Creative Minds – Dorking

There is something deeply exhausting about trying your best as a parent while also managing the opinions of everyone around you.

Sometimes the comments come disguised as “helpful advice.”
Sometimes they sound like judgement.
And sometimes they come from the people you expected support from the most.

“You’re too soft.”
“They just need discipline.”
“They’ll grow out of it.”
“You worry too much.”
“In my day we didn’t…”

When you are parenting a child with additional needs, emotional sensitivities, anxiety, neurodivergence, trauma, or simply parenting differently from previous generations, these comments can feel incredibly heavy.

The truth is:
People often comment on what they do not fully understand.

What looks like “overreacting” to someone else may actually be careful co-regulation.
What looks like “giving in” may actually be preventing overwhelm.
What looks like “bad behaviour” may actually be distress, sensory overload, fear, or emotional dysregulation.

You do not need to justify every parenting decision to family or friends.

It is okay to:
• Set boundaries around conversations
• Change the subject
• Say “This approach works for our child”
• Protect your peace
• Limit advice that leaves you feeling drained or criticised

Your child does not need perfect parenting.
They need a parent who feels supported, regulated, and safe enough to keep showing up.

And you deserve support too.

🎨 Try at Home: “The Safe Space Scribble”🎨

This calming art activity can help both parents and children release emotional tension after difficult conversations or overwhelming days.

You will need:
• Plain paper
• Crayons, pencils, or paints
• Optional calming music

Step 1:
Close your eyes for a moment and think about a place, person, or feeling that makes you feel safe and calm.

Step 2:
Without worrying about making “good art,” begin covering the page with colours, shapes, swirls, or soft lines that match that feeling.

Step 3:
Add comforting words if you’d like:
“Safe.”
“Calm.”
“We are enough.”
“Peace.”

Step 4:
When finished, place the artwork somewhere visible as a reminder that not every outside opinion deserves space inside your mind.

Sometimes creating quietly is the gentlest way to return to yourself.