LifesPlace Counseling, Coaching, & Consulting

12/22/2025

If this season feels heavy, you don’t have to carry it alone.

The NAMI HelpLine is here for you. Call 1-800-950-6264 or text 'NAMI' to 62640.

12/22/2025

Research on shows that impulse control and emotional regulation continue developing into the mid-20s. For children, these skills are still emerging and inconsistent by nature. Understanding this helps explain behavior — and can inform how we respond to it.



Impulse control isn’t fully developed until the mid-20s, and some still struggle with it beyond that age. I wonder what would happen if we stopped punishing kids for something their brains literally can’t do yet
(at least not consistently).

12/21/2025

By focusing on balance, connection, and self-care, you can create space for calm and meaning this season.

Learn more: https://at.apa.org/nog

12/21/2025

❤️

12/03/2025

11/30/2025

Many parents were raised with punishment… but children don’t learn best through fear. They learn through guidance, connection, and practice.

Here’s the difference between punishment and discipline – and why it matters.

Misunderstood Defiance: the Vulnerable Child Toolkit for Parents & Educators
Electronic download in comments.

11/30/2025

The holidays bring out everything - the drama, the opinions, the expectations, the noise.

And here’s your reminder: you don’t have to match any of it.

You can pause.
You can protect your peace.
And if something (or someone) isn’t worth your energy? Let Them.

If you know someone who needs this mindset more than ever right now, give them the gift of The Let Them Theory 💚

Shop now at LetThem.com!

11/30/2025

There’s so much power in how we frame the everyday.

When children see cooking, tidying, or caring for a space as punishment or obligation, they miss the deeper truth: these are acts of tending. Acts of nourishment. Acts of love.

Caring for a home is caring for ourselves.
Caring for a home is caring for each other.

When we teach our children that these moments aren’t chores to endure, but ways of creating comfort, connection, and dignity, something shifts.

Responsibility stops feeling heavy.
Contribution stops feeling like sacrifice.

It becomes part of belonging — a shared rhythm, a shared pride, a shared love for the space we all live in.

And that is a lesson that will serve them long after childhood ends. ❤️

11/27/2025

Children learn to self-regulate by borrowing our calm — not by being sent away to manage emotions their brains aren’t built to hold, alone.

Their nervous system takes its cues from ours.

When we stay steady, their bodies learn safety.
When we breathe slowly, their breath follows.
When we offer presence instead of punishment, their overwhelm becomes something they can navigate rather than fear.

But the opposite is true too.
When we’re shaken, they feel it.
When we shut down, they lose their anchor.
When we send them away to “figure it out,” we’re asking them to build skills they’re meant to RECEIVE before they can ever create.

A child who is banished in their hardest moments doesn’t learn calm — they learn that big feelings make them unworthy of closeness.

So the work becomes tending to our own regulation, not for perfection, but for companionship. For connection. For the message it sends:

You don’t have to face your storm alone.
Stay close. We’ll steady ourselves together.

And then, slowly, what they borrow from us becomes something they can one day find within themselves. ❤️

Quote Credit: ❣️

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11/27/2025

If you’ve ever found yourself mid-lecture, wondering how you got there — you’re not alone.
In the heat of the moment, it’s easy to slip into long explanations, over-talking, and trying to get a child to understand right now.

But here’s the truth: children don’t learn from lectures.
They learn from reflection — and reflection only happens when both adult and child feel safe, calm, and connected.

Guiding a child through reflection can actually help you deregulate too.
It slows the moment down, reduces the pressure to “fix it immediately,” and shifts the focus from frustration to understanding.

You start to see the why behind their reactions — the feelings, needs, and overwhelm that drove the behaviour.
And when the adult feels calmer, the child’s nervous system follows.

If you’d like structured reflection prompts, co-regulation strategies, and guides for tricky moments, they’re all inside my Managing Big Feelings Toolkit. Find it via the link in comments below ⬇️ or via Linktree Shop in Bio.

Follow for more on reflection, consequences, and brain-based parenting this week.