connected, guts, rested, sleep, thriving
Lara Elfstrand
Tense, Release, Repeat: A Playful Guide to ...

Progressive muscle relaxation isn’t just for adults—it can be a playful and powerful way to help kids manage stress, too. By turning relaxation into games—like blowing bubbles with slow breaths, dancing like stiff robots and floppy noodles, or squeezing toes in the mud—we can teach children how to notice the difference between tension and calm. The best part? When parents join in, kids don’t just learn the skill—they feel the calm spread through the whole family.

Tense, Release, Repeat: A Playful Guide to Kids’ Relaxation
connected, rested, thriving
Lara Elfstrand
Welcome to Little Elf Family Services!
Welcome to Little Elf Family Services!
guts, rested, sleep, thriving
Lara Elfstrand
Why What You Eat Could Be Waking You Up at Night

The Sleep-Food Connection

Today I am reflecting on the relationship between healthy eating and sleep.  This morning, I was listening to the audiobook “The Sleep Prescription” by Aric A. Prather, Ph.D.  I’ve been slowly working through his sleep “class” in HeadSpace and decided to listen to his audiobook as I work to improve sleep both for myself and for my clients.  I’m just on day 2 at the moment, but this quote really struck me.

“Carb lovers, pay attention here: carbs are an interesting case. Studies have unearthed that while most carbohydrates will actually help you fall asleep faster, only certain types will help you stay asleep. Simple and sugary carbs (think pizza, white bread, bagels, pasta) can cause more wake ups throughout the night. In contrast, complex carbs (again, these are the more high-fiber foods like sweet potatoes, oatmeal, and whole grains) can stabilize your sleep patterns—possibly, Dr. St-Onge theorizes, because they also stabilize your blood sugar.[11]” Excerpt From The Sleep Prescription by Aric A. Prather, PhD  https://books.apple.com/book/id1608147733 This material may be protected by copyright.

My Own Sleep & Glucose Journey

Lately I have discovered that my waking glucose levels are consistently in the pre-diabetic range.  I have been using the Stelo non-prescription continuous glucose monitor and reading books like Good Energy by Dr. Casey Means and The Glucose Revolution by Jessie Inchaupé.   And my sister-in-law gave me an extra Oura ring, which connects with the Stelo to give insights between glucose and other biomarkers! (Such an amazing gift… although I warn that there is an ongoing fee to use the Oura ring in addition to the up-front cost of the ring itself but also I think it’s totally worth it!).

Why What You Eat Could Be Waking You Up at Night
rested, connected, thriving, reflection
Lara Elfstrand
The Real Reason I Do This Business (Hint: It’s ...

The real reason I have my own business. Hint: It’s about you AND me.

The Real Reason I Do This Business (Hint: It’s About You and Me)
baby, pregnancy
Lara Elfstrand
What is a Nesting Party? How to Host and How to ...

Nesting parties ask us to re-think the way that we celebrate new parents and challenge us to focus on what the expecting parents need. It’s really less of a party and more of an opportunity to provide the family help.

Unlike baby showers, “Nesting parties shift the focus from stuff to support to help families prepare their homes and hearts for life with a new baby,” explains Lara Elfstrand, the pediatric sleep practitioner of Little Elf Family Services. 

What is a Nesting Party? How to Host and How to Show Up
, ,

Songs for joy and growth mindset

, ,

Today I just wanted to share some of my favorite songs for joy and growth mindset, just for fun!

Dancing

Move In the Right Direction by Gossip

What If It All Goes Right by Amy Scruggs

What I Am by Will.I.Am (with Sesame Street)

Don’t Give Up by Bruno Mars (with Sesame Street)

Dancing Is Easy by Jason Derulo with Sesame Street

Try Everything by Shakira from Zootopia

Check out music by Mama Nous on her website or Mama Nous on YouTube and Fyutch & Aura V.

Also, David Kisor has a lot of great social emotional songs that I use again and again.


