Latest / Quick Wins for ADHD Moms - Short Episodes, Real Solutions for Burnout and Overwhelm / What Kids with ADHD Actually Need at School (And Why Most Environments Get It Wrong) with Antoinette Elliott

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What Kids with ADHD Actually Need at School (And Why Most Environments Get It Wrong) with Antoinette Elliott · Quick Wins for ADHD Moms - Short Episodes, Real Solutions for Burnout and Overwhelm

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: This is Quick Wins for ADHD moms.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, I'm Jessica Lynn Lewis, voiceover artist, photographer, ADHD mom with ADHD kids.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: You know how the story goes.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: I'm curious about how to design a life that works with your brain.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: Now that we're figuring out it works a little different.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: So on this show, we talk to a wide range of guests about ADHD, overwhelm, stress, and anxiety, and how all of it plays out in real life.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: I believe our mind, body, and spirit are all connected, and we're just here to figure out how all of these pieces fit.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: And design is something that actually works.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: Today, my guest is Antoinette Elliott, founder of All Our Children Elite Childcare Academy out of Georgia.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: Antoinette is redefining modern childcare with a nature-based, plant-based, whole child approach that supports families navigating ADHD and school challenges.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: I think her story is very interesting.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: And I think there's a lot of things that maybe you can pick up on that what if we did these things in our schools?
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: What would that look like?
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: So here's the interview.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: Antoinette, thank you so much for joining us.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: So happy to be here.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: Well, we're I'm excited about diving into your story and hearing more about what you do and the story behind it and the why.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: But we always start off our show with a quick win for an ADHD mom.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: So I would love to hear little tip, trick, or advice that you've seen work.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_01: The best thing that I've seen, especially during the summer, is if the children need to sleep a little late, let them.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_01: Because sometimes they're not getting good sleep or they're not sleeping right away when they lay down at night and you think they're sleeping, they're in there just laying in their bed, playing a little bit.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_01: And so when you wake them up for the day, they're just not ready yet.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_01: But if you let them have that little extra time to sleep, to get get ready, even have a little breakfast at the house, even if they're gonna have breakfast where they're going, just to get themselves settled, that makes the world of difference on how they perform the rest of the day.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, sleep is is so you think it's so easy, but it is hard when your brain is just constantly going and you lay down to sleep and your brain's like, nope, we're not ready yet.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: So, Antoinette, I would love to hear your story.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: Like, can you tell us what you do now and then kind of tell us how you got there?
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_01: Sure.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm a nature-based child care provider, and what that means is we make sure that the children get a chance to enjoy the outdoors more than the normal childcare.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_01: We bring some of the outdoor inside and some of our activities.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_01: The main thing that I do that's different is the fact that we're in extended hour care.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I find that many of the parents are not working traditional hours and they need someone that not can quote unquote deal with their child, but who embrace their child coming.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um, one of the main things I always tell parents is be completely truthful and honest when you're going on the tour so that the school can give you the real feel for how they feel toward your child.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_01: And if they're acting a little bit strange or a little bit funny, please, please don't force your child to go to a school just because they have a space or just because the school doesn't want to back out because they don't want to illegally say that I can't service your child.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_01: Please find the right fit.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_01: And when you find that right fit, you'll know because the child will want to go, they'll be happy to go, they'll be thriving to go, and they'll come back and visit you, want to visit them later.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_01: Um, that's my biggest tip that I give to all parents.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_01: Just to be honest.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_01: And if you don't know what's going on and something's happening, say, hey, I need a little help.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_01: I really don't know what's going on.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_01: These things are happening.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know how to change it.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_01: Because we find that many of the children that come, a lot of times people talk about the children that are diagnosed with ADHD or autism or obsessive-compulsive disorder, so many different things.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_01: But there's a lot of children that are not diagnosed, and we are seeing the same symptoms throughout the other children as well.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_01: So um, one of the things that our school does is we make sure our teachers are crisis prevention trained.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we got that training via Marcus Autism.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_01: And so people think, oh, but that's just for autism, but it's really not.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_01: It's a training that I would say everyone, anybody in education, anybody working with children, elderly people, people who could have Alzheimer's, any of the things could use this because it teaches you how to watch, listen, look at the environment that you're working in, and see how you can meet that person where they are.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: That's beautiful.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_00: And I I think it's it's helpful as a parent, knowing that you're taking your child somewhere where this is it's a collaboration, right?
