Being able to manage your expectations, particularly during the summer months is vital to being able to minimize some of the typical challenges you face at this time and you feeling less stressed. What 3 things do you find most stressful during the holidays? On the days where I do not manage my expectations of myself and my kids well and fail to communicate my minimum expectations to them, my top 3 holiday stressors are: The kids lounging around doing NOTHING! The kids looking to their smartphones any time they have “nothing” to do! Not contributing to the running of the home I want to repeat what I said above because it is key: “On the days where I do not take charge of my expectations of my kids and communicate my minimum expectations of them” I know exactly what it is I need to do to make life at home during the holidays much much better. And, am excited to share it with you here so that you can do the same. Doing so will make you feel way less stressed and much calmer. I believe that with a bit of planning and organization, learning to better manage our …Read more →
Monthly Archives: July 2018
Do You Struggle With Feeling Disrespected?
In a previous post, I discussed the relationship between boundaries and respect. The two are so closely related to each other that if you haven’t read it, I suggest you read it before going any further. You can find it HERE It’s called: One Of The Most Important Parenting Skills Required Today. Suffice to say that if you are feeling disrespected, you are not alone but you probably think that it is others in your life that are causing you the disrespect you feel? Yes? It might not be that simple! Stick with me here, it will soon become much clearer. No matter what you do, you can’t seem to get it right. You know you should be able to set effective boundaries and hold the limits around screen time AND other things too, but as hard as you try, more often than not, the boundary you set is ineffective. You say YES when you know you should say NO. You say NO and wonder why you did! The pushback you get from your child causes you to either cave or put your foot down too hard. You don’t listen to what it is you really need and don’t …Read more →
One Of The Most Important Parenting Skills Required Today
One of the most important parenting skills required today is the ability to set boundaries and hold the limits. In order to do this well, it is vitally important that you understand the relationship between boundaries and respect. Stay with me here, all will become clear. Boundaries and respect. Respect and boundaries. Chicken or the egg? Why are we talking about respect, I want to create killer boundaries around screen time and other things! I bet you’ve never really thought about respect and boundaries in the same breath. Believe me, neither had I! However, it is only when you understand the close relationship between these two things, that you will be able to shift from being so-so at setting boundaries and crap at holding the limits to being good at setting boundaries and kickass good at holding the limits. Boundaries alone are not enough. I’m going to generalize here, but, most of us moms are not bad at setting “the boundary” ie. saying what needs to be done. But sadly that’s often where it ends! It’s the next piece that gets us: we are not so great at holding the limits. You know the story, as soon as you …Read more →
