Tag: #susansearswritings

Blogs

When the Weather Warms, So Do Our Children

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A Seasonal Reset for Growing Bodies

By the end of Marchbeginging of April, something begins to shift.
The air softens. The snow recedes. The sun lingers a little longer in the evening sky. And almost instinctively, children begin drifting back outside.

It isn’t just play.
It’s a reset. Something our bodies crave, something we all need. 

After months of winter routines, heavier coats, and more time indoors, spring offers something deeper than fresh air. It offers movement. Space. Possibility.

As a parent, grandparent— and as a nurse — I’ve seen how powerful that shift can be.

Movement Reawakens the Developing Brain

Children are designed to move. When winter limits outdoor play, physical activity often drops, and with it, important neurological stimulation.

Research shows that movement increases blood flow to the brain, supports memory formation, and improves attention. Running, climbing, and biking activate multiple sensory systems at once, helping children integrate balance, coordination, and focus.

When kids return outside in spring, their brains begin working differently again — more alert, more flexible, more ready to learn.

This isn’t accidental. It’s biological.

Sunlight Restores Sleep and Emotional Balance

During the darker winter months, many children experience subtle disruptions in their circadian rhythms. Less sunlight can interfere with melatonin production, affecting sleep quality and emotional regulation.

Spring sunlight helps reset the internal clock.

More time outdoors during daylight hours supports:

  • Better nighttime sleep
  • Improved mood
  • Reduced irritability
  • Increased daytime energy

Parents often notice it first at bedtime: easier routines, fewer struggles, deeper rest.

That’s physiology at work.

Nature Reduces Stress in the Nervous System

Modern childhood carries more stimulation than ever — screens, schedules, expectations, noise.

Nature provides something different: regulation.

Studies consistently show that time outdoors lowers cortisol (the body’s primary stress hormone) and activates the parasympathetic nervous system — the system responsible for calm, digestion, and emotional safety.

When children dig in dirt, watch clouds, or explore trails, their bodies are shifting out of “alert mode” and into “rest and restore.”

That’s why outdoor play often leads to fewer meltdowns and more emotional resilience.

Unstructured Play Builds Executive Function

Executive function includes skills like problem-solving, impulse control, planning, and emotional regulation. These abilities develop through experience — not lectures.

Unstructured outdoor play is one of the most powerful training grounds.

When children invent games, negotiate rules, build forts, or adapt to changing situations, they are strengthening these higher-level brain systems. They are practicing life. Without realizing it.

Social Connection Happens More Naturally Outside

Many parents notice that difficult conversations become easier during walks, bike rides, or backyard play.

There is science behind that, too.

Movement reduces defensive responses in the brain and increases oxytocin — the hormone associated with trust and connection.

Side-by-side activity feels safer than face-to-face pressure.Outdoors, children open up.

A Gentle Faith Reflection

As I have watched children run back into spring throughout the years, I’m reminded that this design is intentional.

God created bodies meant to move.
Minds meant to explore.
Hearts meant to rest in creation.

Nature is not separate from learning.
It is part of it.

Every scraped knee, muddy shoe, and sun-flushed cheek tells a story of growth.

Practical Ways to Invite More Outdoor Time

You don’t need elaborate plans.

Small choices make a differnece and count:

  • After-dinner walks
  • Chalk on the driveway
  • Backyard reading blankets
  • Nature scavenger hunts
  • Screen-free afternoons

Consistency matters more than perfection.

A Closing Invitation

Spring will pass quickly. So will this version of your child.

I’m glad you’re here. We’re walking this season together. Keep working hard and moving forward. You’ve got this!

Blogs

When Blame Limits Growth

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In the previous reflection, I explored blame as a form of protection—often rooted in fear, shame, or a sense of emotional safety. But there is another side to this pattern that deserves attention. Beyond how blame affects relationships, it also shapes what becomes possible for the person who relies on it. This following reflection turns toward the cost: what growth, learning, and opportunity the person who consistently places accountability elsewhere may lose.

