FREEDOM + RESPONSIBLITY

“Freedom, however, is not the last word. Freedom is only part of the story and half of the truth. Freedom is but the negative aspect of the whole phenomenon whose positive aspect is responsibleness. In fact, freedom is in danger of degenerating into mere arbitrariness unless it is lived in terms of responsibleness. That is why I recommend that the Statue of Liberty on the East Coast be supplemented by a Statue of Responsibility on the West Coast. ”

— Viktor Frankl

Usually, us parents either hand freedom over without the corresponding responsibility (give them a phone without knowing they can either help pay or act responsibly with it), or we are heavy on the responsibility but stingy with the freedom (you are in charge of your own laundry, but you have to do it my way, when I say it's time).

This July 4th let's balance out the two. Here's some examples to get you thinking. . .

Phones are purchased AFTER child has earned/saved some of the money needed to get it. AFTER the child has shown they are reliable with the parents devices (stays on age appropriate websites, forks it over when it's time, has minimal breakdowns over the handing over of the device). Child shows responsibility BEFORE they are given a GIANT freedom that most GROWN-UPS have a hard time managing THEMSELVES!

Child is in charge of his laundry.  Child chooses when to do it, child can watch tv while clothes are being folded (they might take longer then one show to sllloooooowlllyyyyyy fold their clothes).  Child then experiences the delicious freedom that comes with the laundry responsibility. 

Child's room is a disaster, parent can decide that there will be no more money spent on clothes because the parent is unwilling to add to the mess. Child experiences the lack of freedom to purchase new clothes when the responsibility is shirked for caring for the current clothes he has.

When a child wants a new freedom, brainstorm a matching responsibility. When you give the child a new responsibility, brainstorm a new freedom that comes with it.

“If you want children to keep their feet on the ground, put some responsibility on their shoulders.”
– Abigail Van Buren

Communicating with Teens

This week’s Nifty Tip is an audio version about communicating with teens, it’s under 20 minutes and gives you tips and language to so that you can communicate in ways your teen is more likely to receive.

I mentioned Wendy Mogel’s book - Voice Lessons

Magical Thinking: The Land of Organized

There's no place like home - especially when it's neat and tidy!

We think "Being Organized" is a mystical, magical land where you are your best self at all times. In "Being Organized", all the planning, purging and organizing will stop strep throat, tantrums and device over-usages in their tracks. Because it's so mystical and magical over there we never really believe we can get there from plain old, always late, slightly messy and disheveled over here.

Guys, "Being Organized" is just a regular old place. We can get there - think Dorothy's journey in Oz. Dorothy always had the power in those Ruby Slippers.  We do too.  I am not saying it's EASY, or RELAXING, or YOU WILL EVER FEEL LIKE DOING IT. I'm just saying, it's not some mystical techno-color situation over there. Here's what gets in our way of clicking our own Ruby Slippers together.

Magical Starting Place

I need to do the kids rooms first, and THEN I will be content and patient and motivated to attack all my college notebooks. I need to get the kitchen organized, and THEN I will be content and patient and motivated to attack that mess of an attic where I have stored every durn thing any relative has ever handed down to me, ever.

Magical Solution

FIRST I need to go to the Container Store and get that cart for my photo sorting, and THEN I will attack the photos. I need to really 'figure out' how we want to use the basement before I purge the linens. I might, one day, the day after never, need to use that slightly stained comforter, that I really should pitch, so I can fit the air-mattress in the stupid closet. But FIRST, I need to get my husband to sort his high school memorabilia his mom sent. THAT is what is holding me up.

Magical Mindset

I need to be in the mood and build my self-esteem, and THEN I will have all the energy in the world to attack, keep attacking all the clutter. During the entire project I just know I will feel positive and energized. If I stop feeling positive and energized I guess I will need to stop and wait until my Mindset shifts.

Magical Causation Determination

Once I journal about this room, and really am CLEAR WHY it's a disaster, what happened in my child hood - that time my mom scolded me about the room and I thought it was clean. Well, then AFTER that is figured out, THEN I can attack this space. Or I need to 'figure out' why my spouse makes me feel bad about my clutter and once I discover what's wrong with our relationship THEN I can purge my files.

What magical thinking is keeping you on the sidelines of your own life? There is no there there. But the here, right here, right now, could be tidier, more orderly, more on time and then we'd have a little more peace like a river in our soul. Let's click those shoes together and realize we have the magic in us already.

