Parenting Blog

"I'm embarrassed to admit it but I DO feel like life is drudgery.  I mean, I love my kids, but I get home from work and I have to constantly nag them to stop playing and do what I tell them, or we'll never get them fed and to bed."

"When we put a stopper on our capacity for joy by anorexically declining the small gifts of life, we turn aside the larger gifts as well." - Julia Cameron 

Being a good parent is tough. So often, our needs come second.  The exhaustion of being constantly on call wears us out.  And the responsibility of keeping everyone moving through the routine erodes our sense of humor.  READ POST

“Expressing gratitude works. The moment we start taking things for granted—whether it be our husbands or our health—those things stop making us happy." -- Sonja Lyubomirsky, Happiness Researcher

Researchers have found a concrete way to raise your happiness set point.  Every day -- as you fall asleep at night is a good time --  think of three positive things that happened that day.  People who do this get happier almost immediately, and stay happier for as long as they continue this practice.  READ POST

This is Part 5 in our series on Nurturing Yourself while Raising Your Child.

“There is a vitality, a life-force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and be lost.” -- Martha Graham

Raising a child takes so much out of us that we often sacrifice most everything else that's important to us. But if we don't stay connected to what keeps us energized, we run dry.  READ POST

"Time is the most precious thing you own... Quantity time matters just as much, if not more, than quality time. While it’s okay to take your kids to Disneyland, it isn’t a substitute for good parenting. Parents need to be there--they need to be a witness to their children’s lives. That means creating good times, but more importantly, it means being there when things are tough. It means being an active participant in your child’s everyday struggles. " -- Laura Ramirez  READ POST

"A journalist visited a town famous for its rampant unhappiness to see if he could understand its origin. Walking down the street, he noticed a man ahead of him. Suddenly, a little man, no more than a few inches high, appeared and ran up the man's leg.  He started sticking pins into the man and sewing things to him. Instantly, the man was covered by these tiny tailors, all sticking him with pins.  He looked completely miserable as he shuffled off. The journalist saw this happen to one person after another, until he was ready to give up and go home. The town was completely infested with tiny tailors; no wonder everyone was unhappy. Then the journalist noticed one woman covered with tiny tailors who apparently said something, and the tiny tailors just melted away. The journalist ran over to her. 'What did you say to get free of them?!" he exclaimed. 'Oh,' she answered, 'It was nothing. I just told them I've decided to stop measuring myself.'”  -- Guy Finley

Most of the time when we find ourselves anxious or unhappy, it's because we've been measuring ourselves and come up short. We're constantly comparing ourselves to an ideal in our minds of what we should be.  Unfortunately, no live human can ever live up to an ideal.   READ POST

"When we acknowledge our children’s right to want things, as well as their right to be upset when they can’t have what they want, it goes a long way toward defusing their anger and the tantrums that occur as a result.”  -- Nancy Samalin

The part of NO that our kids don't understand is the part where we make them feel bad about themselves and what they want, instead of just saying NO to the behavior.  READ POST

“There's nothing tiny or insignificant. Everything is significant... Whether you are looking at world events or something that's happening in your kitchen, there's potential for connection or disconnection in either case. And it is really only the connection or the disconnection that is of any importance.” -- Abraham-Hicks

How's your week going?  Have you had a moment of connection with your child that made your heart melt?

You need that kind of moment every day, to be an inspired parent.  Why?  Because parenting is hard, and those moments of love are what see us through.  Because our kids feel those moments too -- that's when our love really sinks into their souls. When kids are convinced they're lovable, they act lovable. When they're not, they "act out" -- which means they have feelings they don't know how to express, so they act those feelings out.  READ POST