Let's explore how boundaries and belonging work together to create safety, connection, and authenticity in our families. Especially for those of us parenting and home educating neurodivergent and PDA children who need spaciousness, autonomy, and felt-safety to thrive and learn.

Rachel Rainbolt is a therapist, unschooling mother, family guide, and founder of Sage Family. In this episode, Rachel shares grounded, practical tools for navigating real-life relationship dynamics during an emotionally complex season. With her warm, compassionate wisdom, she helps us understand boundaries not as lines drawn to control others, but as choices we make to care for ourselves while staying connected.

Together, we talk through:

• What it actually means to set boundaries—and why these are more effective, nervous-system-safe, and sustainable than requests focused on changing someone else.
• The Venn Diagram of Needs as a way to reduce conflict, increase collaboration, and honor everyone’s humanity.
• Accepting people as they are so we stop fighting reality and start navigating relationships with clarity and compassion.
• Responding to words at face value to reduce anxiety, avoid mind-reading, and create more emotional safety for children and adults alike.
• Navigating gatherings, expectations, and complicated family systems—and how to prepare yourself, your kids, and your boundaries for a season that often comes with heightened sensory, emotional, and relational demands.
• Co-regulation and hard conversations in families recovering from burnout, especially within PDA profiles where pressure, demands, and social scripts can feel overwhelming.
• Belonging as celebration—how to create a family culture where every person is welcomed as themselves, not molded into someone else’s comfort.

This is a gentle, insightful guide for moving through the next season with more clarity, compassion, and confidence.

Connect with Rachel Rainbolt

• Website: sagefamily.com
• Instagram:@rachelrainbolt

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• Invite me to Day In The Life Community
• Subscribe to the 90-Minute School Day Newsletter
• Learn more about our Guide Training™ Program

Taking a Break — Recommended Episodes to Revisit

As we take a holiday break from releasing new podcast episodes, now is an ideal time to revisit or check out a few favorites that align beautifully with today’s themes of boundaries, belonging, connection, and preparing for the season ahead:

• Episode 11: “Play, Homeschool & Holiday Hooky” — A refreshing take on how to lean into play and freedom during the holidays instead of stress and obligation.
  
• Episode 12: “Chaos to Clarity: The Craft of Personal Retreats” — Dive into the power of stepping away, re-centering, and returning to your family and season with greater calm and intentionality.
  
• Episode 30: “Boundaries 101: Raising Confident Learners with Liana Francisco” — A rich discussion on boundaries in the unschooling context—what they support, how they protect, and how they set the stage for confident, self-directed learners and families.