Regina Hariri LPC

01/19/2025

02/07/2024

3. Weaponizing what you reveal to them.

02/07/2024

Perfectionism can create unnecessary pressure and anxiety.

By teaching children that it's okay to make mistakes and that imperfections are a natural part of life, we empower them to build resilience and a healthier sense of self.

Embracing imperfections lays a foundation for self-acceptance!

Hopefully, these phrases can help you connect to your perfectionist kid and show them that you’re there for them.

02/07/2024

We tend to underestimate how negative language impacts children. Find out why it is a less effective form of discipline and powerful alternatives.

02/07/2024

He’s the kid who never listens the first time.

Or the second.

Or even the tenth.

You can pick him up out of the line up in the school hallways.

He’s the one who doesn’t walk in an orderly fashion. He runs or spins or stops in his tracks if something catches his eye.

He has a hard time keeping his hands to himself.

His handwriting and spelling don’t betray his intelligence...you might be fooled into thinking it’s all a struggle if you’re not paying attention.

He’s the one making all the noises with his mouth, only stopping when his siblings finally yell at him.

His heart sometimes breaks a little because he’s not always sure why what he’s doing is so wrong.

His ideas come out in a jumble and you have to slow way down and look in his eyes to listen.

His ideas are just too big and too fast for his head it seems and so they come out in any old order.

But he needs you to hear him.

His energy cannot be contained by walls and he seems to take up so much more space than his size.

He tries every ounce of your patience if you’re trying to get somewhere.

You might send him to put on his boots and he’ll come back with a new LEGO creation.

Time has no meaning when a new plan strikes.

He can understand stories on a level well beyond his years and will floor you with his insights.

He is smart as a whip yet school isn’t always his jam. He’d rather talk about why Sally is giving away 24 of her apples instead of solving the story problems in math.

He loves fiercely and deeply and without reservation.

He will tuck a blanket around you if you look cold and will always share a bite of his cookie.

He can read your emotions on your face and will always know who is lonely on the playground.

He runs to open your car door and will insist on carrying your bag in the house for you.

He loves to climb into your lap and wants to hold your hand as he falls asleep.

His greatest joy is making you laugh from deep in your belly.

His body is eight but his soul is much older.

He is so many things...sometimes the world wants to label him with letters and words and numbers...and sometimes these help us understand him better.

But the letters and words and scores are not what he is. They cannot capture his essence.

There is no data taken anywhere on big hearts, but if there were this kid would be the shining star.

Like all our kids he is just himself. The sum of gifts and struggles all bound together with love.

And my hope for him, and all kids really, is that we can see these clearly. We can look beyond the definitions and categories to what’s shining in their eyes and hiding behind their smiles.

And we can love them just the way they are.

Amy❤️

11/01/2023

Outdoor play is so important!

Who wouldn't want their kids to be happier, more focused and less anxious? (and oh so many more benefits)

10/31/2023

Melt down – it can seem to come out of nowhere. It’s one of the challenging or explosive behaviours we can see in our ADHD spouse, child, sibling, self or friend. Sometimes behaviours are shown as as poor self-esteem, yelling, rage or tears. Behaviours may also be very subtle and go unnoticed or worse still, diagnosed and treated as something else, such as anxiety disorder or depression.

The Connect ADHD Volcano model has been developed to explain and understand these challenging and explosive and sometimes hidden behaviours. It is a key educational piece that clearly represents the relationship between observable behaviours, diagnosis and the underlying factors of executive function skills development, and how brain chemistry impacts all of the above. (via adda)

Illustration credit: unknown

08/22/2023

After a meltdown 😭 your kids want you to know….

When our kids experience BIG emotions, there can be feelings of guilt and shame.

�We want our kids to feel safe in their emotions, even when they have a meltdown.

07/28/2023

When's the right time to start your child with a phone? Is 12 too young? Here's what a professional screen time consultant tells parents about the risks kids face online.