push a Highly Sensitive Child: Sleepovers

 

This post is an update on the blog piece I wrote about three years ago – Highly Sensitive Children and Overnight Stays Away from Home. I stated back then:

“And I know their trust in me would ebb quickly if I tried to force them into a sleepover somewhere. I know they would be traumatised. They will know when they are ready. I will know when they feel ready.”

And:

“Maybe one day, when they are older, things will be different, but for now it is what it is.”

And that is what this post is about.

One Day, When They are Older, Things Will be Different

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How To Find Balance As A Highly Sensitive Extrovert

Posted on 17/09/2019 by

Are you a highly sensitive extrovert? Although it’s more common to be an introverted highly sensitive person (HSP), you are certainly not alone. I’m delighted to introduce you to Alison (The Little Blog Of Positivity), who’s guest blogging today to share her tips to help you find balance as a highly sensitive extrovert.

How To Find Balance As A Highly Sensitive Extrovert

I only recently discovered that not only am I an extrovert but that I also have the traits of  a highly sensitive person.

I’ve known that I’m an extrovert for some time. I trained to be a Myers Briggs practitioner a few years ago. As part of the training, you go deep into an exploration of your ‘type’ (I’m an ESFJ).

A number of times during this exploration, I questioned whether I was indeed an extrovert.

After much soul-searching, I concluded that I most definitely was. Let me tell you a few reasons why.

I’m loud.

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How it Feels When an Orchid Child Starts to Flourish

Posted on 10/09/2019 by

Orchids are beautiful striking flowers that need particular care and attention. They are not always easy to care for, but the payback when they have the right conditions to grow in is delightful. And so it is too for our highly sensitive children (HSC). The more you understand what a HSC needs to thrive, the more you can intervene to provide those conditions.

How it Feels When an Orchid Child Starts to Flourish

The Orchid Theory

A dandelion will grow anywhere – in the cracks of the pavement, in an empty field or in a thriving back garden. An orchid, on the other hand, needs the right light, temperature and humidity level. They have special watering requirements. Once you meet these conditions an orchid needs little additional care to flourish.

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