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: And help get answers to, you know, are the behaviors different in this kind of environment versus a different environment?
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, um, well, tell us um a little bit about your story.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: Did you start this school?
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_00: Is that correct?
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_01: I did start this school.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I did family childcare for about 17 years, and I wasn't sure if I would expand it to the center because my children were aged out of it.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_01: And so I was like, would I really want to keep doing this?
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_01: Would I really love it?
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_01: And I would say in that 17 years, I probably saw seven children who had autism.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_01: That was it.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, you know, they and it was different varying levels, but in 17 years, but at the school, we've only been open three years, and I could tell you every other tour is one sometimes.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_01: And it's like, wow, these parents need help.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_01: I've had consultants come and and basically, hey, I know what you're trying to do, but this could be risky for your business.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I know what you're trying to do, but this could wear out your teachers.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_01: I know what you're trying to do.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_01: And the question is, you know, it's always back.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_01: Well, where are these children going to go?
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_01: You know, where where are they wanna, where are they gonna go?
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_01: They think that every parent wants their child shoved off into a room by themselves.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_01: They do not.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_01: The world is not in a room by itself.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_01: They want their child to be able to function in regular society with everyone because it's not always gonna be a room to decide.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_01: And that's what our program offers.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_01: It offers a collaborative where the children of any type of disability are in the same classroom with all abilities.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_01: Their therapists are welcome.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_01: I really don't know why people would not welcome therapists to be on site because I'm like the more the merrier.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: Right, exactly.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_00: And they can help if people step in, right?
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_01: When, you know, the impulses show us, yeah, like we can see.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_01: Like I said, every child is not gonna have the diagnosis to have the therapist.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_01: So if the teacher can see how that therapist is working with that child, that goes in our toolbox to know how we can navigate when we get someone that doesn't have, you know, a diagnosis that we can use it with.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm just I'm so excited when someone does have a therapist.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_01: I do a lot of work um talking with parents, trying to make them feel okay, trying to make them feel like nothing is wrong with their child, that they just have a different way of processing things, um, not acting like it's a label on them or their child in any type of way.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_01: And my biggest thing is many times I can see that one or two of the parents may also have it and they made it through, and they may be even successful.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_01: But my thing to them that I say now is you did it the hard way.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_01: Now we have resources.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_01: We don't have to suffer.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_01: We don't have to do it the hard way.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_01: Let's do it the easy way or let's do it with assistance.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_00: So, how do you you are um it's a different type of school and it's very different environment.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_00: So tell me, give us a little visual picture of what that looks like in a classroom or working with kids, um, keeping in mind maybe um an ADHD mom is trying to figure out what kind of things do I need to change in the school environment?
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: Like, you know, what works for other ADHD kids?
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_01: So we just happen to have a trail behind our school.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_01: So um it's our trail, it's spin sand.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_01: And so on that trail at the back of the trail, we have riding toys.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we have some bigger toys for some of the older children.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_01: We have rock center, we have sand, we call it our African village, which is like houses with food.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we have different little activities all around the trail outside of our playground.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_01: In our playground, it's not divided off like this is for this section, this is for one-year-olds, two-year-olds.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_01: Because we do birth through 12.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_01: It's a wide open space.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we have an outdoor pavilion, so they could be outside all day.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_01: If the teacher wanted to bring the activity outside, they could have a lesson outside all day if they wanted to.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_01: Um, in the main one, we also have like a climbing, um, a climber.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_01: All of the children love that.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_01: They need that large motor play.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_01: We have a little seesaw, but it's it's not on top of each other.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_01: And because it's wide open, it gives you a wide open space.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_01: And what we have is a just like we have classroom management, we have a playground management system, whereas if one group is at the back of the trail, the other group stays to the front or or uses the inside, and then they swap out.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_01: So nobody's running over each other, but there's so much to do.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_01: And my barometer on how children like it is we have one 11-year-old, and he's also a foster child.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_01: When he first came, he was he has ADHD and he also has autism.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_01: He was getting in so much trouble at school, like you couldn't believe it.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_01: But it really wasn't his fault.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_01: He was a matter of circumstance.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_01: Um, he took medicine at night for sleep, but he had to get on the bus by six o'clock in the morning.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's really.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_01: So that's like he's never gonna get his good sleep in.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_01: And so he's coming in grumpy, and he has all of these demands in school.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_01: At the end of the day, when I'm picking him up at the school bus, they're bringing him to the car, pulled up by a shoulder.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, what is going on?
