Learn a new parenting language

What a treat - an interview with the great Sally Donovan, author, blogger, editor and adoptive parent.

If you haven't read any of Sally Donovan's books, I urge you to look them up and buy them.....NOW!  Here she talks more about her newest book, The Strange and Curious Guide to Trauma.  It's aimed at kids between 8 and 12 years old to help them understand what trauma is and how it can affect us all.

It was launched on 21st March 2022 and is now available in all good book stores.

Enjoy!

Trauma, neurodevelopmental trauma, adoption, adoptive parents, adoptive parenting, special needs, additional needs, attachment disorder, PTSD, therapeutic parenting

Does your child try and control you?  How does that feel for you?  In this episode, we try and dig out the root causes of controlling behaviours in kids and find phrases that we can use to help respond empathically to them to help them manage and make sense of those behaviours as they mature.

Sometimes, kids who display behaviours such as emotional or physical shut down or who like to hide away don't get as much airtime as those who display big behaviours such as anger or rage.  But let's not ignore these behaviours - they are still a sign of struggle.  Let's look at what we can say to kids in shut down or who are hiding away and how our words and actions can help them.

How do you deal with lies?  They're hard to accept and understand.  But how you respond to your lying fizzy kid may help them learn to not lie in the future.  

Why do fizzy kids get hyperactive?  And what can we say and do for them in those moments to help them re-regulate? Join me as we look beyond the behaviours and find phrases and strategies to help our hyperactive kids.

We're not shying away from difficult topics this season - in this podcast we find language that can help in situations where your child may be hitting or hurting you and/or others.  We explore phrases that may help during an incident, after an incident and also language to use with siblings who are witnessing these difficult moments.

We're back!  Season 3 kicks off with a reminder of how what we say, and how we say it, can dramatically improve your family dynamics.  Because we learn to use language and phrases that either prevents our kids going in to their primary brain and survival mode OR helps them come out of survival mode a bit quicker. I tell you a little bit about our family story and how we ended up with idea of re-learning our parenting language.

And there's a great bit of feedback from a lovely follower who shares her experience of using a different language approach to help her autistic son.

parenting

parenting advice

special needs parenting

special needs mum

special needs dad

special needs family

parenting differently

respectful parenting

responsive parenting

mindful parenting

intentional parenting

curious parenting

special needs

autism

reactive attachment disorder

sensory processing disorder

post traumatic stress disorder

dyspraxia

dyslexia

adhd

Meet the Atwal-Brice's!  

Paul and Michael adopted two sets of identical twins.  Their eldest sons, Levi and Lucas have Autism, Epilepsy and are non-verbal.

Hear their amazing story of overcoming the challenges, understanding Autism in their kids an how they have learnt to live their lives to the full (even if they openly admit it's pretty full on!).  Think you're busy?!  It's probably nothing compared to these guys!

Find out more about us at www.fizzykids.co.uk or on Instagram and Facebook @thefizzykids.

Special Needs, Special needs kids, special needs parents, autism, autism Mum, autism dad, autism parents, autism parenting.

Meet Amie.  Amie is an Ecologist with a passion for wildlife conservation having spent time across the world volunteering on projects after completing her degree. She also just happens to have secondary dystonia which she describes as cerebral palsey without the brain damage. But as you can probably tell, she hasn’t let that stand in her way. For the rest of the day after Amie’s interview I found myself reflecting on her honest words – she talks about her relationship with her family, her hopes for her future and shares some amazing messages for parents and carers of fizzy kids about what’s important to them growing up. And actually, it’s got very little to do with trying to fix all your child’s additional challenges in life before they reach 18 and much more to do with talking, growing together as a family and supporting the day-to-day ups and downs that any child would have. Grab a cup of tea, sit back and enjoy being part of the FizzyKids tribe. Find more @thefizzykids (Instagram & Facebook) or on our website www.fizzykids.co.uk. Parenting podcast, special needs parenting, special needs, additional needs, autism, dyspraxia, dyslexia, reactive attachment disorder, sensory processing disorder, ADHD, special needs kids, sensitive kids, mental health, parental mental health.

Meet Nadim. Nadim is a Dad to his lovely kids and also a Parent Coach who has written books and set up companies about his experiences and professional understanding of how children develop their emotional intelligence, which as you know, is right up our street at FizzyKids HQ!

