If all you’ve heard about Amy Chua and her book Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother
Yet is it possible our very over-reaction to Amy Chua’s memoir is a good indicator that we don’t have a clue when it comes to raising children? Continue reading
Today’s brilliant tongue-in-cheek <but only a little> post was received from a friend over at facebook, Amy Lawrence.
Lesson 1
1. Go to the grocery store.
2. Arrange to have your salary paid directly to their head office.
3. Go home.
4. Pick up the paper.
5. Read it for the last time.
Lesson 2
Before you finally go ahead and have children, find a couple who already are parents and berate them about their…
1. Methods of discipline.
2. Lack of patience.
3. Appallingly low tolerance levels.
4. Allowing their children to run wild.
5. Suggest ways in which they might improve their child’s breastfeeding, sleep habits, toilet training, table manners, and overall behavior.
Enjoy it because it will be the last time in your life you will have all the answers. Continue reading
When I have an unusually busy spell, the kind that prevents me from blogging for a whole week, it leaves me feeling a bit out of sorts and filled with critical thoughts about myself. When the busy-ness is focused around people with life and death struggles, I can forgive myself for missing a blog post with more grace.
What follows are simply random thoughts I had while driving in a storm –
1. The Ark was built by amateurs, the Titanic was built by professionals.
2. Trying to reason with a kid when they’re in the middle of a tantrum is unreasonable.
3. If you’re human the day will always feel like you’re moving 2 steps forward, one step back. It’s still progress.
Most parents, when they see children not terrorized by the things that terrorize them, they work very hard until they’ve finally got you terrorized. They teach you those irrational fears. Well-meaning, but they do just the same.
Parenting is a wonderful, but challenging, journey. No instruction manuals, no definitive “right” or “wrong” methods.
A couple of people have recently asked me where I’m going with this blog. When I’m out of alignment and all wrapped up in my ‘taking things seriously’ mode I ponder this question as if it’s meaningful… however…
If you’re a parent, I’m sure you’ve experienced at least one moment (HA! One… as if…) when your child has asked for (demanded?) something and you’ve said no… only to have them whine and complain and generally harass you into saying YES!
YES?!
As I witnessed another one of these all too frequent experiences a couple of days ago, I also witnessed the Mom experiencing that abject disappointment in herself for being such a ‘wishy washy’ parent and ‘caving’ to her young son’s demands (her words, not mine) that so often follows a loving parent around like a worrisome gnat.
I’ve been doing some spring cleaning (what??!?!?) and ran across several notebooks that I would journal in when my boys were very young. One was titled: 
If you have a child over the age of two… then it’s likely you’ve heard that line at least a time or two.
“YOU’RE NOT THE BOSS OF ME!”
On the surface it may simply be a response from a child resisting what they’re being asked (or told) to do. Yet I ask you to consider another perspective…
Whether spoken to a sibling or a parent… it’s a good indicator that a child is on the verge of feeling over-powered by someone. And even a young child realizes that there is something ‘off’ about that.
Even a child knows that it is the job of each of us to be the boss of ourselves!
So, if you hear that line coming at you, instead of pushing against it and creating resistance as you may be tempted to do… why not pause a moment and consider how well you are doing when it comes to being the boss of yourself.
Being the boss of yourself means you take responsibility for your own thoughts, your own alignment, knowing the powerful, positive impact your alignment has on all of your relationships.