Jodi Klaristenfeld

Jodi Klaristenfeld - Empowering Preemie Parents: A Conversation with Jodi Klaristenfeld - episode 234 The Art of Living Proactively (Harnessing the Power of Your Choices)

In this episode of The Art of Living Proactively podcast, host Tony Winyard engages in a heartfelt conversation with Jodi Klaristenfeld, the founder of FLRRiSH, an organization dedicated to supporting parents of premature babies and NICU graduates. Jodi shares her personal journey as a parent of a preemie and discusses the importance of proactive decision-making and empowerment in navigating the challenges and uncertainties of raising a premature child. Join us as we delve into Jodi’s inspiring story and discover how she harnesses the power of choice to make a positive impact on the lives of preemie parents.

Episode Highlights:

  1. What Inspired FLRRiSH:

    Jodi Klaristenfeld opens up about her personal experience of having her daughter born prematurely, 12 weeks before her due date. It was during this challenging time that Jodi realized the lack of community and resources available for preemie parents. Motivated by her own journey, she founded FLRRiSH to provide peer support groups, expert advice, and practical guidance to parents navigating their children’s medical needs and developmental delays.
  2. Nurturing Resilience and Thriving:

    Jodi emphasises the importance of being proactive and thinking ahead when it comes to supporting the growth and development of premature children. She shares insights and strategies to help parents secure necessary therapies, advocate for tailored education, and create environments that set children up for success at each stage of their journey.
  3. Overcoming Challenges:

    Jodi reflects on her personal experience of dealing with HELLP syndrome and preeclampsia during pregnancy. These conditions, characterized by high blood pressure, put both the mother and baby at risk, resulting in an immediate delivery to ensure their safety. Jodi sheds light on the rarity of these conditions and highlights the need for awareness and early detection.
  4. Promoting Mental Health:

    Jodi believes in destigmatising the need for extra attention in the classroom and emphasises the importance of providing additional support and love for children. She advocates for smaller class sizes, increased teacher attention, and different educational approaches that suit a child’s unique learning style. Jodi’s ultimate mission is to support parents in understanding that prioritising mental health is fundamental to the overall well-being of both themselves and their children.
  5. Seeking Expert Guidance:

    Jodi encourages parents to seek advice from various professionals, such as healthcare providers and specialists, in order to make informed decisions about their child’s medical needs and developmental progress. She also highlights the importance of avoiding information overload from books or the internet, instead relying on trusted sources for guidance.
  6. Struggles with Insurance:

    Jodi mentions the challenges faced when seeking funding for services and therapies, as it often depends on government qualification. Delays in implementing services and limitations/caps set by insurance companies can impede access to necessary care. Jodi underscores the need for parents to advocate and fight for their child’s needs, even in the face of bureaucratic obstacles.
  7. Welcoming Partnerships:

    Jodi shares her openness to collaborating with other organisations globally to expand FLRRiSH’s reach and impact. She acknowledges the existence of similar organisations in different countries and envisions a supportive network that empowers preemie parents worldwide.

    Conclusion:

    Join Tony Winyard in this inspiring episode of The Art of Living Proactively podcast, featuring Jodi Klaristenfeld. Gain valuable insights into the challenges faced by preemie parents, the power of proactive decision-making, and the importance of advocating for the needs of premature children. Let Jodi’s story empower you to embrace choices that positively shape your own journey and the lives of those you care for.
    Note: In this excerpt, the speaker’s personal experiences, challenges, and achievements are presented in a sensitive and impactful manner, highlighting the importance of proactive decision-making and empowerment for preemie parents.

 

Chapters:

[00:00:00] Supporting premature babies and their parents.
[00:04:59] Connecting parents going through difficult journeys
[00:06:25] Spreading word, getting mental health support.
[00:11:11] 1% of pregnancies have help syndrome
[00:13:40] Focus on maternal mortality rates, raise awareness.
[00:16:53] Government funded services take time to start. 
[00:20:45] Risk factors exist for high blood pressure, obesity. 
[00:23:35] Encouraging success and support for children.
[00:28:57] Parent constantly trying to think ahead for child.
[00:31:51] Not enough parent-focused books, avoid comparisons.
[00:34:24] FLRRiSH is about growth, evolution, and thriving.
[00:39:41] Endodontist explains benefits of root canal treatments.