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_01: It's like, he has had a bad day.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_01: And I was like, he had a bad day or you had a bad day?
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_01: Because he looks fine for someone being drugged by his shoulder.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_01: He looks completely fine.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_01: But you on the other hand, look totally unregulated.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_01: And he's like, Do you know?
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_01: Do you know what he does?
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, I don't know what he does here.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_01: But at our school, he does great.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_01: He starts out usually coming in taking a nap.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_01: And then once he wakes up, he's ready for snack, and then he's ready for activity.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_01: But when he first came, it was like, no, I don't want to eat your food.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_01: He said, I he said, I don't know y'all that well.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_01: I don't I don't want to eat your food.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_01: And then after about a month, he was asking for seconds.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_01: I said, What?
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_01: You want seconds?
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_01: And um, he came in and we had a visitor recently, and he came in, he was like, I love this daycare, I just love it here.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_01: And I was like, I just love to hear that.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_00: That's the best.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, that's why you started it.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, help these kids, and you're seeing great success.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_00: And I love those stories.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I love those stories.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_01: So, but for him, they had to realize, and I'm gonna go back again and say, every school system should take the mic, Marcus Autism Crisis Prevention.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_01: And what you do is one person can become a trainer.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_01: Like I'm the trainer at my school.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_01: So now I can train all of my staff.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_01: And then there's a caregiver training that I took that I can train um parents as well, caregivers as well.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_01: So if they if they just had that, that would make the world of difference because the first day, they're basically teaching you how to look underneath the iceberg of all of the things that could have happened in the day as to why a child may be acting the way they are.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it also kind of takes the look off of, don't look at it as they're acting like this because this child has autism, or they're acting like this because this child has ADHD.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_01: They could be acting the way they're acting because they got up late, the cereal was gone, mama was running late, they had to walk around the block, you know, all of the things that have nothing to do with it.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_01: Walk out in the rain, got in, forgot their homework, got fussed at the from the teacher because a second time they didn't bring their homework.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_01: All of the things.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um, mom got fired from her job.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_01: She doesn't know how to put food on the table.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_01: She they overheard mom say that she don't know how to put food on the table.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_01: They're wondering about how everyone's gonna eat.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_01: They watched their self eat and their parents didn't eat, and they're worried that their mom's gonna go hungry because she didn't eat.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_01: There's so many things going on in the household today.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_01: So many children got exposed to so much stuff during COVID when everyone was inside, and those memories didn't go away just because we're back outside.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_01: Those thoughts are still there in the heads of children.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_01: And if the parents can't deal with it, how are they supposed to process it?
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_00: I love that you're you're out there and you've created something that is that is working really well.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_00: It's loving kids, it's teaching kids.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_00: You guys even do um, you have a specific meal plan too, don't you?
