When L’s family came into our Raising Orchid Kids class, they were completely mystified by their kiddo’s behavior. L seemed to have very strong preferences about everything: food, toys, family outings, where L’s shoes needed to be placed, how Mom needed to address L in the morning, how to spend free time, how to deal with school, which pajamas to wear. Just about everything.

L’s parents had tried ignoring L’s need for rigid adherence to the routines by just carrying on with the rest of the family, but this usually ended in aborted outings, tears and yelling (often on everyone’s part). 

Mom and Dad tried explaining that it wasn’t a big deal if the shoes weren’t in exactly the right place or if the favorite pajamas were in the laundry. To no avail. And more meltdowns.

Then they tried to follow L’s lead on everything. Which led to meltdowns from siblings and the parents feeling like they were subject to L’s whims at all times.

L’s mom and dad were feeling pretty desperate and out of ideas.

During the first class, as L’s parents described some of the behaviors they were seeing at home, I looked around the Zoom room at several other nodding heads. They were in perfect company, with other parents who understood exactly what they were talking about.

Without a lot of explanation.

Without any justification.

With total acceptance.

WIthin the first 20 minutes of the first class, I watched L’s parents’ shoulders relax a bit. I watched their faces soften just a little. They leaned in.

During the next few weeks, as Jen and I walked through the Raising Orchid Kids curriculum, I could see the lightbulb moments as L’s behavior started to make more and more sense to L’s Mom and Dad. I could see them starting to appreciate why L was behaving in those ways.

As the course went on, and they began to try some of the strategies we were describing during our sessions, they marveled at how a simple adjustment to a routine could have such dramatic positive effects. 

They came to class excited to share a win from the week. 

They started to feel more hopeful and positive about the future.

Today, L’s parents are confident, positive and optimistic about all their kids. They use the tools they learned during Raising Orchid Kids (which - by the way - work REALLY well on non-orchids too!). They handle bumps in the road with grace and acceptance. And, while they still worry - in the way that all parents worry about their kids  - they are hopeful about L’s future for the first time.

If you are feeling like L’s parents did, maybe it’s time to consider getting some new tools. Regular parenting tools work really well for most kids. But there are kids (we call them Orchids) for whom those other tools need to be tweaked (or thrown out altogether). 

In Raising Orchid Kids, we teach you why your child behaves in those annoying, off-putting (and sometimes dangerous) ways. We teach you what to do about it. And - we give you a soft place to land: a community of folks who understand everything you’re going through.

I’d like to think it’s the curriculum that makes Raising Orchid Kids so good, but honestly, Jen and I both know that it’s the community. It’s the camaraderie among parents who are going through trials together and deciding to thrive anyway. It’s a beautiful thing, that community of parents who are raising orchid kids.

It’s not too late to join our Winter 2022 6-week class. We’ll begin on January 13 at 12pm eastern. More details are HERE.

Don’t you owe it to yourself and to your Orchid to join?

All my best - 

Gabriele