 

Guest Bio:

Jodi Klaristenfeld understands the challenges and fears that parents face when their child requires medical assistance. Having gone through a difficult and atypical birth experience herself, Jodi knows firsthand the isolation and loneliness that parents can feel during such times. She strongly believes in the importance of creating a supportive community for parents who are going through similar journeys.

Jodi yearned for a genuine connection and a place where real conversations could take place. She wished for a platform where she could speak to others who truly understood her situation, beyond the impersonal realm of social media. Hearing success stories would have provided her with much-needed hope and encouragement during her own difficult journey.

Despite the hardships, Jodi finds beauty and reward in the process of raising a child who requires extra care. She acknowledges that it may be a long and challenging road, but believes that with perseverance and time, parents will triumph and achieve their goals.

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Related episode:

234 – Jodi Klaristenfeld

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welcome to the art of living practically today, episode 234 is with Jodi Klaristenfeld. And we discuss her organization FLRRiSH, which provides support and resources for parents of premature babies and NICU graduates. After her own traumatic experience of having her daughter born 12 weeks early. Jodi recognized the lack of community and information for parents going through that. And through her company FLRRiSH, she provides peer support groups, expert advice. And practical guidance to help parents navigate their children’s medical needs. And developmental delays. And she advocates for securing necessary therapies and tailored education. So these children can flourish. And she stresses about being proactive, thinking ahead, asking questions. And putting kids in the best position to thrive at each stage. And so, she shares her experience, how it made her view challenges as opportunities for growth and when you’re and many other things. So that’s all coming up. In today, episode 234 with Jodi Klaristenfeld. If you do like the episode please do share it with anyone who you feel will get some value from it. Why not subscribe, And hope you enjoy the show

[00:01:22] Tony Winyard: So welcome to another edition of the Art of Living Proactively. My guest today, Jodi Klaristenfeld, and I said that right, did I?

[00:01:33] Jodi Klaristenfeld: Yes, you did.

[00:01:35] Tony Winyard: And Jodi’s the founder of FLRRiSH. So how are you? How are you, Jodi?

[00:01:39] Jodi Klaristenfeld: I am doing well today. Thanks, Tony. How are you?

[00:01:42] Tony Winyard: I’m doing well and I’m guessing that anyone listening now is thinking what’s FLRRiSH?

[00:01:49] Jodi Klaristenfeld: FLRRiSH is a platform for preemie and NICU parents. We support, educate and empower parents on their parenting journey because it’s much different and much more challenging, especially at the outset when their children are born early or have NICU stays and they’re just a whole host of other. Increments or appointments and other challenges related to that, and I sought to create a platform where people could go and feel supported.

[00:02:26] Tony Winyard: And this came about. What was a personal experience for you? Isn’t it?

[00:02:30] Jodi Klaristenfeld: Yes. My daughter was born 12 weeks early. She is four years old now, and my husband and I were thrown into the deep end of a pool. Without knowing how to swim or having a life jacket, if you will in terms of becoming a medical parent, understanding terminology, and she was born as a complete surprise.

We had no warning that she was coming so early.

[00:03:02] Tony Winyard: And so what was it that say I get gather you had a bad experience and so how have you helped others to have a better experience?

[00:03:12] Jodi Klaristenfeld: I wouldn’t say that I had a bad experience. I think my daughter was extremely well taken care of, and the doctors and nurses should be applauded for the work that they do on a 24 7 basis because, They allow parents to leave their child in the hospital on a daily basis when they really don’t want to.

[00:03:38] Tony Winyard: Nice.

[00:03:39] Jodi Klaristenfeld: because of their care and their love towards my daughter, at that made that more possible. What caused me to create FLRRiSH was the fact that my husband and I felt so unsupported.

[00:03:53] Tony Winyard: Right. Okay.

[00:03:54] Jodi Klaristenfeld: Our daughter is the patient. We were not the patients, and so the support that we needed or the resources that we needed or the sense of community that we needed and what we were going to need.