Nadim experienced a fizzy moment with his daughter when she was just 8 years old. She was a happy child and so positive and he thought nothing could ever affect her and she would go through life just being happy. However, for a couple of weeks she started becoming really difficult and mean to her siblings and it was getting worse. Nadim managed to actively listen to her and coach her and she ended up admitting ‘I hate myself’. It shows that even happy children who may seem to have no challenges and who have high self-esteem can have fizzy moments when they struggle to manage their big feelings and that it is so important to help them recover and feel better about themselves This is the key reason Nadim founded the Happy Confident Company, to create tools to ensure no kids would ever feel that way again.

Nadim also eloquently and candidly talks about the impact that his childhood experiences had on his parenting and how he believes that to be the best parents we can be to our fizzy kids, we all need to understand a little bit about child psychology and how their brains work.

Grab a cup of tea, sit back and enjoy being part of the FizzyKids tribe.

Find more @thefizzykids (Instagram & Facebook) or on our website www.fizzykids.co.uk. Parenting podcast, special needs parenting, special needs, additional needs, autism, dyspraxia, dyslexia, reactive attachment disorder, sensory processing disorder, ADHD, special needs kids, sensitive kids, mental health, parental mental health.

Meet Joe. Joe is the now-grown-up younger brother to his sister who has Cerebral Palsey.  Joe tells us his story of life growing up in a family with a child who has a special need.

There were lots of tough days, but great ones too and Joe walks us through both, how he dealt with it and what he learnt that could help other siblings of fizzy kids as well as their parents.

And it got me thinking…..there must be lots of siblings of fizzy kids out there who dealt with their own journey. From research, it’s clear that for some siblings, growing up with fizzy kids can be traumatic and in some extreme cases it has lead to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. For others, they may take it all in their stride and find their own way through.

But one thing’s for sure – we mustn’t forget them, because they have their own story which is equally as valid and deserves to be heard.

Grab a cup of tea, sit back and enjoy being part of the FizzyKids tribe.

Find more @thefizzykids (Instagram & Facebook) or on our website www.fizzykids.co.uk. Parenting podcast, special needs parenting, special needs, additional needs, autism, dyspraxia, dyslexia, reactive attachment disorder, sensory processing disorder, ADHD, special needs kids, sensitive kids, mental health, parental mental health.

Fizzy Kid 1 is FizzyKids' biggest fan.  So it seemed apt to invite him on and let him have his say.  He'll tell you all about him (well until he reaches the part where he says "Sorry Listeners, that's all I can give you!").  He explains what makes him fabulous and what makes him fizzy and what he and we do to help his fizziness.

It's short, but (and I am biased here!), very sweet.  When I asked him to be on it he said "FINALLY....I get to be on a podcast.  I've been waiting so long for this....".  FYI, he's 9, I'm 43 and was only on my first podcast this year...!  Enjoy.

Learning to parent, parenting podcast, special needs, additional needs, mindful parenting, responsive parenting, gentle parenting, intentional parenting, positive parenting, attachment parenting, parenting advice, parenting differently, how to parent, autism, learning difficulties, special needs parents, new parenting approaches, parenting language, special needs mum, special needs dad.

Guilt is thinking you have done something bad; shame is thinking you are bad.  In this epsiode we discuss the impact that shame can have on fizzy kids, and how we as parents and carers can unintentionally induce a sense of shame in our kids.

Shame is such a powerful emotion and what we say and how we say it to our kids can add shame into our families and households.  Join Ali as she shares ideas and phrases that can help create a SHAME FREE ZONE in your homes.

We are nearing the end of the first season of FizzyKids: The Podcast where we have been sharing our journey to re-learn our parenting language and skills in order to help become the parents our kids need us to be.  Fizzy kids (those taking longer to learn to manage their big feelings or those with hidden disabilities) find it so much harder to express their feelings without displaying big behaviours; but how we talk to our kids has a huge impact on how a family and household can function.

We have spent time in this first season thinking about our language for the Angry Child and Rude Child, and the final episode will cover a Checklist to help re-learn our parenting language.

Thanks for all your support and feedback so far!

Learning to parent, parenting podcast, special needs, additional needs, mindful parenting, responsive parenting, gentle parenting, intentional parenting, positive parenting, attachment parenting, parenting advice, parenting differently, how to parent, autism, learning difficulties, special needs parents, new parenting approaches, parenting language, special needs mum, special needs dad.

Anger masks fear; rudeness masks fear; over-confidence masks fear; hiding away masks fear.

