Forget the highlight reel. This is the summer of realistic adventures for our kids with big feelings and big behaviours, planned around their actual needs, not someone else’s idea of what it should look like.

We are redefining success. Not perfection. Not other people’s Instagram feeds. Just fun, safety, and connection. Small wins, realistic expectations, and memories that don’t require emotional triage afterward.

Here are some ideas for making that happen.

Summer is a sensory nightmare. If your child is struggling this summer at camp, on outings, or at home, try exploring sensory strategies, even if they’re not complaining about being hot or itchy. Read on for ideas, strategies, language to use, and tools you need.

Sometimes the usual strategies to help with anxiety can backfire spectacularly.

But what actually helps? Because when your child is melting down about getting on the school bus or convinced something terrible is about to happen, you need strategies that work. Not next week, not after six months of therapy—but right now, in your living room, with your real-life anxious kid, especially if that child has other things making it hard, like ADHD, autism, PDA, panic attacks, or OCD.

Oh, the lovey. It might be a fabulously soft bunny blanket or a stuffed bear, dad’s old shirt or that one blue truck. It’s gotta come everywhere, it’s not allowed to be washed, and it’s irreplaceable (they’ll know if you’ve ordered a duplicate!). As kids get older, so do loveys. At some point, people start commenting, “Aren’t they a little old to still have that thing?” Grandma has opinions. And parents start stressing: Will my child never be independent? Will she get married with her bouquet in one hand and a thirty year old blankie in the other?? What can I do???