Hoy quiero compartir algunas de mis canciones favoritas para gozar y para la mentalidad de crecimiento, solamente para divertirnos:

Soy Yo por Bomba Estéreo

Mi Pequeño Tesoro por Presuntos Implicados (para padres y madres)

Noto que mi lista en español está corta. ¿Qué canciones sabe usted que ayudan con la mentalidad de crecimiento?

Related Content

Other posts about joy

, , , ,

Tense, Release, Repeat: A Playful Guide to Kids’ Relaxation

, , , ,
Tense, Release, Repeat: A Playful Guide to Kids’ Relaxation

Progressive muscle relaxation isn’t just for adults—it can be a playful and powerful way to help kids manage stress, too. By turning relaxation into games—like blowing bubbles with slow breaths, dancing like stiff robots and floppy noodles, or squeezing toes in the mud—we can teach children how to notice the difference between tension and calm. The best part? When parents join in, kids don’t just learn the skill—they feel the calm spread through the whole family.

, ,

Teamwork, Not Turf Wars: Understanding Gatekeeping in Parenting

, ,
Teamwork, Not Turf Wars: Understanding Gatekeeping in Parenting

Everyone who cares deeply about a baby is in competition for that baby. Gatekeeping is normal—and it’s really hard. But when we recognize it, we can shift from competing with one another to working together as a team.

, , , , , ,

One of my "Why's": The Piña Colada song

, , , , , ,
One of my "Why's": The Piña Colada song

When I think about songs that remind me of why I do what I do, one of the top songs that comes to mind is “Escape (The Piña Colada Song)” by Rupert Holmes. It’s an oldie but a goodie. :)

If you haven’t heard it in a while, click on the link above and give it a listen. Then come back and check out why this song is so important to me. And I bet that you’ll be singing along as you read, just like I am doing as I write!

, , , , ,

My Name Isn’t Laura: What Mistakes Can Teach Us

, , , , ,
My Name Isn’t Laura: What Mistakes Can Teach Us

A couple of days ago, I created a “Welcome to Little Elf Family Services” video. I thought it turned out decently well, and I posted it. I watched part of the captions and changed the spelling of “mountain cur” but only realized after I had posted the automated captions that they misspelled my name.

My name is Lara. It isn’t Laura. It’s like the state in Venezuela, like Superman’s mother, like Lara Croft, or Lara in the movie Dr. Zhivago (which is where it really comes from, although I honestly don’t know the story all that well).

So that got me thinking about mistakes. Mistakes are hard. They are challenging. And the way that we handle them matters.

, ,

Welcome to Little Elf Family Services!

, ,

Welcome to Little Elf Family Services!

Welcome to Little Elf Family Services! I’m Lara Elfstrand. I am a parent coach, and I am here to help parents to feel connected, rested, and thriving. I have a master’s degree in early childhood special education (and a clear teaching credential), and I am endorsed as an infant family advanced transdisciplinary mental health practitioner. I love to learn, and I have experience and education in sleep from the Palm Institute, in relationships from the Gottman Institute, and in attachment from Circle of Security. If you would like to feel more connected, rested, and thriving in your family, click the button below to schedule a free chat.

, , ,

Celebration & acknowledging what worked

, , ,
Celebration & acknowledging what worked

I think it’s so important to take some time to celebrate. One of my many favorite quotes is that “Being acknowledged for her competence helped her become moreso (1).” And that is one of my personal goals with all of the families that I serve: to help them to acknowledge their competence. I love to have a final (or almost final) session that’s just 15-30 minutes long, where we just take the time to celebrate what’s working and what impact it is having.

For example, families might say,

My favorite play dough recipe

My favorite play dough recipe

Just wanted to share my favorite play dough recipe that I’ve used over the years. The recipe was given to me by a colleague years ago, and I love knowing exactly what’s in the play dough and being able to easily make more. If you’re careful with the temperature, you can get the kids to help make it!

Looking at the recipe now, if I thought my kid was going to eat it (because let’s face it, LOTS of kids do), I would experiment with using a better oil (like extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil) and natural food colorings (here’s a post about how to make your own).

