·E267

Parenting Older Kids Without Over-Functioning

January 28

18 mins

Episode Description

What if the hardest season of parenting is not when your kids are little but when they are older?

When your children become teens, young adults, or fully grown, the role you have lived inside for years quietly changes. They do not need you in the same way. The strategies that once worked anticipating, fixing, and smoothing things over can suddenly create tension instead of connection. And no one really prepares you for the nervous system shift this stage requires.

In this episode Leah Davidson explores what it truly means to parent older kids without over-functioning. She breaks down how your nervous system continues to shape connection in this phase, why regulation matters more than advice, and how doing less can actually strengthen your relationship. This episode is especially for midlife parents navigating grief, identity shifts, and the discomfort of letting go without disconnecting or abandoning themselves in the process.

We’ll explore:

Over-functioning may feel like care, but with older kids it often creates pressure and distance rather than connection
Regulation does not mean tolerating disrespect, it means responding with clarity instead of reactivity
Connection with older kids deepens through restraint, not increased effort or control
Pausing and regulating yourself creates more safety than fixing, advising, or rescuing
Parenting older kids requires shifting focus from managing them to staying anchored in yourself

LINKS AND RESOURCES:

COMMUNITY

MIDLIFE NERVOUS SYSTEM REWIRE COMMUNITY 👑:

A low pressure, fun community for “Queenagers” to regulate, not fix, their midlife nervous systems.

Join here: https://www.skool.com/midlife-nervous-system-rewire/about?ref=06e003b61b8148ebbafd3a067f3cc2e1

MENTAL HEALTH STATIONERY - RESILIENT BRILLIANCE PRODUCTS:

1) RESILIENCE JOURNAL: A guided journal for emotional well-being and nervous system care

Amazon US - https://a.co/d/7DpuyVj

2) MY SAFE SPACE : AFFIRMATION AND JOURNAL PROMPT SET

Amazon US - https://a.co/d/2mANQs4

LET'S STAY CONNECTED

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/leahdavidsonlifecoaching/