Episode 111: Finding Resilience in Every Breath: A Conversation with Carol Rudd

Children  0:00  
We think you should know that Imperfect Heroes podcast is a production of Little Hearts Academy USA.

DJ Stutz  0:09  
Welcome heroes and heroines to Episode 111 of Imperfect Heroes - Insights Into Parenting, the perfect podcast for imperfect parents looking to find joy in their experience of raising children in an imperfect world. And I'm your host DJ Stutz.

Welcome to another episode of our just amazing podcast. And today, we have a remarkable guest joining us. This is someone who just embodies compassion, expertise and the power of choice. So please put your hands together, no one's looking! And give a warm welcome to Carol Rudd. Carol is not only just an extraordinary individual, but she's also a respiratory therapist with over four decades of experience. And throughout her incredible journey, she has witnessed firsthand the worries and the fears and the challenges that accompany that struggle for breath. But instead of succumbing to those difficulties, Carol has dedicated her life to making breathing easier for others. And so for 41 years, she has just been this beacon of hope, providing vital care and guidance to countless individuals who are battling respiratory ailments. And her profound understanding of the human respiratory system, coupled with her just unwavering passion, has saved lives and has brought comfort to many in need. So what sets Carol apart is her unwavering belief in the power of choice, something I deeply believe in. And she has seen how people can feel trapped and overwhelmed. When confronted with just that shortness of breath, you go into a panic mode, and you forget that you have choices that you can make. And she knows that there is always a choice, even in the most challenging circumstances. And through her work. Carol has inspired countless individuals to embrace their own agency, and to believe that they have the power to overcome any obstacle that stands in their way. And today, Carol joins us at Imperfect Heroes to share her insights or experiences and wisdom. So get ready to be inspired as she imparts her profound knowledge. And reminds us all that no matter the situation, we do always have a choice. So without further ado, let's dive into this conversation with the incredible Carol read. There's so much to learn. So let's get started. 

Welcome, everyone to Imperfect Heroes podcast, which is a production of Little Hearts Academy, USA. And I am so excited because I've got this amazing guest, we're talking about empowering kids. And if you liked what you hear, if you're listening to the podcast, leave us a rating and review. If you're on YouTube or Rumble, go ahead and hit the like and follow and leave a comment. I'd love to hear what you think. And I'm sure Carol would as well of what you think about some of the things that we have going on. So be sure to do those things as you're listening in. And we'd love to hear that. So my guest today, her name is Carol Rudd. And she just has so many amazing insights. And Carol, why don't you talk to us a little bit about what you got going on.

Carol Rudd  3:54  
Okay, thank you. I'm Carol Rudd, I own healing choices oasis. And I originally had been just a massage place. Then I developed into teaching Qigong for adults and kids and offering programs for adults and kids with breathing problems and or anxiety. So I have a lot of things under my umbrella. But it's all about choice. For me. It's all about making sure that everyone knows that they have choice, but with choice also comes responsibility. So for me, empowering kids is about giving them the freedom to do the things they want, but also having that rope of accountability that says, Okay, these are your actions. What are you going to do with that? And how are we going to manage that it's about empowering and then letting kids be kids. Number one. I come from the perspective of health care, or kids who have a disease or as an illness tend to be babied, and pampered by the parents and they need to be empowered to be the kids they need to be and take care ability for their medication or whatever it is, as soon as they're able to do that, I mean, I'm not saying the right little kids be in charge of their medications, but let them be in control of it. Those kinds of things.