Also, once our daughter first came home, we had none of that

[00:04:14] Tony Winyard: right.

[00:04:14] Jodi Klaristenfeld: we didn’t know where to go. I always say where are parents supposed to go to talk to someone about this experience that. It is quite common in the United States, insofar as that it’s 10% of babies per year, which is the biggest amount of any first world country in the world. So there’s a lot of us, but there’s, I don’t wanna say a gap in the marketplace, but there is a gap when it comes to supporting parents and telling them what their needs will probably be for when they have this experience.

[00:04:51] Tony Winyard: What kind of support was it that you would’ve helped you in that situation and that you are now able to give help with other people?

[00:04:59] Jodi Klaristenfeld: I think. At first, the most important thing is letting parents know they are not alone on this journey. It’s extremely isolating and lonely and scary going through such an experience when your child is hooked up to machines, bells and whistles, and when your birth story is atypical and not what you expect.

I would have loved to have been able to find a community or be able to talk to someone other than a Facebook group. I’m talking about like a real chat, a real conversation with someone and or a group of people as well. And I would’ve loved to have, heard some success stories. Oh, this is going to be hard.

It is going to be a long road. However, I. It’s beautiful and rewarding, but you know, this is, these are some of the steps and you will get there. It just takes you a little bit longer,

[00:06:10] Tony Winyard: So now that you’ve set up FLRRiSH, so you are helping others in a situation you face now, how

[00:06:15] Jodi Klaristenfeld: so,

[00:06:16] Tony Winyard: If someone faces that situation, I guess in 90% of the time, maybe a hundred percent. It’s a total surprise. So how will they find out about FLRRiSH?

[00:06:25] Jodi Klaristenfeld: So therein lies, I’ll say the problem or the issue is that I, right now everything is by word of mouth and I’m trying to spread the word as much as I can through brand awareness being on podcasts such as your own, writing articles. And being on panels and things of that nature. And I’m also actively working to get into some hospital systems.

The issue, at least in this country, is that who is going to pay for the service and our hospitals are not windfalls of money where they can just supply things. Often they are billed through insurance companies. So I’m trying to figure out that whole system of getting at least the mental health piece of it supported by insurance companies.

Because mental health is a huge problem that affects and pervades all aspects of your life. And if you can help parents from the get go realize that this is not their fault, they’re not alone. And there are so many things you can do to help your child along the way. And there’s no stigma in having your child get extra love and support through the help of others that I think that helps parents that much sooner, and therefore they are less susceptible to their own depression and own mental illness.

[00:08:12] Tony Winyard: So you’ve mentioned it’s difficult for parents to find out about you when you, they’re in that situation. So have there been any parents who have gone through that and managed to find out about you, and how did they find out?

[00:08:24] Jodi Klaristenfeld: Yes. I have been fortunate to partner with some organizations and put some flyers in there. I don’t only call them gift bags, but bags that you get when you give birth. And then there are a couple of different things in there when you’re, you give birth early.

So I have managed to get flyers in a bunch of those. And I have also done some pilot programs with some hospitals to at least host round table discussions so that people are aware of me in that respect.

[00:09:03] Tony Winyard: And I wonder if, because there’s a lot of similarities between US and England, and obviously there’s many differences as well. But one thing, I dunno if you have this in the us we have and I’m gonna forget the acronym now. It’s either NTC or N NT C or NCT, I forget which one it is. But for prospective parents, you go if you want to, you can go through this sort of training period for a few weeks leading up to the birth and you find out all sorts of information, which is really useful after the birth.

And something like what you are doing would be really useful for them to let parents know in that sort of course. Do you, is there anything similar in the States?

[00:09:41] Jodi Klaristenfeld: There is, except it’s not, I don’t know if it’s a required kind of thing in,

[00:09:47] Tony Winyard: It’s not required. I think it’s, yeah, it’s opt in. Yeah,

[00:09:50] Jodi Klaristenfeld: Yeah, sa same here. But I’ll use myself as an example. I was going to take one of those courses

[00:09:59] Tony Winyard: is too

[00:09:59] Jodi Klaristenfeld: do Yes, but I didn’t take it. I had scheduled it two weeks later. I think it depends when people are taking those courses and I have contacted some of the some people I know that do some wide scale courses and we are in talks to add information if you do go into labour early or if you do have your child early. Cuz some people do go into labour early. I didn’t, but some people do. Or if you’re having multiples right, the chances of them being born early is much greater. But yes, those are things that people have to opt into.

