This episode is the first in a brand new 5-part series on the podcast: Start Where You Are. This series is designed to meet you wherever you are in your homeschooling journey, offering the resourcing you need to move forward with meaning and acceptance. And to begin, we’re going straight to the foundation—by naming the elephant in the room: grief. Grief isn’t only about death. It’s about the losses, big and small, that come with parenting and homeschooling—especially for families raising neurodivergent kids. It’s the grief of unmet expectations. The invisible grief of constant adaptation. The grief of medical interventions, school refusal, autistic burnout, and family rhythms that look nothing like we imagined. Too often, grief is dismissed, mislabeled, or buried under burnout. Grief is not an enemy to fight—it’s a friend to make room for. It’s a teacher that invites us toward healing, wholeness, and connection. In this conversation, I’m joined by my friend and Day In The Life community member Emily Souder—therapist, author, homeschool mom, and parent of neurodivergent kids. Emily knows this territory intimately, both through her personal story and her work in the world of neonatal loss and grief. Together, we explore what it means to befriend grief and create space for it in our families—because tending to grief is not only vital for our own healing, but for the well-being of our children. In this episode, we talk about: What grief is and how it shows up in our nervous system Why the 5 stages of grief are often misunderstood The Dual Process Model of Grief and how it helps us balance grieving and living What happens when we suppress or avoid grief Supporting our children in their own experiences of grief Practical ways to tend to grief in our family rhythms Resources & Links Learn more about Emily Souder on her website Pre-order Emily’s newest book, Your NICU Story Join us for the next Day In The Life Community Open House