One side note: fine motor activities such as play dough can be great activities for children to do to help them to be still long enough for them to fall asleep. There is always the potential that the dough could be messy. But like I say, the great thing about a homemade recipe is that you know exactly what’s in it, and it’s relatively easy to make more.

,

Activities for falling asleep

,
Activities for falling asleep

Most children and adults have to be laying still for about 10-30 minutes to start to enter Non-REM sleep. Learning to lay still can be very challenging for some children. They don’t know how to down-regulate to help their body to lay still for that amount of time.

Toddlers and older children need to be learning what they can do to help themselves get to sleep. Even adults tend to do a transitional activity for 10 minutes - reading or scrolling.

These are activities that can be included at the END of a consistent, soothing pre-sleep routine.

,

Preparing your child for school... from the beginning

,
Preparing your child for school... from the beginning

What Does It Really Mean for Kids to Be Ready for School?

As a parent, we really want our kids to be ready for school. But what does that mean exactly? What does it look like for a child to be ready for school?

It’s easy to think that it means that they can identify their letters for reading or their numbers for math. But as a child development specialist, I actually don’t think that those things are all that important.

What are some key things that ACTUALLY have been shown to help children in school? Here are my 2 cents:

, , ,

Why What You Eat Could Be Waking You Up at Night

, , ,
Why What You Eat Could Be Waking You Up at Night

The Sleep-Food Connection

Today I am reflecting on the relationship between healthy eating and sleep.  This morning, I was listening to the audiobook “The Sleep Prescription” by Aric A. Prather, Ph.D.  I’ve been slowly working through his sleep “class” in HeadSpace and decided to listen to his audiobook as I work to improve sleep both for myself and for my clients.  I’m just on day 2 at the moment, but this quote really struck me.

“Carb lovers, pay attention here: carbs are an interesting case. Studies have unearthed that while most carbohydrates will actually help you fall asleep faster, only certain types will help you stay asleep. Simple and sugary carbs (think pizza, white bread, bagels, pasta) can cause more wake ups throughout the night. In contrast, complex carbs (again, these are the more high-fiber foods like sweet potatoes, oatmeal, and whole grains) can stabilize your sleep patterns—possibly, Dr. St-Onge theorizes, because they also stabilize your blood sugar.[11]” Excerpt From The Sleep Prescription by Aric A. Prather, PhD  https://books.apple.com/book/id1608147733 This material may be protected by copyright.

My Own Sleep & Glucose Journey

Lately I have discovered that my waking glucose levels are consistently in the pre-diabetic range.  I have been using the Stelo non-prescription continuous glucose monitor and reading books like Good Energy by Dr. Casey Means and The Glucose Revolution by Jessie Inchaupé.   And my sister-in-law gave me an extra Oura ring, which connects with the Stelo to give insights between glucose and other biomarkers! (Such an amazing gift… although I warn that there is an ongoing fee to use the Oura ring in addition to the up-front cost of the ring itself but also I think it’s totally worth it!).

,

5 secrets for moving your body after baby

,
5 secrets for moving your body after baby

When should new moms should start pelvic floor exercises? When should they start walking? How can new birthing parents find a balance between "not too much too soon" and "not too little either"? When can they resume high impact exercises like running? What are signs that new moms should pay attention to after birth, which may indicate they need to scale back their activity level?

Watch the video now!

,

Calm Evenings Start with You—Reframe the Bedtime Routine for a Smoother Night!

,
Calm Evenings Start with You—Reframe the Bedtime Routine for a Smoother Night!

Sometimes just STARTING the bedtime routine can be a real struggle. All the time, I remind parents that “Stress that builds resilience is predictable, controllable, and moderate” (with thanks to Dr. Bruce Perry for the quote). So let’s explore some ways that we can help the bedtime routine to be predictable, controllable, and moderate. We’re going to work backwards and start with “moderate.”

Resources:

Baby Registry

Sacramento Resources

Nationwide Resources

©Lara Elfstrand, MA ECSE, IF-ATMHP - Little Elf Family Services, P.O. Box 5098, Auburn, CA 95604