And it, it depends when you’re going to take it. Like I said, for myself, I hadn’t toured the hospital yet. I hadn’t had my birthing class preparation. I haven’t had any of that because my daughter came so early.

[00:11:03] Tony Winyard: And are you now aware of the trigger, and is there often a typical trigger for this sort of situation?

[00:11:11] Jodi Klaristenfeld: Well, For myself, I had what health syndrome and preeclampsia. And preeclampsia is extremely high blood pressure, that comes on while you’re pregnant. That happens in about 8% of births in the US per year. Of those 8%, about 1% get help syndrome. So it’s a kind of more rare situation, but the triggers, the only, I’ll say prerequisites, right, or high risk things that I checked the box for was my age.

Other than that, I didn’t have a history of high blood pressure. In fact, my blood pressure was low. I had a healthy lifestyle. Everything that I did was typical. It’s just that this and quite honestly, I had a checkup with my OB six days before my daughter was born and everything was fine. That’s how quickly this came on. And my doctor at the time said to my mother, cuz my husband happened to be in Europe, he was in Paris for work, said that if I don’t take the baby now we are going to lose them both. That’s how quickly in six days, something could become deadly.

[00:12:41] Tony Winyard: Wow. And I forget the stat you just said. I think it was 1% of another. So that still sounds like quite a high number in. I mean, as for as many people as there are in the states

[00:12:51] Jodi Klaristenfeld: yes. It is still quite a large quite a large number. And most people don’t even know these situations exist. I will tell you, I will give, probably the one time I’ll give Kim Kardashian like a shout out is. I had never heard of preeclampsia except for the fact I knew she had it with one of her children, and that’s why then she had to use a surrogate thereafter. Other than that, I didn’t know anything else about it and learned about it only after the fact after I had my daughter.

[00:13:35] Tony Winyard: And are you aware of any sort of similar organizations in any other countries?

[00:13:40] Jodi Klaristenfeld: Yes, I am. I am aware of similar organizations. My, my first, I’ll say, Inclination is to focus mainly right here in the States. That’s not to say that I wouldn’t partner with any organizations because this is a world problem. This is a global problem. I was recently talking to a woman in Australia about the same.

About the same thing. And the more you could do to help spread the word, the more important that is because. Help syndrome over around like 30% of women who experience help syndrome, unfortunately pass away. That’s huge. Right? And in this day and age, We shouldn’t have that kind of maternal mortality rate upon birth for something.

So there has to be an awareness about spreading the word about this, and people have to know the warning signs. I happen to just be extremely lucky and feel like, I feel like someone was watching over us. Because we were in the right place at the right time in terms of, I went to my doctor and he made it happen within, literally, I went to my doctor’s office at 12.30, my daughter was born at 3.16.

[00:15:08] Tony Winyard: Wow.

[00:15:09] Jodi Klaristenfeld: It happened very quickly, and I’m lucky not everyone is so lucky.

[00:15:17] Tony Winyard: Wow. And so you mentioned about our organizations in other countries, have any of them implemented any sort of cooperation with their hospital system, for example or anything along those lines.

[00:15:31] Jodi Klaristenfeld: Well, they They do work with hospitals, but it’s more providing, I’ll say these gift bags. As opposed to peer support, it’s about having, the parents reach out to them and then maybe, oh, we’ll find someone for you who you could talk to. The difference with FLRRiSH is that not only do I offer one-on-one support, I also offer community support, which I think is important too.

But I also provide resources where parents can go. To help their children once they come home from the hospital. Most people, myself included, I was not aware that my daughter would need physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech and feeding therapy at three months old. The, those thoughts never crossed my mind. Again having my daughter in the NICU also never crossed my mind. So all these other specialists and all these other. Other steps that mums need, or mums and dads, excuse me, need. You can find all of that on FLRRiSH.

