Parenting Blog

This is Part 6 in our series on Nurturing Yourself while Raising Your Child

“Don’t look at it as exercise — instead, play games and have a ton of fun! The main thing is just to get outside every day and do something you think is fun. You can play sports like soccer, basketball, or badminton. You can play games like freeze tag or ride a bike or do running races with your friends or family. You can go on hikes with your family or go swimming or paddling. Do lots of different things, and again, focus on having fun, and doing it often.” – Leo Babauta

You're a parent, so you don’t have time to exercise, right?   I can relate.  But moving our bodies is a basic part of self-care.  We can't talk about nurturing ourselves without figuring out a way to get physical.    READ POST

This is Part 3 in our series on Nurturing Yourself while Raising Your Child.

"What I start to feel is not just anger appropriate to the situation, but old feelings I carry from the past.  And those feelings have nothing to do with my child or the situation.  They have come up for me to take a look at them.  They are part of me.  But they don't belong in my relationship with my child.  They have to do with me and the person who raised me."  -- Laura Davis & Janis Keyser  READ POST

This is Part 2 in our series on Nurturing Yourself while Raising Your Child.

“I know one thing for sure. It is impossible to find one’s own balance from the outside in. I now know beyond a doubt that finding—and maintaining—our balance is an inside job.” – Lu Hanessian

As you go through your day, you have a running list.  Change the baby, feed the toddler a snack, teach the preschooler to pick up her toys, help the elementary schooler with homework, help the tween braid her hair, negotiate with the teen, make dinner, fold laundry, pay the bills, email the boss, connect with your spouse... the list never stops.  But have you fallen off your own list?  READ POST

"My commitment to this kind of parenting is fierce, and when I falter it is always because I have a mountain of unmet needs - usually of the basic nature (sleep, food, etc) and often including more complex like interdependence and creativity."- Jennifer

“I start yelling, and I can't stop.  Later, I feel terrible.  She was just being a kid.  And I was acting like my mother, who I still can't forgive.” -- Karen

The bad news is, having a child changes everything.  The good news is, having a child changes everything.

Seriously, having a child can be the best thing you ever did. What else offers such rich rewards while helping you grow into a more loving person?  But sometimes the rewards are elusive, and we find ourselves screaming inside "This isn't what I signed up for!"   READ POST

"If you get up one more time than you fall, you will make it through." -- Chinese Proverb

Do you ever feel discouraged?  You wouldn't be human if you didn't. 

Sometimes we all need a little help to climb out of the holes that dot the landscape of our lives.  Yes, some of these holes we dig ourselves (when we aren't watching!) with our own poor choices. Some come from the pressure and lack of support of our way of life.  Some are just biology -- we wake up tired or cranky.  And some are the gopher holes the universe has a way of putting in front of us to make us pay attention.  READ POST

“Slow down. Realize not everything needs to be done now and in a hurry, and just enjoy life rather than scheduling and rushing... Why do you want your child to hurry up and finish? Is it because you are done and figure he’s had long enough to finish? Is it because you have something else to do? If so, can that wait so that you can give your child the time he needs? Is it because you have promised to be somewhere? ... If you are constantly rushing from one place to the next (doctor’s appointment, haircut, playgroup, music lessons, swimming lessons, coffee date) have you taken on too much? Should you plan more downtime into your schedule so that you have more time to be patient?  More time for play and cuddles?” - phdinparenting.com  READ POST

"What happens is not as important as how you react to what happens." -- Thaddeus Golas

How do you remember not to sweat the small stuff?  Keep Perspective!
 
I know, it's easier said than done. It's simply impossible to see the larger landscape when we're down in the swamps. And every parent finds him or herself in the swamp sometimes. 

But if we can just step back, we realize that things are actually hopeful. Start with the fact that you have this child, while there are people all over the world yearning for a child -- or, worse yet, for one they've lost. Notice how you've been transformed into a more loving, patient, responsible, joyful person just by being your child’s parent.  Then consider the sheer joy and aliveness your child brings into your life.  READ POST