There are few things I enjoy more than helping people take a deep breath and realize there is hope!
About Me
Hi! I'm so glad you stopped by, so let me share with you a little about myself.
I have been an Occupational Therapist for over 20 years, a mother for over 13 years, and am incredibly passionate about both. There's nothing I want more than to be a good mom to my son and daughter and help raise them to be confident, kind, and happy people. There's also not much that drives me more than helping parents who are on that same mission.
That brings me to the why.
Basically, my why is "Why?". You see, I am on a constant mission in my life to answer the question "Why?".
I talk to many frustrated and overwhelmed parents and educators who realize something just isn't right, but they don't know why or what to do to help. I also see my own children do things and see their quirky behaviors and I want to understand why so I can not just put a Band-Aid on the problem, but make lasting changes and empower my kids to know how to help themselves.
My why is my love of helping parents, educators, and clinicians have light bulb moments when it all starts to make sense and hope that I can help you to have your light bulb moment.
P.S. If we were talking over a cup of coffee, this is what I would say:
My mission is to get every parent and educator around the world to know that KIDS HAVE TO MOVE! The times we live in are further feeding into our children's immature sensory systems.
Think about it, infants spend more time in baby buckets.
Kids aren't walking up hill both ways for 10 miles in snow up to their eyeballs to get to school like our parents did (eye roll).
Kids aren't outside playing from sunup till sundown getting dirty and climbing trees.
And screens!!! Ugh!!! Screens are slowly taking our children from us one day at a time. Not only can screens make negative changes to our kids' brains (go back to my talk on neuroplasticity), but they keep our kids from doing what will make the positive changes to their brains…moving, running, jumping, being upside down, climbing, getting dirty, etc.
The way we learn what our bodies are doing in space, learn how our bodies interact with the world around us, and learn to understand concepts as we gain body awareness is through movement.
We are also asking our kids to do a lot these days. Sit quietly at a desk and focus for 7 hours. Come home and do homework for an hour. Go to the ballfield or dance studio and listen to your coach or instructor for two hours. Learn to read when you're three. Do multiplication by the time you're four. And you better be able to write an essay by the time you enter kindergarten. It's quite possible that sometimes we are setting our kids up for failure.
If I could get my hands on every school and every teacher, I would have them know this…KIDS HAVE TO LEARN TO MOVE AND MOVE TO LEARN! That kid that we tell to sit still, well he's actually more focused when he's moving. That girl who constantly chews on her shirt, she is craving the sensory input that she would gain by running and jumping and using her muscles. That boy that we tell to look us in the eye, well he just shut down as soon as we did that. The girl who has poor writing and fine motor skills, she doesn't just need handwriting practice, but her sensory system needs a boost too.
My goal is not to offend or make any parent or teacher feel judged because I am a mom and am guilty as charged (and I do this stuff for a living). However, my goal is to get our kids moving again.
- Let them hang upside down from monkey bars.
- Let them walk up the slide backwards.
- Let them dig in the mud and even stick a frog in their pocket if they find one.
- Let them lay on their belly on a swing and spin in circles.
- Let them be bored and daydream while looking out of the car window. Being bored is one of the best things we can let our kids do.
- Let them explore the world around them with their bodies, hands, and minds.
Now you know the real me and what's really on my mind. I want to start a movement that gets swings back in our parks, kids spending more time outside again, and everyone knowing this one important thing…KIDS NEED TO LEARN TO MOVE AND MOVE TO LEARN! Will you please join me?