DJ Stutz  5:11  
Yeah, we've talked a couple of times already, and gotten to know each other a little better. But and I think I told you about, I have a had a friend when we lived in Las Vegas, to my friends and attorney, and his son is four. And I remember him talking to me just about how amazed he was at the accountability, his four year old, was able to take on with his diabetes. So his son was type one diabetic, and he would give him the shots. And he said, It wasn't long after he turned four, that he said, Daddy, I want to do it. Like, what, what do you want to do? I want to give myself my shot. Oh, let's see. And so he said, let me first show you what we're doing. And so they talked about it, and they got to a point, you know, they just kind of gradually got there. But by the time we were talking, this little guy was just doing the whole thing at four years old. Now, well, probably closer to four and a half around there. And he's giving himself his shots. And he just felt so grown up that he could do that. And so talk about self esteem and and empowering when we allow our kids to take on responsibilities. Sometimes like this dad, he was there. And they did it step by step. And this is first what we need to do. And they went through all of it and dad was there. And at this point, Dad was still there, or mom, because you know, Mom was probably the important ad was quite honestly. So a parent was there and watching them making sure he did it. Okay. But he was doing it. So dad was proud to as well as the kiddo.

Carol Rudd  6:45  
Yep. and empowering is also letting in helping kids realize that if they have fears around something because of their illness or whatever, talk about it, talk about those fears, and give them the choice to let them figure out, is it something that you want to do right now? Or do you rather than saying, No, you can't do something? Or no, you shouldn't do something, and let them decide. And help them decide. Help them to motivate them to do things and support them on that journey. So it's a learning journey for both parents and kids who have sick kids. So learning journey for both how do I manage my child? And how do I let my child still have the freedom that comes with the choices that they can make?

DJ Stutz  7:25  
Yeah, exactly. And I just really believe that kids are so much more capable than we give them credit for in so many cases. And so I love that. And another thing is what you were talking about earlier, it kind of reminded me, I had a student and I actually this family has four kids. And I taught all four kids in the family. And we're still in contact. And yeah, I just love these guys. But their third child out of the four was born with a heart defect and a blood disease on top of that. And so just He's so tiny, so small. And so he came into kindergarten, he looked like us about three, maybe just a little teeny guy. And he had to have this backpack that he wore all the time because there was a medication, a pump, and he had a stent that went under his clothes straight into his heart to deliver the medicine straight into his heart. I was in a panic all the time, just because I was afraid he's gonna bump it or pull, you know, the stent would come out, or it never did. But I just had this vision of it happening. But when he was born, the doctors told his parents that he probably will make it to maybe five feet, we're looking at a lifespan of about five years. And so of course, they're devastated and heartbroken. But if he only had five years, they just wanted him to have fun to be happy to have as many experiences as they could within those five years. And they just let them have his way. And discipline him they didn't he's like you go do you and have fun. Well, he's in sixth grade. He's a holy tear. His mom's I think we made a monster. You he's a challenge, because I think I had a connection with the family is two older sisters. They're Catholic. And so they invited me to the baptisms of his sisters and stuff. And I went there. So we had a deeper connection, I think, than a lot of teachers do. And he was and he was fine with me. You know, I could just say no, no, not doing that. But first grade was just down the hall and I could hear what was going on. And so sometimes you bring up such a great point of even if there is a disability or something going on. Part of that feeling more normal is having normal boundaries, normal expectations, normal, you know, all of those things, and instead of having this kind of a freefall, and I know these parents met well, they're great people, I love them. But now it's like, what do you do now? When they get the call from school, and he's fun, I love I enjoy my time with him when I get to spend time with him. And he's hysterical, he cracks me up. And when you hear about kids who have handicaps, and their parents didn't let that know, you're still going to do this. Nope, we're still doing that. And, and you can do this, you can manage this and and those are the kids that grow up to be really empowered because they weren't overly babied. Does that make sense?