Identifying anxiety in our kids is such a hard task because it can be masked by many other emotions and behaviours; but how we draw out and talk to the anxiety is key in helping our kids to learn to manage their big feelings (and resulting big behaviours) around anxiety.  We may not be able to stop them feeling anxious, but we can help them find ways to talk about their worries and fears without making them feel ashamed or embarrassed about them.

We are half way through the first season of FizzyKids: The Podcast where we have been sharing our journey to re-learn our parenting language and skills in order to help become the parents our kids need us to be.  Fizzy kids (those taking longer to learn to manage their big feelings or those with hidden disabilities) find it so much harder to express their feelings without displaying big behaviours; but how we talk to our kids has a huge impact on how a family and household can function.  

We have spent time in this first season thinking about our language for the Angry Child and Rude Child, and further episodes will cover The Ashamed Child and a Checklist to help re-learn our parenting language.

Thanks for all your support and feedback so far!

Learning to parent, parenting podcast, special needs, additional needs, mindful parenting, responsive parenting, gentle parenting, intentional parenting, positive parenting, attachment parenting, parenting advice, parenting differently, how to parent, autism, learning difficulties, special needs parents, new parenting approaches, parenting language, special needs mum, special needs dad.

There is nothing that makes my blood boil more than rudeness from my kids!  How about you?

But as we are learning, there is nothing that some fizzy kids like more than an excuse to kick off!  Join us for Episode 3 of Season 1 (Learning a new parenting language) where I talk about getting to grips with rudeness and learning a different language and approach to help manage my feelings when my fizzy kids are being rude.  It turn, it's also helping them to learn a different way to respond to situations and that they don't always need to turn on their survival/caveman mode in order to get what they want.

Further episodes will focus on ideas for a new parenting language for the Anxious Child the Ashamed Child and more.  We are loving your feedback - so please keep sharing what's working for you and any other constructive criticism.

Learning to parent, parenting podcast, special needs, additional needs, mindful parenting, responsive parenting, gentle parenting, intentional parenting, positive parenting, attachment parenting, parenting advice, parenting differently, how to parent, autism, learning difficulties, special needs parents, new parenting approaches, parenting language.

What do you say to your child when they are angry?  How do you react?  How does it make YOU feel to see and hear their anger?

In this second episode of Season 1 (Learning a New Parenting Language), Ali explores what makes fizzy kids angry, how those big feelings can present as big behaviours and shares some ideas about how to talk to the anger (and the Angry Child) in a different way.

It's so easy to take our child's anger personally and to react to their Caveman 'fight mode' with our own 'fight mode' - the result is escalated situations and incidents rather than regulated ones.  We don't necessarily want to teach our kids to not be angry, we just want them to learn to be angry in the right way.

Further episodes will focus on ideas for a new parenting language for the Anxious Child, Ashamed Child, Rude Child and more!

Learning to parent, parenting podcast, special needs, additional needs, mindful parenting, responsive parenting, gentle parenting, intentional parenting, attachment parenting, parenting advice, parenting differently, how to parent, autism, learning difficulties, special needs parents, new parenting approaches.

“Calm down!” “How dare you talk to me like that!” 

How do you talk to your kids when they are struggling with their behaviours and big feelings? Join Ali on her quest to transform her parenting language and the way she interacts with her fizzy kids.

Ali Fanshawe from FizzyKids shares wins and woes of parenting emotional, fizzy kids and offers ideas to learn a new parenting language and approach to help kids learn to manage their emotions and big feelings. Discover the importance of what you say to your kids and how you say it, so that you can help regulate your fizzy kid at home, in public and at school. 

As a Special/Additional Needs Mum, Ali confesses that she does not get it right every time. She has developed the FizzyWay of parenting to help her hold on to the kind and respecting part of her personality that she likes most (which also helps to cut down on her gin consumption and means she can go to bed without feeling guilty or ashamed!).

FizzyKids: The Podcast brings together the best of attachment parenting, mindful parenting and therapeutic parenting for parents and carers of children who struggle to manage their big feelings; adopted children, fostered children and kids with hidden disabilities such as dyslexia, dyspraxia, speech delay, autism, Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder, Attention Deficit Disorder, Reactive Attachment Disorder, Pathological Demand Avoidance, Oppositional Demand Disorder and Sensory Processing Disorder.   The podcast is designed to help families, family life, working parents, stay at home parents, grandparents and other carers.