[00:16:49] Tony Winyard: So would insurance cover all of those costs that you just mentioned?

[00:16:53] Jodi Klaristenfeld: It depends right here in the States. So some of it is government funded, so your child has to qualify. That said, even if your child qualifies, it takes a few months for those services to get up and running. In the meantime, those first years, as growth and development is pivotal, so any time wasted it, it can cause further delay.

So we sought out outside help. And it depends whether those providers are in the EI early intervention system or if they take insurance or not. There’s I, again, our insurance system works that it’s not universal. Not every person, every provider takes insurance. It’s up to that provider. So a lot of times, myself included, you’ve to pay out of pocket. Before maybe submitting it on your own and get re getting reimbursed. And even at that, a lot of insurance companies have limits and caps, and you’re constantly fighting to get the services covered. As I say to the people that I speak to, I go, I’m not having my daughter take extra therapy because I feel like it, and I think she’s having fun and enjoying it.

I’d rather her be outside and playing with her friends. But I’m doing this because she needs it, and I have reports that say that she needs it. It’s just a constant battle and I also try and teach parents that you have to advocate for your child. You have to fight for your child because if you are not going to, no one else is going to.

[00:18:49] Tony Winyard: So to say, we had a magic wand and there money wasn’t an object. Obviously it is, but what would be the ideal setup in for this situation to help future parents?

[00:19:02] Jodi Klaristenfeld: I honestly think the ideal setup really depends upon the person themselves because as with anything, you might know that you need help. But you have to recognize it and want to get the help. So I think therein lies one barrier to entry. But aside from parents working on their own, I think the thing is that if insurance companies unilaterally when it comes to children who are the future of the world, These services should be covered and without a cap on the number, because clearly with supporting documentation, these children need the extra help and it is a huge burden and causes huge stress on parents.

Also, in terms of money spent. Yearly. There are statistics that parents of NICU children spent in excess in the first five years of life in excess of $30,000 more than full term babies for all these special services that their children need.

[00:20:24] Tony Winyard: Is that, I’m guessing, so this happened did you say 28 weeks for you? So I’m presuming at 24 weeks, I mean, you mentioned your doctor, as far as he was concerned everything was fine. There would be nothing that you could have done differently earlier to prevent this from happening. So that would be the same for everyone.

[00:20:45] Jodi Klaristenfeld: Yes. I mean, I would say listen, if you have a history of high blood pressure, if you have if you are overweight, there are certain risk factors and then you are monitored. Or I would like to think those mums are getting themselves monitored more regularly but, Again, the disparity in income and resources.

Some of those people are not getting themselves checked more regularly. But if you were then hopefully that specialist, like a maternal fetal medicine specialist would be monitoring you much more closely. For myself, everything was going along fine and there was nothing I did or didn’t do.

And I will tell you, even up to this day, I still have that mum guilt and those doubts, what if I didn’t this and what if I didn’t that? And I think parent guilt pervades all parents for a whole host of reasons. But I think especially when it comes to this, parents, really like I was searching throughout my first like literally 28 weeks, and I remember saying to my husband, my obese, Dr. Romo said I could have a drink after I had the amnio. I think I had a glass and a half of wine. Did this happen because of that? Something as innocuous as that, but you start going through every single, everything that has had transpired during your pregnancy to think. But generally speaking, there is nothing to be done to prevent this.

And I will say for me, my OB had me taking aspirin, baby aspirin every day because I was over 40 when I gave birth and that was supposed to help with the blood pressure and the blood flow and all of that, but clearly in my case, that wasn’t enough.

[00:22:59] Tony Winyard: And so looking at it from the other situation, so once this actually happens and the baby is born, that whatever number of weeks it is. Is the baby more susceptible to certain conditions that they have to be looked at for or checked for certain things.

[00:23:16] Jodi Klaristenfeld: Oh, certainly. And even when the baby comes home, we had to go to five different specialty doctors in addition to the pediatrician,

[00:23:27] Tony Winyard: Right,

[00:23:28] Jodi Klaristenfeld: that was after she was looked after and cared for 24 7 for 77 days.