Carol Rudd  10:32  
Yeah. And I, you know, that culture probably may have changed since I was a kid. I was a sick asthmatic kid. And I was held back from a lot of things, then go rollerskating and go ice skating didn't have a lot of experiences, because I was always sick. Sold. I couldn't do that. So I hope the culture today has changed that much that parents are now more aware and willing to not baby their kids. I think it's still there. I think there are some people who may consider that we have to keep them safe. We have to protect him or her and giving that freedom, there's a responsibility to so there's a there's that balance and finding that balance. And that was a good example you did with a young kid that had the back. I'm like, yeah, yeah. So you we know, at an early age that kids develop their core beliefs and things at that early age. So because of that, he has a whole different perspective on how he should be treated by people. And we can be more demanding because of it. You know, so we are all totally human. And we as parents have to fight walk that fine line of giving our children freedom, and then also giving them the tools that they need to be good or right human beings, you know,

DJ Stutz  11:55  
exactly, yeah. Yeah. It's kind of fun. But then, as you were talking to, and we talked about how we need to empower our kids who have, what are their health issues, or disabilities, or neural diversities, you know, learning differences, all of those things. But we also need to do that for typical. I'm doing air quotes here, typical kids. And because a lot of times, you know, as a kindergarten teacher, you see so much, and it's so much fun, but seeing kids who are really ruling the roost, or they are not allowed to do anything. So I've seen in kindergarten, you know, those little parking, you know, the little cement bumps that they put so you don't put your car too far or whatever, or just even jumping off of a curb. Kids wanted walk on those and jump off things. And no, no, no, you might get hurt. I don't want you to get hurt. Like that's three inches off the ground. What are you doing? They need to be climbing ladders and going down big slides and jumping off of things and climbing trees and too lean all of those things that Empower a Child and make a child feel like I got this. I can do this. I'm able I'm capable. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Because then sometimes you wind up with kids who are afraid to make any kind of decision. They're afraid to try I had one little boy, oh, gosh, this was three years ago, he was afraid to walk on snow. We lived in Colorado. His mom would carry him in. Yeah, in Colorado, like it'll snow, and then the sun comes out and it'll melt. And so the sidewalks will be clear. But when you're looking at the area that has the woodchips and you know, stuff like that, it doesn't melt us fast. So he would walk out with us, but he would not go on the play area with the woodchips because there was snow he might fall and get hurt. And so that child was not empowered and look at what he was missing out on, you know what I mean? Yeah. Time and connections with friends and all of those things.

Carol Rudd  14:07  
Yeah. And another aspect too, is that kids these days have a lot of anxiety around things, you know, with COVID and all these other things and anxiety stems. And part of what I teach is how to calm people down and how to breathe. And so that's where the Qigong comes in. And that also works with people with breathing problems as learning how to ground themselves and be calm, and learning how to not be in your emotional center because a lot of times kids and adults even have trouble with their in their emotional or their mental center. They're worrying and hearing about things and and learning to breathe from the belly is just you learning to calm yourself down and bring yourself into your physical body. You know, learning to what's the word I want to say. To be in your physical body means that you do not have to think or feel heal. So when you're in that physical space, you can be totally calm.

DJ Stutz  15:05  
Yeah. Okay. So after I first talked to you, I had to go look up Qigong. We talked about, it's like, what the heck is that? And so I did some looking up. Why don't you explain to our families who it might be a new term to them? Can you explain to them about Chi Gong?

Carol Rudd  15:21  
Yes. Chi Gong is mindful movement, it is calming your mind, focusing on your physical body and your breathing. And the movements are very simple. You might be just moving your arms a little bit, you might be raising your arms up, you might be bringing your arms down, whatever it is, anything can be a chi gong. Right? You can be having just walking can be a chi gong. Right? Bicycling can be achieved only if you're focused on your breath as you're doing the movement, right? So what she means she means energy. Gong means practice or mastery. Okay? So when we focus on our breath in our posture, we get into our physical being right? And out of our head and out of our emotions. And that's what the calming aspect of it and the breath is huge with that some people just practice breathing, meditations, right. So Chi Gong is just breathing plus movement, whatever movement that is, there are certain specific forms that you can do. There are just just focus on your breath. I mean, there's several different breaths out, you know, like, breathe for five seconds, hold for five seconds release for five seconds. There's, there's a box breathing, which is one more holding step in there. So they say breathe in for four seconds. Hold for four seconds. Breathe out for four seconds. Hold for four seconds. So you're making clocks. Okay? Yeah. No, we don't. Yeah.