If you like this Nifty Tip, please forward to a friend, share on Facebook or Twitter! (see Share button below).

Follow me on Twitter: @BalancingAct_DC, https://twitter.com/BalancingAct_DC

Follow me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/balancingactllcDC/

Pampering vs. Self-Care

We get confused sometimes with pampering and self-care. Maybe we believe doing things like – candlelight, long baths, massages, getting dressed nicely – is saved for when we have a romantic partner. Let’s remember that LOVE is an energy source and what would happen to our energy if we spent time being in love with the ONE person we are with all day long. 

We can be disdainful during the busy season of parenting of all things pampering and spa-like, but let’s turn that on its head and consider that when we spend time on self-care, and self-love, and self-acceptance, we are actually re-energizing the patient part of us, the joyful part of us, the part of us that can give to others. Consider adding in some self-care (love & and acceptance), remember . . . little bits add up. It’s not selfish, it’s a renewable, fabulous energy source! Here are some ideas to get you going. 

1.     Bath with bath salts or oils

2.     Hire a cleaning crew – even once a month to deep clean your house

3.     Massages – even 10 minute neck massages at the mall or the airport 

4.     Pedicures during the summer months

5.     Reading books we love, even if they aren’t productive or literature, or they are books we have read before

 6.     Protecting ourselves from relationships that drain us or make us feel bad (even making that relationship smaller) 

7.     Buying and wearing luxurious pajamas and robes

8.     Spending a little extra for fresh flowers, or the expensive cut of meat we favor 

9.     Sleeping in or napping on the weekends

10.  Taking ourselves out to a movie, or play, or the ballet, or the theater.

Splish, Splash. . . . Chores

Summer is the PERFECT time to train children in household chores AND let them practice.  Here's some hard won, personal, in the trenches, school of hard knocks lessons I've learned about training and practicing of chores.

The terrain of chores and children is never straight, narrow or smooth. The Chore Road is curvy, loopy,  bumpy, crazy and unpredictable.  Here are 5 particular bumps, curves, and loops to look out for:

1.  Waiting until you are tired to ask for the chore to get done - folks, we simply have to go to bed if we are tired.  Trying to engage children in "helping" us when we are tired and grumpy is impossible and almost always backfires.

2.  Wanting it to be perfect - learn to love a lumpy bed, cherish the few Doritos that don't make it in the ziplock, squint when you look at the swept-ish floor.  There will be time to do it perfectly, this summer ain't the time!

3. If the kids do one chore cheerfully . . .. well, we add on another.  If they do one cheerfully, be grateful and quiet and satisfied.  We all are so annoyed when we give kids an inch and then they ask, whine and beg for a mile! Don't BE that person.

4. We don't follow through or we aren't consistent.  We probably won't be 100% consistent, nor will we follow through every time, but at least try.  Aim lower to hit the mark, to get in the game, rather then announcing some big management change and then giving up because it's too hard to enforce. Better they unload the groceries and change the towels to the dryer then nothing at all.

5. We are too controlling.  We monitor, we check in, we comment, we give unsolicited nifty tips, we re-do.  Stop.  Take off your glasses so it all goes into soft focus and  pour yourself a cucumber infused water (or cold beer or margarita) and sit down. Good enough is good enough.

Here's a sample of age appropriate chores to get you inspired, thinking and into action:

4-5 Year Olds:  Set the table, put sandwiches and chips into baggies, dress by self (including choosing outfit, remember YOU are in control of what clothes are in their room and available to them), pour drinks for self and family.  Keep your expectations in line for this age group -- chores will stay interesting about the same amount of minutes as their age.  

6-10 Year Olds:  Wake up to own alarm clock (summer is PERFECT training time for this.  Late for camp, who cares? Miss a morning playdate, so what?)  If you stay out of their way you will learn their preferences, pitfalls, habits and when the school year starts you will be able to work with them.  After a late and harried morning in which I didn't BUTT in I realized the sleepy son I was so often annoyed with WANTED to get to school on time.  He experimented with setting his alarm clock LATER  and gosh darned if that kid didn't start getting up on time with a minimum of drama.  Magic.

1t - 12:  Making or changing an appointment.  This age group can practice looking at a calendar, determining when they can go the orthodontist (or dentist, or doctor) and then CALL the orthodontist (or dentist, or doctor) to make the appointment.  A good tip here is to role play the call a couple times and then leave the room when they make the call.  Watch out for the drama of, "I can't do that!  YOU do it MOM!  NO ONE else has to do this."  The more you accept and tolerate the drama, without reacting or feeding into it, the sooner it generally dies down. 