[00:23:34] Tony Winyard: right.

[00:23:35] Jodi Klaristenfeld: yes. Now, a lot of those things, depending upon with time, they will grow out of it. But there are also other things that you don’t know that they might not grow out of.

But what you do is you try and put them in the situation. To set them up for success, and that’s where I think a lot of the mental piece comes in for parents when you, your child needs this extra help. I could call it extra love. In the classroom setting or maybe going to a different type of school if your child learns differently, it doesn’t really matter as long as they get to the answer.

And I think in this country at least, we have to really destigmatize that and accept that everyone could benefit from a little extra attention in the classroom. For me, I look at it as. My daughter’s in a class of 12 with four teachers. That’s an amazing ratio. I wouldn’t want my daughter in a class of 20 with one teacher. She wouldn’t get any attention and she’d be probably in the corner not enjoying school. But I’ve, I have helped guide her so that she could be in a situation where she loves school and she’s getting so much attention and they are catering to her. So I think that’s a really important piece to educate parents on the different ways to go ahead, to help your children.

[00:25:19] Tony Winyard: So is she physically smaller than other children of the same age?

[00:25:23] Jodi Klaristenfeld: Actually, no, she is in the 72nd percentile. And she’s on the thinner side, like I think 48th percentile. But her as with everything, right, it’s the trajectory. Her progress has been, has trended in the right direction and that’s really what we look for. Some of her growth and development and her motor planning skills she’s still behind in, but if you look at Covid, right, all children were pushed back a little. It just probably affected my daughter a little bit more because she wasn’t getting the full help that she really needed during that time.

[00:26:07] Tony Winyard: Right. And is it typical would many children born in this situation not have an after effect in terms of physical size, or were you more lucky than others?

[00:26:20] Jodi Klaristenfeld: It it really depends. There are some kids, actually there’s this now I’ll say man, who was just, I think the fifth draft pick in the National Football League,

[00:26:32] Tony Winyard: Okay.

[00:26:32] Jodi Klaristenfeld: right? Who was born at 28 weeks. It really depends. I think it’s a whole host of

[00:26:40] Tony Winyard: Right,

[00:26:41] Jodi Klaristenfeld: a whole host of conditions, right. I happen to think it’s part of it’s genetic.

[00:26:45] Tony Winyard: right.

[00:26:45] Jodi Klaristenfeld: Part of it is luck, and part of it is also, again, putting yourself in that situation or, and also being fortunate enough to be able to maybe go and see a specialist, right? Maybe if your child is on the smaller side, you can go to an endocrinologist and get them something to help them grow a little bit more.

So things like that. So it really depends, but by and large, especially where it comes to growth physically, that’s something that children catch up with. Again, it’s more of some of the other pieces. That there could be a lag, but you just don’t know, and that’s why you have to do all of these other things to help them along the way, to push them to get up to speed.

[00:27:43] Tony Winyard: So many ways. It sounds like what FLRRiSH is doing for parents in this situation is. Helping them to be proactive. It’s letting them know all the steps that they can take to prevent things from happening in the future.

[00:27:56] Jodi Klaristenfeld: Yes. To the best extent that they can. Right? And I tell people it’s setting them up for success, however you define success. For me and where my daughter is in her life at this point, I want her to love going to school, enjoy socializing, love, playing with her friends, and I think having her in the right environment, which a smaller classroom with more teachers so that there’s more support is right for her to help her to succeed.

Every child is different, but I think. for for me, it was more important that she feel comfortable in the environment and want to go to school every day. Wants to get on the school bus.

[00:28:44] Tony Winyard: Yeah. A question I always ask people is, what would you, if I asked you for your definition of being proactive around health what comes to mind for you?

[00:28:57] Jodi Klaristenfeld: In this case, when it comes to my daughter, I think it’s trying to put myself one step ahead, and I have since she was born, I’ll say at, first couple, first year. I was just trying to keep, maybe first two years I was trying to keep my head up just above water. I felt like I was treading water really the whole time.

