Happy belated Mother’s Day to all the moms. I hope you have found a special moment just for yourself, and a lovely day with family. This time last year, we were all still trying to understand and adopt to the realities of lives in pandemic. Schools cancelled, working from home, senior shopping hours, and predicting the peak (over and over again). So much have changed since then, yet some important changes remained.

Moms are now working more jobs, their personal and professional boundary lines have been blurred to none, and they have less time for themselves. In addition to the roles prior to the pandemic – working, parenting and domestic duties, most moms are also taking on some versions of homeschooling for their children. For parents of gifted and profoundly gifted children, it has become more challenging to “keep up” with their unmet needs from their virtual classroom.

We know there are a lot of parenting resources in gifted education, from programs to services, assessments to advocacy. This blog post, however, primarily focuses on the self-care for parents of gifted and highly gifted children, how you can take care of you while taking care of the family.

If you haven’t already, please check out IEA’s monthly Gifted Support Group. It’s a great place to start. Our monthly Gifted Support Group meetings feature experts on various aspects of 

gifted education. The goals are to support parents, build community, it’s a venue for shared discovery, and a space to exchange resources and ideas. Sharing experiences with other parents and educators who interact with gifted children has proven to be enormously helpful.

In this open letter titled “Dear Tired Mom of Gifted Kids,” Gifted Specialist Colleen Kessler from Raising Lifelong Learners reaffirmed that sharing experiences with other parents and building community is critical to bringing calm to everyday parenting life. 

In this podcast by Debbie Reber, who is the founder of TiLT, a parenting community for raising unconventionally wired children, Debbie shared twelve strategies and ideas for creating a sustainable, doable self-care practice.

Taking care of you paves a strong foundation for the wellbeing of the whole family. The journey of raising gifted and highly gifted children is long, joyous, tenuous and amazing all at the same time. Know that you have a community and are never alone! Best wishes and keep in touch![vc_single_image image=”10489″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” qode_css_animation=””]

It has been a year since the pandemic caused havoc, chaos and culminating to eventual acceptance that this will be our norm for now, full of anxiety and stress. Most children and families have adjusted to our pandemic norm, from online learning, zoom meetings, parents/guardians turning into homeschool teachers whilst working from home, and having to adhere to safety protocols on a daily basis, whether taking a walk outside your neighborhood, or going into the grocery store.

Because of such added stress and anxiety, parents and children need some type of support, activity or other types of de-stressors to be able to cope.

Below are some articles, podcasts, reading materials to help parents and their children on how to cope and maintain a healthier social, emotional and mental well being: from tuning in to funny and silly podcasts to alleviate or ease the tension and sadness, to hearing and learning how children can be supported emotionally. These resources are found on our Gifted Resource Center webpage.

Raising Life Long Learners

This is a podcast about raising kids who love learning. Listen to how others help inspire kids to view their world with play, passion and fascination. Podcasts such as WHY SELF-CARE IS IMPORTANT FOR OUR CHILDREN TOO talks about self-care and that parents must take care of themselves in order to take care of their children. But what about our kids, especially those who are gifted and twice exceptional? How do we help them learn coping skills and emotional regulation? How do we help them identify what they need to take care of their own bodies and souls?

The Deep End

The Deep End is a blog written by Stephanie Tolan, which she hopes will help create a space to discuss the needs and challenges of being a gifted child. A recent blog post “Wellbeing – A No Limits Approach”, talks about what does wellbeing mean to children with non-ordinary minds and non-ordinary needs, and more than that—children living, suddenly, like the rest of us, in utterly non-ordinary times

The Fringy Bit

The Fringy Bit is a website started by the parents of three “fringy” kids. They use this term to describe children who are gifted and those who experience other forms of neuro-diversity. Through their website, they have created a blog and podcast, focusing on creating a community for the parents of gifted children. Heather Boorman has a background in clinical social work, and her husband Jonathan is a licensed marriage and family therapist. Enjoy their bonus podcast episodes on “Quarantine Quips”, that include short episodes talking about strategies, support, silliness and whatever else comes of Heather and Jon’s mouths and minds.

“The Gifted Kids Workbook: Mindfulness Skills to Help Children Reduce Stress, Balance Emotions, and Build Confidence”

Help your gifted child embrace their uniqueness. In this workbook, a therapist offers fun activities and strategies to help children ages 7 to 12 boost self-confidence, reduce stress and overwhelm, and balance emotions.