DJ Stutz  16:50  
So Tai Chi is a comes under the Chi Gong umbrella. But there are many other things that are there beyond Tai Chi. That is part of that.

Carol Rudd  17:03  
Tai Chi means want to say the right word, I want to say great energy, but it's even the ultimate energy. Oh, so Tai Chi is considered to be the most powerful martial art because it blends the elements of Qigong with martial arts. Okay. Okay. So the movements in Tai Chi, this is called a ward up a ward off position. So you put your hand out and you're warding somebody off, right? I know as well, there's a martial arts component to it. Whereas the Chi Gong is don't have that. Chi Gong is more, more just the movement for meditation, relaxation, and coping skills where Tai Chi has a martial arts component and, and that's why it's considered far superior, the martial artists to do. I don't mean to offend karate people, I don't mean to offend any other martial arts. Right. But if you have Tai Chi as well as that martial art, you'll be a superior martial artists because the awareness that you create, that you can sense people behind you that you can ascend is much better. And this is a physical form of karate. Ulis learn the movements, karate, that's great. But if you bring in Tai Chi, that's better.

DJ Stutz  18:29  
Amazing. That's amazing. One of the things that I really loved as I've gotten to know you better and, and we've had some great conversations, but one of the things is how you help children who are having an anxiety or panic attack, they're fearful of something, and the way that you help them kind of work through it. Can you help our listeners and our watches now? Kind of go through that process? And how would you help your kiddo?

Carol Rudd  18:58  
Yes, it's all about the breath. So I tell people what I tell kids, when I you know, I was respiratory therapist. So that throw that in there. Should I tell my story about the little asthmatic girl? Yes, yes. Okay. So the little asthmatic er was in the hospital because her asthma had flared. And her mom was there with her. And we were giving her breathing treatments. And when I got done, I just said to her, I said, you know, whenever you start to feel short of breath, I want you to take a breath in and open up your chest, and you can spread your wings like a butterfly. Right? But you know, the cool part is you don't even have to give you're in a place. You don't have to move those wings physically. You can just imagine that your wings are opening up. Okay, so breathe like a butterfly, and fill up your chest. That's one way for little little kids. I like to do that. Yeah, but for older kids, I want to tell them about breathing from their belly and lowering the energy fill their lower their lower belly. I also use the idea of put your hands on your chest and pretend you're Superman or Superwoman. And when you breathe in, let the ribs move out to the side and expand that. Okay, so that way you're breathing from your belly to do that. Ah, so this is my Superman or Supergirl pose, right? Yeah.

DJ Stutz  20:17  
Yeah. So that's how you do antastic. Yeah.

Carol Rudd  20:21  
And we love you, Bella, you can just be really calm. I hadn't planned on showing my belly today.

DJ Stutz  20:30  
It's one of my goals. Never show my belly. No, I know. So you can say that and then helping your kids through that. One of the things, though, that I think is so important, is when you're teaching them when they're in the middle of an attack. It's not the time to teach that.

Carol Rudd  20:47  
Right? Right. Right. No. Well, you have to come down to

DJ Stutz  20:51  
second. If you're watching, you might have noticed my ear thing came out to go chase after falling ear

Carol Rudd  20:59  
things. It's like, watch out.

DJ Stutz  21:01  
Yes. You're crazy, I tell you. Okay, here we go.

Carol Rudd  21:07  
We're going there, we're having a chat. It's just calm down. So slowly breathing. Focus on your breath. And for kids with asthma, they have to breathe out longer. And tell them to breathe out like you're blowing out a candle. Yeah. So those are things to calm them down. And I also say relax your shoulders and your mouth, your mouth and your jaw. Because a lot of times kids with asthma get they get clenched and their jaw antennae into their body. So learning to physically pay attention to that tension. And I do simple things like you know, make up fist and tighten up your whole arm and tighten that, you know, just simple relaxation. And then just like all that, so they can feel that relaxation.

