Welcome to May. We're moving into another stone in our Stacking Stones foundation - this month is dedicated to Movement.  This is one of those topics where the standard advice can actually make things harder for parents of strong-willed kids.

Here is what the standard advice says: "Just get them outside. Burn off the energy. Let them run." And here is what most of us who are navigating life with an SWC have learned the hard way: that works for some kids on some days, and for other kids, it makes everything worse.

This week, we're going to explore how movement impacts regulation- and what works when and why.

Strong-willed children come with a wide range of sensory processing differences. Some are sensory-seeking — they need more input to feel regulated. They are the climbers, the crashers, the loud ones, the ones who can't sit still during dinner. Others are sensory-avoiding — overwhelmed by input, especially when it's unpredictable. They are the kids who hide under the table at the loud birthday party, who shut down in PE, who don't want to be touched after a hard day.

Many of these kids are also both of these things, depending on the moment.

Knowing which one your kid is — and when — is the difference between movement being a tool and movement being one more battleground. Get this right, and your day shifts. Get it wrong, and you've just stacked another power struggle on top of a dysregulated nervous system.

By Friday you'll have a full menu of tools to try.. Your job this week is just to start noticing.

Pick one moment a day this week — any moment — and ask yourself: Does my child appear to be seeking input or avoiding it right now?

Bouncing off the walls, big and loud, can't stop moving? Probably seeking.

Hiding under blankets, gone quiet, won't engage? Probably avoiding.

That's the entire homework. We'll match the tools to the state next week. For now we are just learning to read the dial.

If you want one practice to start the week with, this is a good one. Make a pile of couch cushions and pillows on the floor. Don't explain what you’re doing. Don't make it a "regulation activity." Just build the pile and walk away.

What will probably happen: at some point in the next few hours, a strong-willed body will find that pile and begin to fall into it. Crashing, rolling, flopping, pressing. This is proprioceptive input — the deepest, most regulating sensory channel we have. It tells the nervous system I know where my body is and I am safe.

Your child is not "being wild." They are doing the most efficient self-regulation available to them with the tools in the room. Build the pile. Trust the body.

Movement for strong-willed kids is not one-size-fits-all. Calming and alerting serve completely different nervous-system needs, and the same activity can dysregulate one child while soothing another. This week we learn to read which state our child is in — and next week we match the tool to the state. The Movement Menu is coming your way- keep an eye out for it!