Emotional Intensity in Gifted Students: Helping Kids Cope with Explosive Feelings

Designed to provide support for the difficult job of parenting and teaching gifted children, “Emotional Intensity in Gifted Students: Helping Kids Cope With Explosive Feelings” provides the resource parents and teachers need to not only understand why gifted children are so extreme in their behavior, but also learn specific strategies to teach gifted children how to live with their intensity.

Living the Life Fantastic

This blog provides resources for gifted children who struggle with anxiety. In addition to posts and discussions specific to giftedness and anxiety, the site also offers a purchasable “Taking Time for Me” journal to help children manage their anxiety through mindfulness and gratitude.

Tilt Parenting

TiLT Parenting was founded in 2016 by Debbie Reber as a podcast and community aimed at helping parents raising differently-wired kids do so from a place of confidence, connection, and joy. Debbie is passionate about the idea that being differently wired isn’t a deficit —it’s a difference. She hopes to change the way difference is perceived and experienced in the world so these exceptional kids, and the parents raising them, can thrive in their schools, in their families, and in their lives. Check out the podcast with Dr. Michele Borba on “How to Help Kids Thrive in an Anxious World”.

Understood

Understood is dedicated to shaping a world where millions of people who learn and think differently can thrive at home, at school, and at work. Several featured resources are available such as “How to help your child manage a fear, 6 signs your child is resilient”.

Why Smart Kids Worry: And What Parents Can Do to Help

This book by Allison Edwards guides readers through the mental and emotional process of where children’s fears come from and why they are so hard to move past. Edwards focuses on how to parent a child who is both smart and anxious. She brings her years of experience as a therapist to offer fifteen specially designed tools for helping smart kids manage their fears.

Additional Resources:

CDC Resources Page on Stress and Coping

CDC’s Stress and Coping webpage provides resources and information on how to deal and cope with stress, such as coping with job stress, adults experiencing stress from Covid-19, responding to loss, and coping and support for children.

CDC developed the COVID-19 Parental Resource Kit: Ensuring Children and Young People’s Social, Emotional, and Mental Well-being to help support parents, caregivers, and other adults serving children and young people in recognizing children and young people’s social, emotional, and mental health challenges and helping to ensure their well-being.

The holidays are a stressful time for everyone, but can be even more so for families with gifted children. Between intensities, veering from normal routines and the challenge of gift-giving, it’s enough to stress out even the most patient caregiver.  Below are some helpful posts from gifted bloggers and organizations to help this season be peaceful and enjoyable.

Holiday stress: What parents of gifted children need to know
Licensed Psychologist Gail Post, Ph.D. shares practical tips on how parents can help gifted children, and themselves, handle their unique stressors around the holidays. Tips include setting realistic expectations and taking time for yourself as a parent to decompress.

Parenting Gifted Children Through the Holidays
More practical tips for parents, this time from a fellow parent of three gifted children, published by Supporting the Emotional Needs of the Gifted (SENG). The author focuses on parents of children with intensities.

Managing Your Child’s Intensity During the Holidays
An enjoyable and honest guide about managing intensities from gifted parenting blogger Raising Lifelong Learners. The author includes some much-needed encouragement to parents at the end.

‘Tis the Season to be…Anxious?
Written from the perspective of a parent, this post from Gifted-Ed Connections is a short reflection on parental anxiety and how that translates to the holiday season. An encouraging short read for anxious parents.

Holidays with the Quirky
Adventures of Hahn Academy shares some of the “quirky” gifts her gifted son has requested throughout the years. The post includes a list of her son’s favorite past gifts, which may be helpful to anyone searching for a last minute Christmas gift for the gifted child in their life.

A Recipe for a Peaceful Holiday Season
More practical tips from SENG, this time from a therapist specializing in gifted children, who is a mother of the gifted herself. A nice reminder not to forget the simple things, like sleep and maintaining eating habits, in a busy season.

Surviving the Holidays with a House Full of Gifted Folks
Finally, a post from the IEA archive on managing the intensities of multiple gifted individuals. The post includes advice for both hosts and guests on how to have a peaceful holiday season.

What are your favorite tips for managing the holiday stress?

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