DJ Stutz  21:54  
Yeah, one of the things that I did with my candies that when they would start, you know, getting that getting themselves all panicked or what, for whatever reason, it could be anger, it could be fear, it could, I mean, there's so many reasons that kids get emotionally stressed out. Yeah, too. Yeah, overload, especially. And so we had a pinwheel. Right. And I got a little fake flower. And I used the flower tape, and we and we connected it just below the pinwheel. And so you know, for little guys, they're still learning. And this was a great visual, so they would smell the flower and blow them make the pedal go around.

Carol Rudd  22:40  
And artificial flower right as opposed to the

DJ Stutz  22:43  
artificial flower because you know, it lasts a lot longer.

Carol Rudd  22:46  
Also, kids might be allergic so exactly,

DJ Stutz  22:49  
but you want to make sure to the other thing is you want to make sure that you're keeping it dust free. The flower, because if there's smelling it in and they've got allergies, or they've got asthma, the dust won't help them. But so you know, at the end of the day, we just like, you know, brush it off and, and make sure that it was dust free before we're using it. But that really that visual smell the flower and below the pinwheel. And so for little guys as they're learning these skills. You know that that was something that just worked for us?

Carol Rudd  23:21  
Oh, it's perfect. It's absolutely perfect. There's so many different different things I do besides you know, like, it's a candle. It's a pinwheel. There was another one. I'm trying to remember what it was. It's not coming to me.

DJ Stutz  23:34  
Yeah, it happens. I really want to push the fact that it's when they're calm that we want to introduce these things. Right? Right. So it can be like, part of when you're getting ready to go to sleep, you know, that's kind of a calming downtime. It can be just a fun time. I'm really big on having family time, at least once a week more if you can do it, but to practice like different social skills and talking about your values that you have, and then and then letting them play act, what they're doing. If somebody says something mean, how can we handle that and, but it's when everybody's calm and they're having fun, you know, pop some popcorn or do something that they love to do and engage them that way. And then when the panic attack comes or the anger comes or whatever, they at least have that to look back on not you can't do it once.

Carol Rudd  24:31  
No, I taught him they know.

DJ Stutz  24:34  
Yeah, it's yeah, a

Carol Rudd  24:38  
lot of those conversations with your kids having that quiet time one on one with your kid. Yeah. Another really cool thing to come. Anybody down is tough massage. You know. Had them that sounds like it should calm them down. Yeah, you know, yeah, that's a good thing.

DJ Stutz  25:00  
Yeah, yeah. And you mentioned this earlier when we were first talking was giving them choices to, I can see you're super stressed out, buddy, I got it. Or sissy, whatever. Do you want me to sit with you? Do you want me to sit with you? Or do you need to calm down over somewhere else? Yeah, so I have five kids. And number three of the five, she's got two kids of her own. Her husband's just amazing. I love this guy. But their oldest boy, well, they have One boy, one girl, but their oldest pika kind of struggle with getting upset at over Lisa So but enough that it was hard for him to calm down or whatever. And I remember I was visiting. And Peter was saying, Yeah, buddy, you know, I can see you're upset. We can't deal with this until we calm down. So that's fine. Do you want me to sit here and help you calm down? Or and they had a little, they had like this little nook in their dining room. And so it went clear to the floor. And so they put some pillows and fun things there. And so they call their complex. And so he's Do you want to sit here with me? Do you want to go to the complex, you can go to your bedroom, because he would like to be alone he was we get embarrassed when he would get so stressed out. And so I'm watching and he told us that I want to go to the complex, okay. And So off he went. And about two, three minutes later, he came back in and he said, I can talk now. And this kid was seven. Now he was, I don't know, three or four. I mean, just a little guy. When I saw this happened. And what I loved was that Peter said, Hey, you did it. I'm so proud of you. You turned this around all by yourself. And so recognizing and saying, you turn this around, you went and sat down. And I am very happy. Now let's talk about and he didn't overly do it. But then he said, Now let's talk about what we can do. And then they had a conversation came to an agreement. And so I think that's a big part of helping kids calm down is when you give them the choice of how they choose to calm down. Do you want me with you? Do you want to go by yourself? And choices really help us as adults calm down? We tend to get really upset thing. Oh, really good.

