Full-Tilt Parenting: Strategies, Insights, and Connection for Parents Raising Neurodivergent Children

TPP 040: Margaret Webb on What To Do When Grandparents or Extended Family Don't Understand our Child

Jan 17, 2017

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In this episode, parent coach Margaret Webb offers advice for navigating a dynamic where grandparents and other extended family don’t understand our child. We talk about how to handle family who may not be as tolerant or understanding of who our kids are (or our reality in raising them) as we would like.

So often big family events like weddings or graduations or holiday celebrations create situations where we’re expected to spend lots of time with family, but it might not look the way we, or they, expect. So what do we do in these scenarios? What are our responsibilities both to our children and to the family members hosting or attending these events? How can we best prep for these tricky situations?

That’s what we’re covering in this episode. Margaret has a lot of experience supporting parents through this difficult dynamic, and in this episode she shares her best tips and strategies for taking care of ourselves and our children and making choices around family events that make the most sense for our reality.

Margaret Webb is a certified Master Life Coach, parenting coach, nature-based coach, former teacher, wife and mother. As a life and parenting coach, she weaves together her experience as an elementary education teacher with the tools she’s learned in Martha Beck’s Life Coach Training, Sagefire Institute’s Nature-Based Coach Training, and what she’s applied to her own life as a mom of a child with special needs.

Things you’ll learn from this episode

How “shoulding” from other parents can lead to a judgement shame spiral
How to take care of yourself and the emotions that come up in challenging situations
How to practice proactive problem solving around family events that are likely to be challenging
The importance of being mindful of the time and energy we spend on other people
How to play “dysfunctional bingo”
Margaret’s best tips for parents navigating tricky dynamics with extended family, and handling grandparents who don’t understand our child