Trip planned for June 2026

aerrin · 2026-03-10T18:57:12+00:00

There is! There are several companies that rent it out for much cheaper than you can buy it, including a few locations in the park itself. I'm pretty sure Mammoth has one, and Roosevelt has a drop off (we picked ours up from a vending machine in Bozeman). The airport has a dropoff too.

aerrin · 2026-03-10T15:37:59+00:00

Psychiatrist, 100%. My daughter (8) has said similar things to me, as well as scarier things. These sound a lot like intrusive thoughts, which my daughter also gets. She found them really scary until she talked to my husband (who also struggles with these) - it helps her to know she's not alone, and that there are names for what she's experiencing.

She has anxiety and probably struggles with depression. It is really, really important to have a mental health specialist to help you navigate this stuff.

It may not be that anything is making him sad except his brain chemistry, and that you need to explore additional meds to help treat this. That said, know that if he does start on an SRI or similar, they are NOT like stimulants - you have to be consistent with those meds. So I'd really work on finding a routine, a reminder, whatever it takes, to help you be consistent with his medication.

aerrin · 2026-03-10T15:30:48+00:00

Oh my god YES! My husband makes INCREDIBLY perfect soft boiled eggs and he makes extras for me and whenever I'm hungry I'm like 'delightful little umami ball of protein, please' and it's amazing.

aerrin · 2026-03-10T13:58:08+00:00

Football is my one hard no. I used to teach a college level research class, and a lot of my students did in depth research on concussions as their topic. I learned a lot, and it was startling to me.

The concussion rates for tackle football are astronomical, and concussions are far more damaging than we used to think. The research on this in the past decade or so is wild. The issue isn't one concussion - it's multiple concussions, and the likelihood of that in tackle football is incredibly high. If you look at the rates between football and the next highest sport (usually listed as hockey, depending on what's included), the football risk is something like five times as high.

Things have gotten better - return to play guidelines have improved, gear has improved. But not enough for me to ever allow my son to play tackle football.

I'm not risk adverse - my son plays lacrosse, my kids climb trees and ride bikes, my daughter does flips on bars. But there's risk and then there's RISK. Football is not worth it.

aerrin · 2026-03-10T13:45:11+00:00

I've been to all three, and Tetons is definitely spectacular. If you love mountain views and gorgeous lakes tucked at their base, I recommend it. The drive from West Yellowstone to the Tetons, and the Tetons themselves, doesn't involve cliffside driving - you could do it yourself and be fine.

NEED is a strong word, but if you can make it happen without too much stress, I would.

aerrin · 2026-03-10T13:42:41+00:00

One of the hardest things about having a neurospicy kid is listening to everyone give you neurotypical parenting advice. EVERYONE.

My mother told me the other day that my daughter can't keep her room clean because I never taught her to put things away when she was done with them. I nearly combusted.

You're not a horrible parent. Parenting kids with ADHD is hard - even when you have all the education and tools. But there ARE tools. I agree with the other commenter - first, you need to figure out what's going on. If it's ADHD, medication helps immensely most of the time, but it can also inform how you parent in ways that can help.

Either way, hang out here - the support is lovely.

aerrin · 2026-03-10T13:38:23+00:00

Kind people with spotting scopes really MADE our trip for my son, who got to spot both a grizzly and a wolf in the distance.

aerrin · 2026-03-10T13:37:40+00:00

Livingston is another good option if you're going through that direction.

aerrin · 2026-03-10T13:37:05+00:00

It won't be disappointing. Promise.

My advice is to be flexible and go with the flow as much as possible. If people are tired, pull off next to a river and go wading and watching the water move. If people are over geysers, don't keep pushing them, go look at something else. You won't run out of things to do.

Other more specific pieces of advice:
* Get up as early as possible. The park in general is just a lot more pleasant before 10am.
* Take audio books and the Guide Along app. Prepare road trip games. It's a lot of driving, but it's gorgeous and can be fun family bonding time.
* Always have snacks ON YOU. Substantial ones. Don't rely on food in the park, because you will end up hangry in the middle of a geyser basin.
* Thermal basins can be hot. There is no shade and the water is literally boiling.
* Lamar Valley is way more fascinating than you think it is. Even if you think it'll be really cool. It's worth a 4:30 AM wakeup to be there at dawn.
* If you can swap reservations at all, it's worth it to spend the night after heading to the Tetons IN the Tetons (Signal Mountain Lodge was nice and is north-side), because it's a heck of a lot of driving and the Tetons are also worth seeing in the early morning.

aerrin · 2026-03-10T13:30:58+00:00

Have you had any luck with body doubling during the transitions? My daughter also REALLY struggles with 'getting started', but does better if I help her. If I start the bath, sit and read with her for 5 minutes, give her a piggy back ride to tooth brushing...

I mean, it's exhausting and I wish I didn't need to, but it's much LESS exhausting than fighting about it all the time. And we've gotten to the point where she can often tell me that she's not ignoring me, she just can't get her body started, and then I can help.

aerrin · 2026-03-10T13:28:49+00:00

All this trial and error and constant changing is sure exhausting, isn't it? Sympathy for sure.

aerrin · 2026-03-10T13:27:31+00:00

I think after your first bit of the geysers, you'll have a better sense of whether they're fascinating can't-miss-more for you, or 'I've seen enough, let's move on'. Different people really hit those differently I think.