Carol Rudd  27:26  
I was just like, I gotta use that with my husband. No.

No, yes, we all need that. We all need that. encouragement, support and choice. We all need to be able to say, you know, and even when we're not having a good day, even when we're in chaos ourselves, we have to be able to maybe it's a Buddhist thing, detach yourself from that, and say, Okay, this is what my child needs. This is what I need. I bought at one common room and you go to the other honey, you know, and

DJ Stutz  28:05  
by putting me in timeout,

Carol Rudd  28:08  
yeah, exactly. Come back, and we'll talk about it later, you know? Yeah, yeah. I like that idea. That's fun. Yeah, well,

DJ Stutz  28:17  
and I think too, is instead of shooing them off, you're in a timeout. Just say, Yeah, I see. You need to calm down. We've got these options. Now, which one do you choose? And so now, it's like they're choosing to go and do they're calming down, rather than I'm being forced to go somewhere

Carol Rudd  28:37  
else empowering. That's what your kids empower them to make the choices that are right for them. Yeah, absolutely. Then dictating to them. Yeah,

DJ Stutz  28:48  
I had a little guy in my class, this my last story, I promise. But so he had some big emotions. He had been adopted at I think, 18 months, two years, and had a very traumatic early few years. very traumatic. And so he was struggling with a lot of his emotions and social and he was trying he wanted to, but you don't always have that control when you're five. And so he was sitting in, in class in a circle time, like you do in kindergarten. And one of the specialists, I think it was the social emotional specialists, she was being observed by her supervisor, because they had to have observations. And so this little guy was sitting by the chart, you know, that was kind of close. And he was so distracted by that chart, and playing with it. But then he was doing it to the point where it was bothering other kids were noticing. And so I went over and sat by him and said, Hey, buddy, it looks like this is a hard place for you to sit and pay attention. Can you think of a different place to sit where you can pay attention to Miss Katie? And he's like, Yeah, I can And then that cute little voice and I said, Okay, we had a little set of pawns that they sat on. I said, Do you want to take your setup on? Yeah. So we went, took it down to place and paid attention the whole rest of the time. And it was kind of fun, because the supervisor was like, That was brilliant. But I think, too, instead of saying, Hey, you can't sit here, go sit over here, we tend to do that when our kids aren't. Whether you were a teacher or a parent, if the kids are doing something that they are distracted, or it's annoying, or whatever, we tend to boss them around, and you're gonna go here, instead of, hey, I think this is distracting to, can you come up with

Carol Rudd  30:38  
a solution. The other thing is, so shaming, I will just say this is so shaming to kids to like, Oh, you don't pay attention that you get framed as that. When I was in kindergarten, I was told that I couldn't tie shoelaces, I failed shoelace tying in kindergarten. Right. And so I was teased about that a lot. But not that It caught me in dire life threatening harm. But you know, it's like those things are formed early in life, do the things by giving choices and allowing them to make them that's honoring and respecting them as a human being. Yeah. And it's also honoring and respecting yourself too, because you don't have to be the what's the word I want to use the taskmaster you don't have to be ever controlling your child's lights, you get to let them have choices. As long as they're following safety, that's gonna keep them safe.

DJ Stutz  31:32  
Right? Well, and when you give them choices, they're gonna be choices that you can accept, right? within the boundaries, you know, right? It's like, you're gonna be nice to your sister, or you're up in your room for the rest of the day. Well, so the kids like, I like being alone. Anyway, I'm going up to my room, right? Or you'd be nice, your sister or I'm taking that toy away. Okay, take it, I don't like my sister today, I'm go ahead and take it. And then I'm free to be mean to my sister. It's make sure that the choices you're giving are within the bounds of what you can except anyway, so let's talk for just a second about how our listeners and followers can get a hold of you and learn more about how to use that breathing and how to empower kids.