13 - 18:  Menu planning & cooking:  Gotta learn some time, might as well be the summer of 2015.  Kids this age can certainly plan and cook a meal and get it on the table.  Have them select something when you are making your shopping list.  Offer up your recipes, or let them explore on the internet.  Watch out for the speed bumps of squishing their ideas, not eating the food, or making them choose something else to cook because what they want to make is too easy (or too hard).  I learned to love, nay ADORE, a meal of pasta (white, delicious and yummy and fabulous ALL white pasta -- nary a whole grain to be found) with sauce from a jar, broccoli and a warmed up breaded chicken patty from A BAG.  Don't knock it til you try it, we forget how sublime a breaded chicken patty can taste!

The Art of the Consequence

Photo by aluxum/iStock / Getty Images

What trips us parents up when it comes to consequences is consistency. It's a magical, mystical, paradoxical art. Some of us are super duper inconsistent. "I don't really feel like getting them to bed right now, one more game on the i pad won't ruin them." Some of us are too consistent, "No way, they can't stay up to hang with their out of town cousins, bed time IS 7:30, NO exceptions!" What's a parent to do?

1. Your child will help you figure out if you have a consistency problem. If there is a lot of push back, whining, negotiating around every single limit or boundary - you might be the teeniest bit inconsistent. I've said it before, I'll say it again, kids are very, very under-employed and have a lot of time on their hands. IF they want that sleepover tonight with Zoey, even though they slept over at Zoey's last Saturday, and Sunday was a living hell of over tiredness. . . . they will beg, borrow, plead, barter and cry to get to you to let them do it. Because, why not? They don't have anything else to do but hit their little brother and take a bath!

2. Better to be very disciplined about a very few things then to inconsistently hold-ish up a bunch of things some of the time. Pick very few topics that reflect your core values and work on those. Let the rest go. Meal times important? Have a consistent meal time with consistent consequences for lateness, rudeness or bad manners and let go of making the bed for a while.

3. Let the house rules help with consequences by heading off common problems and areas of conflict.  Sleepovers once a month.  TV & video games played Friday - Sunday. Desserts every weekend night. (Do you see what I did there? I phrased everything as a positive - I didn't say "No desserts during the week!" "NO TV during the week", "You can NOT have more then one sleep over a month." Language matters!

4. Let the ecology of the house support consequences. Devices and screens live in public areas, if devices are found elsewhere they are put away for 24 hours (be reasonable folks, making kids suffer does not teach).

5. Keep your cool, man! Seriously, kids are gonna sneak, and beg, and get over tired, and roll their eyes, and try, try, TRY to get one more minute on their phones. They just are. You might want to review this nifty tip, I'll wait. The Only Shocking Part . . . . Kids aren't bad AND they aren't angels. The more we keep our cool and stop being totally shocked and have our hearts broken when they test limits and need a consequence, the better we will be able to handle the situation AND get on with our day.

How Do I Help Without Rescuing?

It’s so hard trying to find the edges of our job as a parent.

What is helping? What is rescuing? What is letting go? What is abandoning? We don’t know, we DON’T KnoooooooOOoooooW!

Pre-Schooler

Helping: Laying out clothes the night before. Getting dressed or brushing our own teeth WITH our pre-schooler.

Rescuing: Dressing people who know how to dress themselves.

Letting Go: Having child choose their own clothes (we are smart enough to take any non-regulation clothes out of their room - think seasonal or overly dressy clothes).

Abandoning: Not engaging about brushing teeth and just ‘trusting’ they will do it.

Elementary

Helping: Creating a 10 minute routine to pack bag, get stuff together the night before. Reviewing the next day together - who needs a baseball glove, did anyone volunteer to bring in snack, does everyone know where their shin guards are?

Rescuing: Running the forgotten baseball glove, snack, shin guards to school the next day.

Letting Go: Once child has problem solved with parent how to remember to bring trombone on band day (sticky notes, calendar pings, pre-set alarms) parent allows child to experience not having the instrument. What we will all learn, I do not know AND am excited to find out.

Abandoning: Saying, “I’m sick of your forgotten trombone, you are on your own buddy, life is hard, you have to figure it out.”

