Our Natural Waterslides Review

| Patti Webb

To close out the summer, we wanted to do a playdate review with water. We went through kayaking, tubing, hiking to a waterfall; but our kids had already experienced most of these options. Curses for exposing our kids to fun stuff early…

After a local Google search, we found Poole’s Mill Bridge Park in Ball Ground, Georgia. Poole’s Mill is a cute little local park that is home to natural waterslides. At last! Here is a brand new activity that is just a combination of things they are already sort of familiar with. It also satisfied our playdate criteria by being something that required sensory/development component.

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It’s Worth the Risk: Risky Play

| Mary Stoffel, MOT, OTR/L

Play is important. That’s a given. Kids engage in play daily to make sense of their environment, while indirectly developing new skills and feeding their sensory needs. Although we are perfectly fine with our children playing with toys or with their friends, there’s one type of play that sets a lot of parents on edge: risky play.

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There’s No “I” in Team: The Parent-Teacher Relationship

| Mary Stoffel, MOT, OTR/L

When my son was three years old, his teachers expressed concerns about his behavior in class. He wasn’t following directions, had a tough time staying seated during circle time, and was distracting his classmates. With all of the other kids in the class, they were having a difficult time dealing with my son and unsure how to handle him. End story.
What? That’s it? That’s all you have to say?

With this news, a rush of anxiety came flooding in.
OMG, they think he’s a bad kid.
Does he have ADHD?
Am I a bad parent?

I know that other parents have these kinds of talks with their kid’s teachers, doctors, counselors; and more times than not, that is the end of the conversation. But it doesn’t have to be.

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Child(ish) Reads: Advanced Parenting

| Patti Webb

Advanced Parenting is one of those books that I thought wouldn’t really apply to me, but I knew it would give me a new perspective. I do not yet have a child with a specific medical diagnosis. Neither of my girls have allergies so far, they are neurotypical as of now, and I don’t believe they anything hereditary that we need to be on the serious lookout for. However, so far is not never. I don’t think parents really prepare for medical challenges until they happen, and then it all comes at you so fast.

Advanced Parenting: Advice for Helping Kids Through Diagnoses, Differences, and Mental Health Challenges by Kelly Fradin.

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Coffee Chat: Week 2 Check In

| Patti Webb

So many First Day of School pics….

Our kids have been in school almost two full weeks now. For context, both Mary’s son and my twins are in their second year of elementary school. And even though we got most of the first-time student anxieties out last year, there is still plenty to go around for year two.

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