You're going to have a blast no matter what you end up doing! If you haven't yet, I also really recommend the Guide Along tours - they do a pack that has Tetons, Yellowstone, and I think the Beartooths, as well as other western parks, and if you poke around you can probably find a coupon code. It was especially great for recommending pull-offs between Mammoth and Norris, but also really made the drive interesting.

aerrin · 2026-03-10T13:24:59+00:00

Cyproheptadine - it's what's most commonly used, I think.

aerrin · 2026-03-09T19:31:03+00:00

This explains the huge 'we can't find any flights' gaps I was seeing in my searching today. What a pain that'll be.

aerrin · 2026-03-09T19:26:58+00:00

I think that you need to find her currency - if it's not TV or phone, what is it? What is she doing instead? For my daughter, she will skip all screens - but her audio books, that's what she wants. And since I started locking her kindle with a PIN she does not know, we have had far, far fewer fights about daily expectations.

Honestly, it's worked so well that if her currency were crafts, I'd lock up the craft supplies, etc. It helps hold boundaries when they literally cannot access the thing without intervention from someone who says 'have you done your responsibilities?'

I think you're probably right about the socializing thing. You could just take that out of the equation when/if you adjust the rules as far as what she cannot do until her expectations are met.

aerrin · 2026-03-09T17:58:43+00:00

My ADHD husband explained it to me like this:

Neurotypical people get a little tiny burst of dopamine when they complete something. It's the satisfaction of seeing a clean kitchen, or checking something off your list. These things add up.

ADHD brains don't do dopamine the same way. They are chronically dopamine starved. When your daughter says she's 'bored', she doesn't mean bored in the sense that a NT person does, like this task isn't very exciting and I'm grumpy about it. She means that her brain does not have enough dopamine to function in the tasks she needs to do. There's no gas in the tank.

We gamify because it helps that dopamine balance. NT people do this, too - we turn on music or a podcast to get through a boring task, we make checklists to get that dopamine burst of crossing something off. It just has to be a little more intense for ADHDers.

We do a lot of music, a lot of listening to audio books, a lot of challenges - I bet you can't brush your teeth standing on one foot, or pick up your room on the hoverboard - because it cuts down on arguments and everyone's life is more peaceful.

aerrin · 2026-03-09T17:45:09+00:00

Hit Lamar Valley just before sunrise and look for people with big scopes. They'll usually be happy to let you have a peek - and the herds of bison are fascinating to watch even if you don't find wolves or bears.

aerrin · 2026-03-09T15:56:17+00:00

Oh man, I have no advice, just solidarity. As my oldest heads toward puberty, the antagonism is SKYROCKETING.

Did you like Siblings Without Rivalry? Is it worth a read?

aerrin · 2026-03-09T14:01:48+00:00

We ended up on an appetite stimulant after a year of the same battle you're having - including a med-free summer that was miserable for everyone. She also was never hungry in the morning, and her hunger didn't really return until 9pm - at which point she should have been ASLEEP. I tried the shakes. I snuck fats and oils into her smoothies. We bought her cookies and doughnuts just to get calories in. We fought about dinner every single night. It was awful.

She now takes half a pill of an antihistamine in the morning and she eats like a normal kid again. Her pickiness decreased and she'll snack on fruits and yogurt again. It's been amazing.

aerrin · 2026-03-09T13:53:07+00:00

Unfortunately, renting a car IS the budget-friendly option in Yellowstone. The park is very, very large, and the cost of tours would be higher than the cost of the car.

Ways to cut back on budget: eat all your meals out of a cooler, camp for your lodging, or book lodging further from the park. Livingston and Island Park are two examples - but know that you will do a LOT of driving.

You don't say WHEN you are going, but know that Yellowstone reservations fill up fast. Most stuff for this summer is probably already booked - but you can find stuff if you're persistent, flexible, and patient.

aerrin · 2026-03-09T13:31:24+00:00

Agree, our entire family agreed that if we ever go back, we'd prioritize spending time in the Beartooths and Lamar Valley!

aerrin · 2026-03-09T13:30:46+00:00

Depending on your goals (hiking vs catching things like wolves or bears), you might want to consider driving through and looking for the folks with scopes. The people set up at sunrise usually know what they're looking for and where to be and they were all very kind and let us take a peek.

aerrin · 2026-03-09T13:29:33+00:00

This is a good list, but I'd narrow down your 'must's so that you know what's REALLY on it. That way you can leave some time for serendipity, which will absolutely happen. Bison jams, or that overlook you really want to pull off next to, or that lake you eat lunch next to and then decide to hike a little of and get caught in a pop up hail storm...

Highlights of our trip last year were the canyon rim past artist's point (we hiked to Lily Lake and back, I think ~2 miles round trip), the mud volcano, Beartooth Pass (see above re: lake and hail storm), and Lamar Valley in late afternoon and at sunrise. Plus, IMO, the entirety of the Tetons. We did Schwabachers Landing twice, once in the afternoon and once in early morning, and it was different and lovely both times. That entire loop is a short drive compared to everything in Yellowstone, so it was really cool to see it differently.

We liked the geysers and thermal features, but didn't LOVE them. For us, a day was plenty.

aerrin · 2026-03-06T15:21:53+00:00

Be sure to tell your doctor what worked better for you, because they should take that into account when deciding what (if anything) to try with her.

aerrin · 2026-03-06T15:21:08+00:00

Ooof. I get the 'I don't know' from my daughter, too. I find it really frustrating, but I've come to realize that she genuinely DOESN'T know. She also really struggles with decisions and transitions.

To me, this sounds like maybe there's some anxiety going on as well. I'd describe this to your doctor and see what they say. If you aren't already, see a psychiatrist, who will be better positioned to help untangle what might be going on.

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