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so we are vegetarian meal plan, and that came about because for years parents would come in and they would just say, Oh, my child is so picky.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_01: And they would all say the same thing.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_01: All they eat is French fries and chicken nuggets.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_01: Even if it's from Chick-fil-A, for some reason, people think when it comes from Chick-fil-A, it's the golden thing.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_00: It's better.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_01: It's still fried in peanut oil.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_01: Come on now.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_01: But anywho, parents tend to think that's a little bit better.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_01: But usually, I always say, they always like, oh, they're just so picky.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_01: I'm worried.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, trust me, it's something about when they sit at the table and all their friends are sitting down.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_01: That's a community that they have, and they all want to eat like each other.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_01: You can always count in that class to have one kid who wants to eat two or three meals.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_01: And so when that child is like, you don't want yours, I'll take it.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_01: All of a sudden, they're like, wait a minute, let me eat fast and think about this later.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but literally for the vegetarian meals, you'll be surprised that children eat whatever you give them and they love it.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_01: Like some meals that surprise me.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_01: Like my um chef, she makes a vegetable soup and it's a red base soup, which is normally not my favorite type of soup with the red base.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_01: And she makes the cornbread.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_01: And so one day I was hungry.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_01: I was like the kids.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_01: I was too hungry to be peaky, and I had to get a bowl of that soup.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_01: That soup was so delicious.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_01: I said, I've been missing out.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_01: I said, I've been doing what the kids do.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_01: I've been missing out on this good soup, and they always ask for seconds, thirds.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_01: She'll make squash and onions, they tear that up.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_01: I said it's almost like when you're at home, when you make a meal, but you really want it for yourself.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_01: Like you really don't care if no one else in the house eats it.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_01: They always eat it.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_01: That's they always eat it and ask for seconds.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_01: So I always tell the parents, no, they they do eat.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_01: Even the most picky families who'll say, Could I please bring in food from outside?
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_01: And I said, Well, as long as you don't bring meat, long as you make the components, that child won't eat their food either.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_01: And they'll end up rather asking for hours.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I want what my friends have.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_01: They rather have that than what the parents bring in.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_01: So it always works back to, you know, the children end up eating.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_01: And I always tell the parents, now, sometimes you do have some that they'll go.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_01: They'll like, no, I don't I don't want the breakfast, which means you probably had some breakfast at home.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_01: So maybe they won't want the breakfast.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_01: Then lunch, they might slide through, but they know they're gonna have a fruit, some type of fruit or yogurt or cracker or something that they're gonna like at snack time and they'll get that.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_01: And even if it's a a salad and they don't want everything in it, like if it's a taco salad, they're gonna pick out what they want out of it.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes they'll sit there and pick out all the beans and eat the beans.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes they'll eat the corn and get the corn.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes they'll eat the cheese and say, Can I get more cheese on the side on my chips?
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_01: They just eat the parts that they want, but they get to eat as much as they want of what they do like.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_01: And then our goal is we don't have to give, they don't have to eat everything we give them.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_01: We want them to try it.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's huge.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_00: Just letting them try it.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_00: And I know like at home as a parent, the picky eaters are they're so hard, you don't know what you're cooking and you're you're working or you're you're taking care of a thousand things.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_01: You tired, and you'd be like, wait a minute, they want that pizza.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_01: Give me that pizza out.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_01: Let me put that piece in there.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_01: They want that.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_01: Let me just throw that in there.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_01: I don't have time for this.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_01: Let's just get this A.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not gonna fight with this.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_01: But at school, sometimes you see it, they be like, No, I don't want this.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, you don't you don't want the spaghetti or you don't want the bread?
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_01: Which part you don't want?
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_01: And it was like, Well, I just don't want it.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, Okay, well, you know, it's gonna be two hours before you have snack time, but they're thinking, it's like, I've had a kid say, you don't have anything else.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_01: No, not for today.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_01: This is what we have, and it's almost like I said, well, we'll just leave it here and let you see if you want to get a taste out of it.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_01: Or sometimes if it's a child and they have autism, literally, if they're four years old, even you may have to say, Let me let you taste this peach and just see, do you like it?
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_01: And just putting a little tip on the tongue, then they'll eat the rest.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_01: But it's like, you know, for now, I'm not certain that I like it.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_01: But once they taste it, oh, they want it then.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_00: It's kind of giving them space to explore.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_00: And I love that you're building that into a school experience.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_00: It's really fascinating.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_00: And I, you know, having the vegetarian, having a well-balanced meal and knowing that nutrition is really a huge part of learning.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_01: Another thing, uh all parents, whether they have ADHD or not, a lot of times they take light, they'll say, you know, my child has eczema.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, okay, are you limiting the amount of strawberries or citrus or all of the things, the different sauces, sometimes the red sauces from spaghetti or the red sauces from certain things.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and they would say, No, I let them eat that as much as they want.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, that is what triggers outbreaks.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_01: And sometimes that is what triggers them to be uncomfortable.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_01: So when some when your child is told that they have eczema, you should look up the food list and see.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_01: It's not saying they can't have everything on the food list, but you do need to limit the amount that they get so that they don't have a trigger.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_00: No, it's interesting because sometimes those triggers end up being behavioral triggers that end up being it's just this all of these things.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_00: So I just I love that you know, your program is just it seems very consistent.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yes in how it is.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_00: And I as an ADHD mom, ADHD kids, like consistency is extremely hard for me.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_00: Is you know, and so it's nice that there's um this structure that you've put together, and you're like, this works.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_00: The kids know what to expect, they know what kind of food they're gonna have, they're gonna have a fruit and a yogurt, and they're gonna go outside and they're gonna do these activities.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_01: And they talk about it when they're eating.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, what is our grain?