Middle School

Helping: Creating a homework routine. Through observing, chatting and experimenting - finding a set time and space where homework can be done, AND packed up. Maintaining a dinner schedule to support this timing. Being sure homework area is tidy and house is relatively quiet and stress-free.

Rescuing: Daily interrogating about what homework needs to be done. Going online to find out and remind. Getting last minute supplies for a long term project.

Letting Go: We stop interrogating child and watch who they are. Do they want B’s or A’s? Do they care more about friends then sports? Do they study only to get the grade or are they passionate about a particular subject?

Abandoning: Stop going to parent teacher conferences.

High School

Helping: Review online grading portal once a week with handout high schooler has printed out. Notice everything they did RIGHT first. Ask if they want any assistance in time management, project completion, or organization. Respect their response.

Rescuing: Edit their papers, check their online grading portals daily, text them regularly about what they’d did not turn in.

Letting Go: Their grades are not our grades. Their social life is not our social life. Their hygiene is not our hygiene. Absorb this. Soak it in. Lather.Rinse.Repeat.

Abandoning:NOT monitoring that internet, phone and devices are off and secured NOT in bedrooms at appropriate times. NOT checking in with other parents that adults are present at parties and sleepovers - especially in early high school. NOT training kids in basic life skills - driving, cooking, laundry, making appointments, advocating for themslebes.

College and Beyond

Helping: Reviewing their plans with them - travel plans, packing plans, social plans to help them be aware of potential bumps in the road or avoidable mistakes. Listening to their joys and sorrows. Knowing when finals are, when vacations are, when they might need a healthy dose of parental attention/encouragement/goodies from home.

Rescuing: Knowing their syllubus for class and reminding them of due dates. Editing papers online. Calling to wake them up. Being sure they sign up for next semesters classes.

Letting Go: Establishing a base line grade expectation and then NOT checking grades, but expecting them show us. Trusting them to arrange their own holiday plans and making their own plane reservations (with a budget). Really believing that if they don’t get something done they will either make a correction, advocate for themselves or accept the consequence.

Abandoning: Assuming we are done once they are 18 and they can figure it out, because we had to, didn’t we?

Check out The Self-Driven Child for more information and inspiration on this!

3 Ways to Help Our Little Procrastinators

It’s EXCRUCIATING . . . watching them procrastinate

Have you watched your child procrastinate lately? Have you given a good, solid lecture AGAIN on the virtues of time management? Have you nagged or shamed this past week? Excellent! You live in a normal family. Kids procrastinate, we procrastinate. Even before the invention of the SmartPhone people procrastinated. As parents we can get in a nagging/power struggle spiral over procrastination and that cycle becomes a real relationship drainer. Instead, try one of these three Nifty Tips:

1. Offer up a Five Minute of Fury or Tolerable Ten Minutes. I get this from a must-read book, “Getting Past Procrastination” by Ann Dolin, a former school teacher and found of Educational Tutoring. Getting started is the HARDEST part, you know the analogy of the rocket ship uses almost 50% of it’s fuel just to TAKE OFF and climb into the air. This theory works for homework too (and exercise!). Hand a timer over to your kid and ask - “What can you handle right now, FIVE MINUTES OF FURY or the TOLERABLE TEN?” Then accept which one they choose - you will find that SOMETIMES the starting is just what they needed, and sometimes they stop when the timer goes off. Remember, we are more concerned with giving them life long tools then getting tonights homework done. I used the Tolerable Ten just this weekend to get me started on the dreaded seasonal mulching project and my front yard looks fabulous!

2. Diagnose the cause of the procrastinating. This comes from Julie Morgenstern, author of the new “Time to Parent” and the perennial favorite, “Time Management from the Inside Out”. Lazy is not usually why anyone procrastinates. See if you can help your child identify any of these root causes of procrastination:

   You’ve Set Aside the Wrong Time: Parent might want kid to finish homework right after school, child might do better after dinner. Remember, especially teens, are actually more alert later in the evening. I had one kid who would stay up late to do homework and slept in and the other kid preferred to go to bed on time and wake up at 5:30 am to finish homework. If I set aside my ideal time for them we would have 4 long years of power struggles.

