Honestly, is it worth the effort?

-
Honestly, is it worth the effort?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The bigger picture...

-
Sometimes it is so easy for us to sit back and see other parents do things that aren't smart or helpful, and it seems so obvious as an observer even though it's so easy to miss when you are the parent in question and caught in the moment. I am sure people observe that about me all the time, despite my best efforts! Often I watch my husband try to work through something with our elementary schooler in a way where he has laser focus on one thing and I think to myself, "you are going to win the battle and lose the war." That's probably a poor analogy since really he and she are on the same team, but you get the point - sometimes the bigger picture gets lost as we focus in on one specific thing. This morning for some reason our daughter woke up so angry, yelling at me, "you are not helpful! Nothing you do is helpful. Don't you realize you aren't helping me?" This could have been triggered by a lot of things- she's facing some pretty signifi...
Read more

Affirming our kids

-
A friend texted me thank you for writing her daughter an affirming note at church last week, saying she is trying to get better at that herself. I wrote back: "Lol because I am working on the same thing! That's why it was fresh on my mind to write them to the girls! I almost never affirm ours for doing the right things and always focus on the wrong!!! I made a little progress with it last week but have a long way to go still to remember to do it. We'll have to encourage and remind each other to improve!" I.am.so.bad.at.this. I'm better when I'm around other people (one of my friends says we parent better when we are around other healthy parents and I wholeheartedly agree- we pick up on their language, actions and approach and tend to repeat it) but do not prioritize this highly enough when I'm not. I want to work on this, and am so thankful my friend noticed that I'm trying and now can hold me accountable!
Read more

Let's slow this down...

-
I realized a few years ago that I hurry everywhere. I have a high energy level, I love being productive, and I think I held the core belief, "why only get one thing done in an hour when I could accomplish three?" While I've learned this can be a tremendous strength, it has a shadow side too. The most obvious place that shows up is when I hurry other people. I remember learning that when our daughter started preschool: rushing there did not help anyone, but building in enough time to take it slow helped the day start out much better. While she is in the midst of some medical issues right now, her need for us to slow down our pace has shown up big time. The other day her school asked for a "quick transition" at dropoff and we later realized this was not the best strategy for her. She needed a moment to catch her breath, gather her courage, and say her goodbyes from a place of trust and feeling secure, rather than one of frenzy or pushing. We've been ...
Read more