Carol Rudd  32:19  
Yep, my website is still under construction to some degree, but there'll be new things coming. It's www dot healing. Ata Li, N G. Choices. Oasis. O A. S I s.com. And so the choices is been a big part of my life. And so that's why That's my business. It's all about healing choices.

DJ Stutz  32:46  
I love it. I love it. And now are you on the socials? Facebook?

Carol Rudd  32:51  
I'm on Facebook, you can look that up under my name Carol Rudd or under healing choices. Okay. I think that's it. You'll find me that way.

DJ Stutz  33:01  
Awesome. Awesome. Well, we're gonna have all that information down in the show notes, everyone. So if you are interested in want to learn more, just scroll down, you can click on the links. And while you're down messing around, why don't you give us like a five star review? Tell us how awesome we are. And please leave a comment, we really do want to hear your thoughts about, you know what we're saying? What your ideas that you have to share. I love hearing from my listeners. So thank you so much, Carol, before we go, I always ask my guests the very same question. So I'm going to ask you, how would you describe a successful parent,

Carol Rudd  33:42  
I would describe a successful parent, as one who helps us think about this a little bit longer. First off, I say by the children that they have, that the children that you see the you know, the children that are calm, and that are thoughtful, and also creative and joyful, and living the life of a happy kid, you know, that they don't have those restrictions. But also the parents are also not Haggard are not run ragged, because they're always trying to do or be something. They're also having that complete life themselves. So successful parents, ones who listen, who respond and offer choices and allow for the child to be the child, be creative, and whatever they want the way they want to be not in the way you perceive them. So, yeah, you gave some really good examples of the parents who was asked if the kid wanted a timeout in the calm room versus the bedroom. That was huge. I mean, you know, it's like, I wish I had parents like that, because I didn't have those kinds of parents. You know? Yeah,

DJ Stutz  34:53  
that was culture back then. But I think for so much better off with what we're doing.

Carol Rudd  34:58  
So here, the family Do you see that as joyful and happy and connected and working together as a family? That's successful parenting?

DJ Stutz  35:07  
Yeah. Yeah. And I love what you said, parents, the kids that you have, right, not the kids you wish you had. And the truth is you get the kid you need.

Carol Rudd  35:17  
Exactly, because I truly

DJ Stutz  35:18  
believe that. I do too. Yeah, yeah, we

Carol Rudd  35:23  
are challenges our gifts.

DJ Stutz  35:26  
Yeah. Oh, yeah, there's always there's always the blessing in there, always. So Carol Rudd, thank you so much for spending this time with us, I really appreciate it. And for those of you who are watching, once again, I'm gonna tell you to leave us a rating and review. Bye, everyone. Bye.

Carol Rudd  35:43  
Thank you.

DJ Stutz  35:47  
If you want to learn more about Carol, you can find all of her information in the show notes below. And while you're there, hit the Follow button to make sure that you are getting in on the amazing episodes that we have each week. And if you did like what you heard on today's podcast, be sure to go the next step and rate and review. And then tell a friend. And you can do this, whether you're listening on Apple, Spotify, or some other platform. Or if you're listening from the Imperfect Heroes podcast website, it's really easy. Just at the top, you'll see reviews, and then you're going to click on that you'll see leave a review. And you're going to click on that as well. And it's just that easy. And if you want to see the video of our podcasts, you can find those now on Rumble. The channel is Imperfect Heroes, or you can find us on YouTube, you're just gonna look for Little Hearts Academy, USA, and you're gonna find us. And of course there, I hope that you will subscribe and leave a comment. We'd love to hear what you're thinking. And I would really love to invite you to have a conversation where you and I get to discuss your family and the dreams and the hopes that you have. Let's talk about your amazing kids and the relationships that you have within your family. Just click on the link in the show notes below. And choose a time for us to talk and next week you're gonna want to catch us it's going to be with Adam Hart, and he's amazing. You're gonna love the conversation. So until then, let's find joy in parenting.

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