As I leaned forward in my chair, trying to navigate a virtual high school, I could feel the desperation mounting inside of me. I needed to get a program installed so my son could do his homework, but the computer set up was unfamiliar to me, the mouse was super sensitive, the type on the screen was smaller than my eyes could easily read, and the screen was positioned so I had to look up at it. The strain on my neck tightened by the moment.

"Relax, Mom," my son said gently, noticing how tense I was. "It doesn't have to be so hard. Take a deep breath and let go of the stress."

I took a moment to really hear him and looked into his face. He had grown so much since we began homeschooling him. We had chosen this path because public and private schools didn't meet his unique needs, and we wanted to be able to empower him to learn and grow at his own pace. It wasn't always easy, though. He experienced high anxiety and sensory processing difficulties, and I had to learn how to support him...

What’s it like for you when you feel disappointment? What have you noticed it’s like for your child? In my experience, disappointment can feel crushing to them. Especially when it’s around something they’ve been looking forward to for awhile.

I remember homeschooling my youngest son when we’d arranged a time for him to hang out with his friends. He didn’t get to do this as often as my older children had, because they had attended public schools. When the arrangements fell through he felt crushed. 

He ran to his room and lay crying on his bed "But we planned it in advance! It's not fair!”

At the time I paused a moment to acknowledge my own visceral response, I noticed my heart was racing and my breathing was shallow. I placed my hand on my heart, and closed my eyes to focus inward, I focused on my breath and tracked my body sensations. My gut and shoulders had clenched tight, and the flavor of emotion was near panic and despair. 

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