Tell us about your family!
I’m the mom of two grown children.
My son, Scott, is 24. After he graduated college, I was grateful to have him home for a couple of years but he recently moved into an apartment with friends so I’m learning how to be in a relationship with an adult son who is no longer living in our home. He is smart, kind, calm, hard working, reliable, principled, and he makes me laugh. He works as an assistant manager at Stop and Shop where he manages more challenges than you can imagine.
My daughter, Emily, is 21. She is a senior in college and her major is sports management. She is creative, capable, perceptive, authentic, thoughtful, determined, and fun to be with. She works as a photographer and videographer for her college’s sports teams, with a particular focus on the women’s hockey team. Her signature style is the stories she tells and the emotion she evokes through her work.
And my husband and I just celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary.
How did you start your business?
As a mom, I used to struggle to create peace in my family.
That struggle led me to discover that nervous system regulation is the foundation of behavior. But I couldn’t find a parenting resource that offered a complete plan for my family—one that helped me regulate my own nervous system so I could show up as the parent I aspired to be, and support my individual children in regulating theirs to bring out their best.
Inspired by the desire to create more peace in my own family and to help other parents do the same, I spent the next five years researching and writing The Storm Plan.
What is something people would be surprised to know about you?
Most people I work with don’t realize that before I wrote The Storm Plan, I spent 2 decades running an at home daycare and then working as a professional nanny…so I truly understand the daily challenges of raising children!
When the pandemic hit, my job as a nanny was put on pause for a time. Simultaneously, I was learning about nervous system regulation and decided the time was right to go in a new direction. I spent the next five years researching and writing The Storm Plan, which included training such as:
- Child Behavior Coach certification with The Early Years
- Parent Coach training with Happily Family
- Nervous System Regulation training with The Brain-Body Parenting Collective
- Emotion Coach training with The Gottman Institute
- Childhood Anxiety training with the Institute of Child Psychology
- Conflict Resolution training with The Gottman Institute
- Internal Family Systems training with creator Richard C. Schwartz, PhD
- The Wayfinder’s Compass training with Martha Beck
Much of this training required coaching hours, so I’ve been coaching parents for 5 years. But it is with the recent publication of The Storm Plan that I began the work of building Laura Reardon Coaching as a resource for parents who want help as they personalize The Storm Plan for their family and practice using it in everyday life.
What is your favorite part about the work you do?
My favorite part about the work I do is helping parents create more peace in their families, knowing it will also support their children in growing into adults who know how to create peace within themselves and their relationships.
Where do you now call home and how long have you lived there?
My husband and I purchased a home in Scituate over 25 years ago. We both grew up in Norwell and then lived in Boston for many years during our college and post college years, but Scituate has been our home for a long time and we love it for so many reasons including its beaches, lighthouse, and harbor.
What is your favorite part about living in the South Shore?
My favorite part about living on the South Shore is all the beautiful places in nature to walk with my husband and our black lab, Lucy (sadly, we lost our yellow lab, Jack, earlier this year). Our daily place is Driftway Park but other favorites spots include the spit, Humarock Beach, Minot beach at low tide, Norris Reservation, and a newly discovered place is Crosbie Family Preserve. I love taking short video clips of the beauty I discover on my walks and sharing them on my Instagram page.
What family activity do you enjoy most?
As the mom of grown children, I cherish every moment we spend together. My favorite family activities are dinners whenever we can all be together and family vacations.
We have some traditions that started when the kids were very young and continue today, including gathering at a beach house in Humarock and a cabin on the lake in Rangeley, Maine, during the summertime.
A new tradition in the making is traveling to national parks throughout the country. Two years ago, we went to the Grand Canyon, Lake Powell, and Arches, and we’re currently planning a trip to Yosemite and Sequoia. Visiting Glacier Bay National Park in Alaska is on the dream list!
Favorite place for date night:
- TK’s on the deck in the summertime when our priority is a good view
- Cheever when our priority is good food
- The Bridgeway when our priority is spending time in Humarock, our happy place
My Best Advice for Parents
My best advice for parents is to get your copy of The Storm Plan and then drop into The Storm Plan Group just in time to experience more peace this holiday season.
The Storm Plan is a tiny book for busy parents who struggle with their child’s behavior and want a simple way to use nervous system regulation to create more peace in their family. It’s a plan for parents of toddlers through teens and those with both neurotypical and neurodivergent needs. All in a tiny book because I know how busy you are. And it’s not only concise but easy to read with bold headlines, underlined text, and bulleted lists so you’ll actually read it instead of using it to decorate your nightstand.
The Storm Plan Group is for parents who want to feel less alone in their parenting and more supported as they personalize The Storm Plan for their family and practice using it in real life.
I’m not here to tell you how to parent. I’m here to share a plan for nervous system regulation so you can experience more peace in your family.
You can follow Laura Reardon on instagram to learn about her latest offerings and to view the short videos from her nature walks so you can experience a little more peace in your day:
You can also visit her website to purchase The Storm Plan book and to learn more about The Storm Plan Group: https://laurareardoncoaching.com/