Since then. Now it’s about thinking ahead. So when she turned two, I thought about her going to school. Now that she is in a school, I’m thinking about kindergarten and grade school. And so I’m a year and a little bit ahead of that. Before, but we have to take the steps now, for a year and a half from now.

So it’s being, it’s thinking ahead, enjoying the moment, but also thinking ahead of what your child needs. And I tell parents, ask your providers. Ask your teachers. Ask your doctors. Ask your therapists. What do you think? And again, it’s not necessarily something that’s concrete and written in stone cuz children change and grow.

As adults we all change and grow every day.

[00:30:15] Tony Winyard: Hmm.

[00:30:15] Jodi Klaristenfeld: But they know children well enough and have seen kids like, children going through the system now that they’ll be able to tell you something similar and what to do.

[00:30:30] Tony Winyard: Does anything come to mind in as much as, so I just asked you the question about being proactive. So for people who maybe don’t take the time to think about, to be proactive, to think about the possible things. What possible dangers are there from being just reactive to things happening and not having given it any thought?

Can you

[00:30:50] Jodi Klaristenfeld: Yes I can. I think. I think if you put your head in the sand or think that things are just going to get better, I. You’re setting yourself up for even more chances of being upset down the road. I think these are things that if you can tackle them now, someone is not going to tell you when your child is 10 years old

well if you did this when they were three,

[00:31:17] Tony Winyard: Right.

[00:31:18] Jodi Klaristenfeld: then this wouldn’t be an issue. I think if you’re actively looking, at your child and wanting to be completely transparent, then you’re really helping them. Otherwise, I think you’re doing your children a disservice without really knowing it, because maybe your own head is not in the place to accept that your child might need more help.

[00:31:46] Tony Winyard: Are there to your knowledge. Any books on this topic?

[00:31:51] Jodi Klaristenfeld: There are plenty of books written by doctors. I one day would love to write one from the parent perspective. There are a lot of children’s books written for children to explain to them their birth story and how their birth story is different, but there aren’t enough geared towards parents written from the parent perspective.

I chose not to read any of the ones from doctors for a few reasons. I didn’t wanna see maybe milestones or markers that my daughter might not hit at a certain time, which would cause me increased anxiety. But I also take the approach of, I don’t compare. Everyone is on their own timetable, and this has taught me that even more.

And I, again, we have these great providers in her school and also in the medical field that I look to them for help and that if there’s something that’s bothering me or I have a question, I turn to them as opposed to a book or Google, so to speak, where you could send yourself down a rabbit hole?

[00:33:15] Tony Winyard: Do you do any blog posts or anything such as that?

[00:33:18] Jodi Klaristenfeld: Yes, I do. I do. I write articles all the time published on other people’s website and published on my own. I think it’s really important to do that, at least so that people are aware again, of certain either pitfalls or challenges or also I tell people this has helped me reset my life and made me appreciate life, and I celebrate absolutely everything.

I’m convinced one of the reasons my daughter is so happy and cheers people on is because we’re always cheering her on and we’re always so celebratory of everything that she does.

[00:34:01] Tony Winyard: And there’s a lot of proof about that as well, isn’t there? There’s a lot of, yeah. So you mentioned about your blog. Where can people find the blog? Um,

[00:34:09] Jodi Klaristenfeld: They can find it on my website which is www.FLRRiSH.com, flrrish.com

[00:34:21] Tony Winyard: um, And so what does FLRRiSH stand for?

[00:34:24] Jodi Klaristenfeld: Well, FLRRiSH stands for. And this goes back to what you were saying about your favorite quote. I believe we are always learning and growing and adapting, and I have read that in plenty of books and incarnations of that in many articles. And FLRRiSH is just that, to grow and to evolve and whenever I would describe my daughter to people when discussing how she’s doing. I’ll say she’s flourishing, she’s growing, and so FLRRiSH can evolve when she evolves and when I evolve. Right. So FLRRiSH to me is this growing, living thing that we all do every day.

[00:35:13] Tony Winyard: Oh, so it’s not an acronym. I was wondering the way it was spelled. I thought it might be right. Okay.

[00:35:19] Jodi Klaristenfeld: No. In, in today’s day and age, people spell things all. I’ll say weird or not necessarily grammatically correct. And when I was looking for the spelling to get something online, I couldn’t get regular flourish, so this is what I could get that was closest, but I love it just the way that it is.

