It’s Saturday morning and your child is excited for soccer practice. Cleats on, water bottle packed, ready to go. Then you get the email: practice is canceled due to rain. Suddenly, your child is in tears, refusing to do anything else, maybe even yelling, “This day is ruined!” What’s happening here? This is about cognitive flexibility , the ability to adjust when plans change and problem-solving,  the skill of finding new options when things don’t go as expected. For many kid

It’s 6:45 a.m. and the cereal spills all over the floor. In seconds, your child is shouting, crying, and refusing to get dressed. For you, it’s just a small mess. For your child, it feels like the end of the world. This is where emotional regulation and self-control  come in, two executive function skills that help us pause, calm down, and choose how to respond instead of reacting on impulse. For many kids with ADHD, these skills take extra time and support to develop. What I

“Go upstairs, put on your pajamas, brush your teeth, and bring down your dirty laundry.” Five minutes later, your child comes back downstairs… wearing pajamas, but without brushing their teeth or bringing the laundry. What happened? Did they ignore you? Did they not listen? Chances are, the issue isn’t motivation, it’s working memory. What Is Working Memory? Working memory is your brain’s ability to hold on to information long enough to use it.  Think of it as a mental sticky

“Go clean your room.” Five minutes later, your child is sitting on the floor surrounded by Legos, flipping through a book they found under the bed, or moving the same pile of clothes from one corner to another. The task that seemed simple to you feels overwhelming to them. This is a perfect example of three important executive function skills in action, or in this case, in struggle: planning, organization, and task initiation . These skills help kids map out what needs to be

Before Thrive ever existed, I was a parent trying to figure out how to support my own children. My kids are neurodivergent, and many of the things I now help families with like regulation, focus, organization, emotional overwhelm were daily challenges in our home. Mornings felt hard. Schoolwork felt harder. Big emotions showed up quickly. And I found myself constantly asking, “Why does this feel so much harder than it seems like it should be?” I wasn’t looking for perfection

It’s 7:15 on a Tuesday morning. Your child knows it's time to leave the house at 7:30, but they’re still wandering around in pajamas, their lunchbox is somewhere in the house (maybe?), and they’re melting down because the library book they need has disappeared. If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. And it’s not about laziness, defiance, or a lack of intelligence. What’s often at play here is something called executive function . What Is Executive Function? Think of execu

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