Mishele L. Hart, LCSW

06/13/2026

Let me explain… rudeness is often a sign of dysregulation with children. If we respond to dysregulation with correcting, instead of connecting, our child may become more escalated because their need for co-regulation cannot be met while being corrected.
Take a moment to reflect on your own behaviour. When do you find yourself being a little rude? For myself, it’s when I’m feeling dysregulated. I actually can hear myself being rude but it’s really hard not to come across that way when I’m having certain feelings. So what do we need to do when we feel dysregulated? We need to self-regulate or co-regulate.

If we teach our children that “rudeness” is often a sign of dysregulation, they may learn to see it as a cue from their nervous system that they need co-regulation or self-regulation. The other piece is, they’ll likely know that when others are rude to them that it is not about them but about how the other person is likely feeling, especially if it is someone in our lives, that we are close to.

This is a little excerpt from my book….

Finding Your Calm: Responsive Parents Guide to Self-Regulation and Co-Regulation
�This book combines my knowledge of child development, brain science and trauma to offer parents a unique resource that includes lots of exercises, reflections, insights and also… links to additional research, articles and videos that can help support your healing and learning journey.

Link in bio

05/27/2026

Children are often teased by the adults in the room because it feels like an easy way to bond, lighten the mood, or take the edge off a tense dynamic. In our own minds, the sarcasm or the playful jab is completely harmless — just an affectionate joke among family. We expect them to laugh along, completely blind to how it actually lands.

The reality is that children do not possess the emotional filter required to separate a parent’s playful mockery from a literal statement about their worth. When the people responsible for guarding their safety turn them into the punchline, a child doesn't see a joke. They just feel a sudden, confusing break in the safety they assumed they had.

When their fears, mistakes, or quirks are served up as social entertainment for the room, they feel deeply exposed. Instead of feeling defended by the adults in the room, they realize they have to build a defense against them. They start withdrawing their presence, editing their words, and hiding their genuine self out of fear of becoming the next laugh.

Guarding their confidence requires a quiet loyalty, even in the middle of a casual conversation. Choosing your child's emotional safety over the comfort of adult small talk sets a powerful standard.

When you refuse to participate in the teasing, you show them through the steady intention of your posture that their dignity is never up for negotiation. They can sit in any room, completely certain that their heart is fiercely protected in your hands. ❤️

Image Quote Credit: ❣️

04/28/2026

Kyle was such a bright light every time he entered a room. He came in with a smile, a hug, or a … Rachel Harbert needs your support for Honoring Kyle's Legacy

04/27/2026

04/23/2026

Every time we see a life in wreckage, a marriage dissolving, a career imploding, a mind fraying at the edges, our first instinct isn’t to reach for a life jacket. It’s to stand on the dry, safe sand and point at the tide, explaining to the person gasping for air exactly which currents they should have avoided.

We blame the drowning to convince ourselves we could never sink.

But when someone is drowning, the last thing they need is a lecture from the shore. They need someone willing to get a little wet for them.

And if you can’t reach, if you don’t have the capacity, the words, or the understanding, then kindness still has another shape.

Silence.

The kind that refuses to wound further. The kind that reminds them that they are not alone in the water. One that chooses not to turn someone’s worst moment into your commentary.

If someone in your circle is struggling today, resist the urge to be the professor. Don't audit their mistakes while they are still clearing the salt from their lungs. Just be the rescue. Or, if you can't be the rescue, be the quiet.

Let the lessons wait for the morning.
For now, just let them breathe.