Two paths diverging on a quiet road, representing choice, personal responsibility, and growth

How Patterns Reveal More Than Excuses

In healthcare, patterns tell stories. When the same explanation appears again and again, we begin to look beyond the surface and ask what it might be protecting—or quietly costing.

People often discuss blame based on how it affects relationships. Less frequently explored is how it shapes outcomes for the person who relies on it.

When individuals consistently place responsibility elsewhere, growth quietly stalls.

The Missed Opportunity for Learning

I’ve seen this in clinical settings and in everyday life.

  • A test isn’t passed because someone “stole study time.”
  • A promotion isn’t received because “management was unfair.”
  • A relationship struggles because “the other person never changes.”

Each explanation may hold some truth. But when blame becomes the default response, reflection never has space to enter.

From a nursing perspective, learning requires feedback. Healing does too. Without the ability to pause and ask, “What part of this is mine?”, we miss opportunities for change or improvement.

What Chronic Blame Can Cost

Over time, relying on blame can quietly erode forward movement. It may:

  • Limit skill development and learning
  • Undermine trust in professional and personal relationships
  • Reinforce a sense of helplessness or stagnation
  • Strengthen the belief that change is always outside one’s control

Blame can offer short-term emotional relief, but it rarely creates lasting change.

Why Accountability Often Feels Unsafe

Accountability requires discomfort. It asks for humility, self-reflection, and the willingness to tolerate imperfection.

For individuals shaped by early criticism, failure, or harsh consequences, that discomfort can feel overwhelming. Blame becomes a familiar and protective response—not because growth is unwanted, but because vulnerability feels risky.

But tools that once protected us can later limit us.

Accountability, Not Shame

In healthcare, we often talk about internal versus external locus of control. When people believe they have no influence over outcomes, motivation declines and frustration increases.

Accountability, when it feels safe, does not assign shame. It restores.

The question shifts from Who caused this to.. What can I do differently next time?
That shift opens the door to growth, resilience, and learning.

Reclaiming What Is Within Reach

This reflection is not about judgment. Many people who rely on blame are doing the best they can with the tools that life gave them.

But growth begins when we gently reclaim responsibility—not all at once, not harshly, but honestly.

From both a clinical and human perspective, accountability is not about fault. It is about possibilities.

🦋 A Moment for Reflection

  • Where might blame be protecting me from discomfort—but also limiting my growth?
  • What changes when I ask, What part of this is within my control?
  • How might accountability restore, rather than take it away?

About the Author:
Susan Sears is a registered nurse and writer with over twenty years of experience caring for patients and families. She writes for adults and children, drawing from clinical practice and lived experience to explore emotional health, boundaries, empathy, and resilience.

Blogs

Teaching Kids to Manage Emotions: 5 Tips to Support Your Child Through Loss

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Children are born without information on handling the many ups and downs of everyone’s life. We all have moments of happiness, excitement, love, and joy intermixed with sadness, despair, disappointment, and grief. 

As parents, we are responsible for teaching our children how to manage their emotions in a healthy way, especially when dealing with grief. Here are five tips to help your child handle the loss of a loved one, a pet, or any other significant change:

  1. Acknowledge the situation: It’s important to recognize that the loss is real to your child. Even if it seems trivial to you, express your concern and validate their feelings.
  2. Ask how your child feels: Children, like adults, experience an array of emotions when dealing with loss. Give your child the opportunity to talk about their feelings, and don’t pass judgment.
  3. Understand the normal stages of grief: The five stages of grief a person may go through are denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. These stages can apply to your child, but keep in mind that they’re not always linear or predictable.
  4. Answer any questions your child may have: Children often have questions about death, so be honest and use language they can understand.
  5. Allow your child to mourn in their own way: Everyone grieves differently, so don’t force your child to mourn in a certain way. Let them decide if they want to attend a funeral, how they want to remember their loved one or pet, and whether they want to mourn in private or public.

Remember, your child looks to you for guidance during this difficult time. Let them see that it’s okay to show sadness and express their emotions.