My parenting journey started after a long road of infertility and loss of hope. After the joy of finally welcoming our first son into the world, we walked through the devasting loss of my own mother to suicide. As I navigated grief, managed motherhood, processed my own parenting, and saw my limits throughout it all, I realized that having a larger vision of what parenting is helped so much in surviving the day-to-day grind of motherhood. I believe that if we can keep the larger picture of our hopes and dreams for our children in mind while we parent the hard moments, it can keep us grounded and present in a way that helps our kids learn, grow, and flourish within our homes. If we can offer them a picture of regulation in how we respond to them, we help their nervous system learn the skills needed for managing their own big feelings. This modeling of regulation takes practice and skills. I was so glad for my background as a teacher when I started parenting because there are so many little tips and tricks that can help in preventing meltdowns in the first place. Big feelings are inevitable, but with some help, we can manage our own feelings and provide our children with a pillar of calm and compassion to help them through theirs.