Beautifully Complex
Beautifully Complex
355: Why Starting Over Is a Parenting Superpower, with Wendy Snyder
Loading
/

355: Why Starting Over Is a Parenting Superpower, with Wendy Snyder

Starting over in parenting is not a sign that you failed. It is one of the bravest, most powerful choices you can make.

In this conversation, I’m talking with Wendy Snyder about why fresh starts matter so much, especially when we’re raising neurodivergent kids and kids with strong wills, big feelings, and nervous systems that experience the world differently. We dig into what it really means to begin again after hard moments, reactive moments, or years of patterns that no longer feel aligned with who we want to be as parents.

Wendy shares so honestly about her own journey from reactive parenting to more responsive, connected parenting, including the deep work of untangling inherited beliefs, healing triggers, and learning how to stop repeating what was handed down to us. We talk about the relief of knowing that when we know better, we can do better, while also acknowledging that knowing better is not always enough when our nervous system is still in survival mode.

This episode is full of compassion for parents who feel stuck in shame, who are trying to unlearn punishment-based parenting, and who want to create more safety, trust, and connection at home. We also talk about modeling emotional literacy, the power of co-regulation, why relationship matters more than control, and how our kids can call us into our own healing.

It’s never too late to change your parenting. You can interrupt old patterns. You can repair. You can build something different.

Listen now and be encouraged that every new moment is a chance to start fresh.

Visit our sponsor, Best Part, at https://BestpartKids.com.

You can find additional resources at parentingadhdandautism.com — because it’s not just about the struggles, it’s about progress, one step at a time.

Show notes and more resources at parentingadhdandautism.com/355

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/beautifully-complex--6137613/support.

You can find additional resources at parentingadhdandautism.com and Regulated Kids.com — because it’s not just about the struggles, it’s about progress, one step at a time.

More From Current Show

I put a lot of my own body image struggle onto my daughter without ever meaning to, and...
Listen Now
My own kid has told me for years that talking to people online is just easier than talking...
Listen Now
Punishment feels like it's working. Compliance shows up fast, and for a minute it looks like the lesson...
Listen Now
A grilled cheese sandwich turned into one of the clearest parenting lessons I've had in a long time....
Listen Now
Your kid's nervous system is not a machine you can just tell to calm down. It is more...
Listen Now
Your child isn't avoiding that task because they're lazy or defiant. They're standing in front of an invisible...
Listen Now
Academic learning is the cherry on top. Everything else has to be in place first before a child...
Listen Now

Related Episodes

After the loss of her husband, Cynthia Blanc Preiss MacLean (@therealmentorcynthia) spent years hiding the truth. She joins...
Listen Now
ABOUT THE EPISODE: The morning of our move, the pods were in the driveway, my dad had shown...
Listen Now
In this episode, Dr. Hillary Kimbley explains what's really happening when children have tantrums and how parents can...
Listen Now
There's often a specific moment that pushes someone to finally ask for help. This season, host Frantzces Lys...
Listen Now
Two parents came to Dr. Becky on the same day, both worried about their kid's confidence. One had...
Listen Now
What if the things we think are helping our children succeed are actually making it harder for them...
Listen Now
Tylenol during pregnancy and autism: what does the research actually show, and what might Mom’s nervous system have...
Listen Now
Misty Copeland grew up sleeping on a motel floor with five siblings, unsure where the next meal was...
Listen Now