Rest Reset

Is the return to school something you're dreading as much as they might be? Turns out over half of UK pupils feel anxious about going back, and for a fifth of them that anxiety never really switches off.

You can't plan away a nervous system that's already bracing itself, but you can prepare for it. Practising the school run, naming the wobbly feeling, and bringing routine back before you need it all help more than you'd think.

Tell me below, what's helped your child get ready to go back?

Bedtime and dinner don't reset just because the calendar says September.
Swipe through if this is your house right now

Join the workshop Why They Save It All For You by clicking the link in the bio

You offer a snack and it's instant meltdown. You didn't do anything wrong, they've just been holding it together all day, and you're the one they trust enough to fall apart in front of.

That's what 'Why They Save It All For You' is about, a workshop for parents who are worn out from being the one who gets the meltdown nobody else sees.

Wednesday 23rd September at 7.45pm. Booking link is open now, DM me 'SAVE IT' or click the link in my bio.

You can nail every form on the list and still lose the mornings. Swipe through sound familiar?



Free workshop link in bio, 23 September.

Every September there's a version of the same statistic doing the rounds, that just over half of secondary school pupils feel most anxious about returning to school after a holiday ('Marked Absent', Save My Exams and Tutorful).

What doesn't show up in that number is what happens at home once the anxiety kicks in. The dread creeps in on a Sunday night, mornings get harder to manage, and everyone in the house ends up carrying a transition that really only belongs to one child.

The part that helps isn't a pep talk on the morning itself, it's the groundwork done beforehand, a practice run of the walk to school, a visual countdown on the fridge, or just naming the wobble out loud so your child knows you've noticed it. None of that removes the anxiety, but it gives their nervous system something steady to hold onto while it settles.

If any of this sounds like your household right now, the Regulation Reset guide walks through more of this, and there's a link for it in my bio.

That itchy back to school feeling doesn't wait for September to actually arrive.
Swipe through and tell me if this is your house too

Here's what actually happened today. He stood on the back step in his pants, refusing to get dressed, and made you laugh so hard you had to sit down. There were ten good minutes on the trampoline before the row about screen time started. You were there for both. The perfect, easy day you keep picturing was never actually on offer, not this year. The real thing was always going to turn up messy, mixed in with the ordinary chaos, not sitting apart from it. Embrace the small moments and find joy when they find joy.

If you want a hand steadying the harder moments so you've got more headspace for the good ones, the Regulation Reset is free and it's exactly built for weeks like this.

Link in bio, or comment RESET.

If this week's had more wobbles than you expected, it's not you, and it's not them. All the invisible structure just disappeared overnight, and neither of you has had a chance to build new scaffolding yet. Swipe through for the why, then download the free Regulation Reset if you want a hand steadying the harder moments.

Comment RESET and I'll send it straight over.

Years of clinical training, and none of it quite prepared me for actually living this stuff out as a parent.

Swiping through what I knew in theory, as a social worker, coach and systemic practitioner, versus what living it as a mum of a toddler and a preschooler has actually taught me. Some of it still makes me laugh, some of it still catches me out.

None of this makes one way of parenting the right one. It just means the theory and the lived version rarely match up exactly, and that's worth being honest about.

Curious what fits your family? The free Regulation Reset Guide is a good place to start, link in bio.

Every parent in my inbox says some version of the same thing. They behave for the teacher, the grandparent, the swim instructor, and then they fall apart the second they see me. It feels like evidence that something is broken between us.

It is actually the opposite. Children save their biggest feelings for the person they trust most to still love them on the other side of it. That trust took time and consistency to build, and it did not happen by accident.

So if your child saves it all for you, that is not a red flag. That is the safest relationship they have.

If you want a tool to catch it before it tips over, the free guide The Regulation Reset walks you through exactly that. Link in bio to grab your copy.