Anyway,

[00:35:40] Tony Winyard: Right. Okay. I, we touched upon books before I, I asked you a question about books. And obviously I’ve already preempted you with this, so is there a book that comes to mind. So any time in your life has moved you for any reason.

[00:35:55] Jodi Klaristenfeld: I think a book that, and it’s a business book. It’s called Good To Great

[00:36:02] Tony Winyard: Okay.

[00:36:02] Jodi Klaristenfeld: and. Not necessarily for the business part of it, but I think more about how it applies to just life in general about how you want to pass along like the values, like the core values of a business from one c e o to another, but the, that could be translated into your own family unit, how you teach, how you do things as a family, as a parent, and how that translates to your child to help try and steer them in the most positive type of way.

[00:36:46] Tony Winyard: Right. And when was it you first read that?

[00:36:50] Jodi Klaristenfeld: I read that book about 15 years ago.

[00:36:55] Tony Winyard: Okay. have you revisited it?

[00:36:59] Jodi Klaristenfeld: Yes I have. For certain things as it applies to my life. But I first read it 15 years ago when I was doing something in business, and it was suggested to me that I read it, that I read it. Excuse me. And I did. And like I said, it really does apply to all aspects of life, but it follows a case study in business.

But to me, you could apply it to so many different things.

[00:37:32] Tony Winyard: And just to check, you are referring to the book by Jim Collins, isn’t it? Right. Okay. Okay. Jodi, it’s been a pleasure. Before we finish as I said, I always finish on the quotation that comes to mind for whatever reason. So what would that be for you?

[00:37:48] Jodi Klaristenfeld: Right now I’m thinking of, believe it, Rocky Balboa when he says to his son:, "It’s not that you fall down, it’s how you get back up". And I think again, that applies to all aspects of life. We’re, none of us has a life that’s just smooth as silk completely. We all have challenges that we have to undertake, and I think it’s how you handle yourself as a person, how resilient you are, and take that experience and learn and grow from it. Really helps transform the rest of your life from that moment as opposed to taking it in and just accepting whatever has happened, I choose to focus and make lemonade out of the situation and turn it into something positive. Acknowledge, acknowledge the lemons of it and process that, but then when it comes out, make it into lemonade.

[00:38:57] Tony Winyard: That quote has just reminded me and I wonder whether this song was a hit in the States. There was a, I think it was in the early nineties, there was this big song in England called, I Get Knocked Down, but I Get up again.

[00:39:10] Jodi Klaristenfeld: Oh yes. By those big guys. They’re bald head. I could picture, I think the, yes. Yeah,

[00:39:15] Tony Winyard: Chombawomba. Yeah,

[00:39:17] Jodi Klaristenfeld: exactly. Exactly. That’s what it is, right? It’s how you get back up and put one foot in front of the other every single day.

[00:39:25] Tony Winyard: Yeah. Yeah Jodi, it’s been an absolute pleasure and I’m sure there’ll be I think many people will benefit from this, and as you said, we are helping to spread the word. So yeah. Thank you.

[00:39:36] Jodi Klaristenfeld: I really appreciate it. Thanks so much, Tony.

Next week episode 235 with Dr. Sonia Chopra. She’s an endodontist, it’s not easy to say. And we discuss about dental health from root canals and she explains that endodontist specialize in root canals and saving teeth. While most general dentists only receive minimal root canal training. Root Canals become necessary when bacteria infects the tooth nerve through cavities, cracks, trauma. And she debunks the myths that root canals are toxic or ineffective. And explains that when done properly, they allow natural bone regeneration. She emphasizes the importance of regular dental checkups to catch issues early and the importance of proper brushing and flossing and not ignoring warning signs like swelling. And she talks about being proactive about dental health by seeing issues early, maintaining daily habits like flushing and saving natural teeth through procedures, like root canals when possible. So that’s next week episode 235 with dr sonia chopra If you enjoy this week’s episode why not share it with someone who would get some value from it. Please do leave us a review, subscribe, and most of all have a great week.