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_01: What is our this?
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_01: What is our you know, so so they're getting that.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_01: And there's been times when the chef put out and it's like, wait a minute, we should have one more vegetable.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_01: I'm just like, Miss Val, the children say they're missing one of their vegetables, and she was like, I didn't put that on there.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, I'm so sorry.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_01: So they're calling it out, they know what they're supposed to have.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_01: Another thing when it comes down to eating, because you know, all parents are concerned that their child is not eating or not eating enough.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_01: The first thing I tell them, I says, they probably are, especially if I look at the child and they're good and meaty and they got good meat on their bones.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, chances are you're giving them a double-size adult plate versus a child-sized portion.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_01: Because I've seen parents at like baby showers or whatever make a child a plate, and I'm like, that plate is bigger than my plate.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_01: And then the kid will graze on it, but there's so much food there that it appears that they didn't eat anything.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_01: But had they had their own real portion on their own plate of their size, then they would have realized, oh, they actually did eat all of what they were supposed to.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_00: I love, I love that you add that as a part of the structure and what you're doing.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_00: So looking, looking ahead, kind of dreaming for the future, what are you hoping to do?
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_00: Now you're based, I want to say you're based in Atlanta.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_00: Is that crazy?
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_01: We're in Stonecrest, Georgia, which is about 20 miles east of Atlanta.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_00: Well, is how do people get a hold of you?
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_00: Or where can people find you, find more about you and what you do?
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_01: The craziest place that people find me, and I laugh, but this is something my daughters are in.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_01: They love to see me on TikTok.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_01: So sometimes they do those silly things, and so they can find us at all our children on TikTok.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_01: We're also all our children on Instagram and Facebook, um, Antoina Elliott under LinkedIn, and then we have a website, ALC Elite Childcare.com.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_01: And so the website is made to where we have plenty resources on there so that even if someone doesn't attend our school, there'll be something for them.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_01: Like right now, the biggest thing on there is the 8882 credit that all parents can take advantage of if their job participates, it'll pay for their child care for them.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_00: Fascinating.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_00: So there's so many different ways that people can access the care.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_00: We just there's so much out there that we just don't know about.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly, exactly.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_01: Wonderful.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_00: Well, thank you so much for your time and sharing your story.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_00: I love what you're doing, and I wish you all the best as it keeps growing.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you, thank you so much.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_01: And I I hope that children parents take the time to find them a place that really is a good fit for them and not just accept the place because maybe it's right next door or it's right there.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_01: It really is.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_01: We often say peace of mind is worth the drive, but it really is peace of mind that parents have that allows them to work and not be worried, to work and not be anxious that the next phone call is going to be come and get your child.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_00: What'd my kid do today?
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_00: Well, thank you so much, Antoine.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_00: I appreciate you and what you do.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks so much for spending time with us today on quick wins for ADHD moms.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_00: Take one thing from this episode, one small quick win, and design something that maybe works for you this week.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_00: That's the idea behind this whole show is embracing small shifts built for the way your brain is actually working.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_00: You can also check out our dopamine hit list for a list of healthy dopamine hits for your ADHD brain.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_00: Just simple things you maybe didn't even know were a dopamine hit.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_00: You can get it for free right now at theadhd mom.com slash dopamine.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_00: That's the ADHD mom dot com slash dopamine.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_00: Have a beautiful week and I'll see you next time.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_00: Keep designing.