Hey Friends,
Yesterday, I got to hang out with my friend, Aubrey Rose, for the morning. She’s almost two years old. We played, snacked, danced, sang, and cuddled for nearly 5 hours. She’s a gem. We laughed out loud and talked for hours. If you’re like me, you prefer kids most days to adults. Once your kids are older, you cherish time with babies and toddlers – partly because you miss those years with your own kids and partly because you know it’s time-limited. Because, let me tell you, friends, it’s exhausting!
The nerdy part of me loved hanging with Aubrey because it was like watching a child development book unfold right in front of me. It’s like watching a parenting docu-series. It’s like watching a brain study as all of the neurons are connecting and growing. The other, psychologist-over-analytic-always-wondering part of me also felt a bit reflective. This kid is SO lucky. I could literally go through and check off ALL of the boxes that are creating resilience for her.
- Unconditional love
- Strong attachments
- Well-attuned adults
- Tons of play time
- Games and activities that stimulate her brain
- Routines
- Lots of loving verbal interactions
- A strong village of people who love her
In the grand world of child development, I have no worries about this child. Even if traumatic, hard, scary things happen to her -which they will – she’s been marinating in love and strong connections for years.
Her parents are amazing, kind, strong people. They want to be phenomenal parents and clearly strive for it. But isn’t that what every parent wants? I’ve yet to meet a parent that doesn’t want all of these things for their children. Yes, even parents with addiction issues. Yes, even parents living in poverty. Yes, even parents who hit or hurt their children. I could go on and on. But if you ask ANY parent, they want their child to be healthy and resilient.
And you know what? I’m on a mission to create just that. I think we CAN teach parents how to do this. Even if there’s been intergenerational trauma or lots of healing that needs to be done. I want EVERY person that intersects in a child’s life to know TWO things: What trauma is AND what to do about it!
We can do this. This is my wheelhouse and I’d love to teach you. If you’re a professional who works with children and families, there’s a training for this! I’ve got you!
Here’s what you can do right now to support this effort.
- Begin to listen to my podcast, The Most Important Medicine, so you know what trauma looks like and how to begin having conversations about it.
- Send this newsletter to 3 friends so they can begin receiving little doses of information every week about trauma and resilience.
- If you’re a physician, join me in 6 weeks for my mini-retreat on resilience! We’re diving deep into Cards for Connection© so that you can learn how to build resilience for children at EVERY well visit or encounter.
- If you’re a healthcare provider of any type, join us for a Provider Lounge meeting, a learning collaborative to build resilience. You’ll come for the content, but stay for the community!
- If you’re an educator, reply back to let us know you’re interested about our fall retreat on building resilience, specifically designed for educators!
Friends, here’s to all of us who want to help raise a village of resilient children. We can do this! I can show you the way and, together, we’ll transform how we respond to trauma and adversity.
If you’re considering joining us for the April retreat, can you let me know asap? If you’re even thinking of coming, I’d love to hold a spot for you!
