Parenting Blog

December 10, 2008

Good morning!

Did you make your list yesterday of all the ways to feed your heart and soul?  Yes, on paper.  If you didn’t please take a moment and begin it now.  (On the computer is good, so you can always find it.)  If you made your list yesterday please think of one thing to add to it and do that now.

1. Now, look at your list and pick at least one thing from your list to do today, one thing that will increase your joy and love quotient.  Will you: Put on music and dance with your kids?
2. Take a bath with candles after the kids go to bed? 
3. Go to sleep yourself as soon as the kids do so you get a great night’s sleep?

Wondering how you’ll fit this into your busy life?  That’s easy. 
Give yourself a break. Drop something else from your list, at least until tomorrow. 
I promise the world won’t fall apart.
Just say “Staying in touch with my own joy allows it to spill over to my kids.”

May your day be filled with blessings, large and small.
Dr. Laura Markham


"How you choose to respond each moment to the movie of life determines how you see the next frame, and the next, and eventually how you feel when the movie ends."
-- Doc Childre

December 9, 2008

Good morning!

Do you notice that when you find your way to your own internal fountain of love and joy, it overflows onto your kids and you’re a more patient, loving, joyful mother?

What can you do today to get in touch with that source of joy that fills you with love?  Walk outside?  Pray?  Sing?  Take a bubble bath while the kids nap?

Make a list of all the ways to feed yourself, heart and soul.  
Every morning, look at your list and pick at least one to do that day.

May your day be filled with blessings, large and small.



“Never do to yourself what you would never do to your child.”
--  Martha Beck

It's my birthday.  In keeping with an ancient Jewish tradition, I always give something away on my birthday.  Today what I'm giving away is a yearlong present.  I'm launching a Daily Inspiration Newsletter to give anyone who signs up short daily reminders about how they can be better parents -- and happier people.   To subscribe -- anytime throughout the year -- just use the pink sign-up box on any page of this website.

Good morning! 
And a good morning it is, too, because today is the most important day of your life.  Yesterday is then.  Tomorrow is when.  Today is Now. 

Now is the only place we have power.  Now, right now, bless yourself and those around you with more love.  Go to the mirror and smile a big, heart-felt, loving smile at that heroine in the mirror.  Tell her you love her.  Tell her that she doesn’t have to be perfect, that she is more than enough, just the way she is. There. Let that warm feeling sink in.

Now that your cup is full, go give your child a hug.  Don’t wait.  Do it now.  Tell your child how lucky you are that you got to be his or her mother. Kissing all over until giggling starts is optional.

Remember that anything you want, you can achieve better with a full cup of love, including loving your child.

May your day be filled with blessings, large and small.