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Thinking about Gifted/2e from a Christian Perspective

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The idea of giftedness provokes very strong feelings among parents. When some parents hear the words “gifted” or “twice-exceptional (2e)” used to describe their child, they feel relieved. It might be the final piece of the puzzle regarding their high-maintenance child who simply doesn’t function like other children. When other parents hear the term gifted …

Raising Gifted Children in the Christian Faith

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Since learning of Caroline’s giftedness (2e), the past year has been a huge learning curve for me. I’ve had to rethink so much about learning and parenting. Because I’m a Christian, I think about these topics in the context of my faith. I realized at one point that there is very little out there about …

Why I Don’t Micromanage My Picky Eater

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We have two picky eaters in our home. My daughter is a picky eater. I’m the other one. Because I’ve always been very particular about food, it makes it much easier to accept my daughter’s eating preferences. And she has had them from very early on. Raising a Picky Eater I remember one day when …

Saying “No” to Holiday Pressures

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So how were your holidays? Were they enjoyable? Meaningful? Special? Or were they (as Peggy called hers in a comment on another post) a “tightly-choreographed death march”? Did you and your family end up stressed, sick or burned out? Were you so busy doing the things you felt obligated to do that you didn’t do …

Dealing with Perfectionism in Our Children

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Perfectionism can be a significant struggle in the lives of many children and adults. I consider myself a recovering perfectionist because I’m aware of my propensity to go in that direction and so I make sure I keep it in check. I’ve come a long way from where I was in the past although I …

Parenting an Introverted Child

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If you’ve read my writing for any length of time, you already know that I am extremely introverted and that I function best when I have lots and lots of time alone each day. When Caroline was little I was sure she had to be an extrovert because she always wanted to be picked up, …

Identifying and Understanding the Red Zone with Your Spirited Child

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I asked David to look through my tickler list of topic ideas and tell me what he thought I was missing. He immediately suggested writing about the red zone. This was a really important topic for us as the parents of a spirited child and I’m glad he suggested it. The idea of the red …

When People Call Your Child Your Idol

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To say that the first six months of Caroline’s life were completely overwhelming for us would not be an overstatement. There were many reasons for it, but chief among them were the incredible sleep deprivation (she woke up to feed two or three times during the night no matter what we did) and her strong, …

Encouragement for Parents of Differently-Wired Children

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On this day of rest, I’m sharing a few thoughts (quotes, book passages, and Bible verses) that I hope will bring encouragement for parents of differently wired children. Parenting a child with unique needs brings unique challenges. But there is hope and refreshment for you this day. “Why do you and I postpone God’s gift …

When Attending Church is Painful – Highly Sensitive Children and Adults

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God bless this woman for writing this: When church hurts. I’ve wanted to write this post about attending church being painful for a long time, but it took her willingness to write her post to prod me on to write mine. Church truly is painful and hurts sometimes. And maybe not for the reasons you …

Why We Changed Our Mind about Celebrating Halloween

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Caroline is seven years old and this will be the first time we’ve celebrated Halloween with her. I thought about not saying anything about it here, but decided that it was important to me to articulate why we changed our minds in case anyone else might find it helpful. I know many Christians struggle with …

Highly Sensitive Children, Shy Children, and Spanking

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We recently went to a church event where Caroline (unfortunately) ended up being the only child present. We had every reason to expect that there would be many children there, but it didn’t work out that way. Instead we were in a home filled with about twenty adults and Caroline. She was obviously disappointed, but …

7 Things I Tell My Child Every Day

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Over the past few years I’ve learned that Caroline thrives on positive feedback. A few positive words are like putting major money in our relationship bank. Here are seven things I tell my child every day. 1. I love you so much. Yes, we need to tell our children every day that we love them. …

Getting Spirited Children to Sleep and Related Challenges

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One of my most popular posts is Raising a Spirited Child and Feeling Like a Bad Mother. I wrote it when Caroline was about three and a half and I was so frustrated with her bedtimes. Many people end up on this blog looking for information on spirited children and make their way to my …