   You’ve Miscalculated How Long Tasks Take: Kids are usually too pessimistic (ugh, this is gonna take forever, I don’t wanna) or too optimistic (awww, this is no problem, I’ll wait awhile, until I’m in the mood). Helping kids estimate how long a task will take, and then taking the time to track it will help your child become a time realist. That might find that getting all their supplies out takes longer than they thought and that packing up the night before is shorter and less horrible then they thought. Either way, our kids will begin to have their own sense of time and urgency, rather than waiting until we, or the teacher, is angry or annoyed.

   Task is Overly Complex: Our kids pre-frontal cortex is not fully formed so time management is actually hard for them. Breaking down tasks to teeny, tiny bite sized pieces makes it much more appetizing and appealing to get started. Again, looking at the big project and learning, and practicing how to break it down is a skill for a lifetime!

   Your Space is Disorganized: Oh, this one I LOVE because parents have almost 100% control. Create a homework space, clear table, in the communal part of the house, a few supplies near them, easy to access and fun to put away. I like to have an open shelf and closed cabinet for each kid near the homework area - they could easily shove things on the shelf, and I could easily stow them behind closed doors. Win and win. Homework and screens are best kept out of bedrooms. We all sleep better without our responsibilities looming over us or that darn blue light and social media to keep us awake.

3. Consider that procrastinating is about protecting and controlling our emotions. Take a minute to read, Why You Procrastinate (It Has Nothing to Do With Self-Control). “Procrastination isn’t a unique character flaw or a mysterious curse on your ability to manage time, but a way of coping with challenging emotions and negative moods induced by certain tasks — boredom, anxiety, insecurity, frustration, resentment, self-doubt and beyond.” Self-Compassions and forgiveness is the quickest path out of the weeds of procrastination. (Makes our shaming parental lectures, that haven’t worked yet, seem even more futile). “In fact, several studies show that self-compassion supports motivation and personal growth.” We can lead our kids here by asking compassionate, curiosity questions - “That project seems large and unwieldy, did you do anything similar last year?” or “I wonder how you will feel going to sleep tonight if you get 4 paragraphs done?”

Watching kids procrastinate can be painful, especially if we have struggled (or currently do struggle) with procrastination ourselves. It’s so easy to spot it when you got it! Remember, nagging or shaming relieves our anxiety in the short term, but the price we pay is a diminished relationship with our beloved child and usually undone homework. Experiment with any/all of these tips and see if stuff gets done AND the relationship flourishes.

Getting Kids to LISTEN to US!

There ARE ways to communicate so kids will LISTEN

FIVE Down and Dirty Tips to Getting Our Kids to Listen to US!

1. Talk at their eye level, in a normal tone of voice, giving short and reasonable commands. Transform YELLING at kids to brush their teeth to going to the child, bending down, looking in their eye (without being pissed) and say, “Teeth”. I know, I know it feeeellllsssss longer to do this, but start tracking how many times you say, “Brush your teeth, how MANY times do I have to tell you.” and I bet this respectful communication SAVES you time in the long run.

2. Ditch, “I need you to . . . . “ and replace it with “Everyone may be quiet.” or “We’ll be on our way once seat belts are on.” or “ Quiet voices are required in the library.” — “I need you to . . . “ often INVITES a power struggle.

3. Say it once and make it so. Again, this takes action and effort on our part. I agree, in the short term this is a huge bummer. In the long term it saves our kids from being accidentally trained that we only mean business after several repeated requests and then the final yelling command.

4. Apologize first. When we want to change a bad habit - if we start with our part of the problem we often find kids are all ears. “I’m sorry I’ve been yelling and nagging at you to get out of bed, it must be awful to start the day with such negativity.” “I’m sorry, I’ve been inconsistent and a little crazy with the screen limits.” “I apologize, I’ve been treating you like a much younger child then you are, doing your laundry when you are 14 is disrespectful.” Do you feel your kids ears perking up already!

5. Listen. Ugh . . . it’s the most resisted parenting tool, listening! And yet, when we take the time to listen to our kids, and listen compassionately (but not permissively) we will find that they are more likely to listen to us in return.

Where IS The Magic?

“Inspiration does exist but it must find you working.” Pablo Picasso

All that stuff you’ve been avoiding . . . the paper work, the de-cluttering, the training your child to make his lunch, do her laundry, drive the car you AIN’T never gonna feel like doing it. Ever. Never. Not in a million years. Let’s all just STOP waiting for the inspiration to feel like doing the stuff we’ve been avoiding.

Inspiration will bubble UP from the working. It’s a mind bender, it’s a game changer, it’s the NO EXCUSES zone. Well, you can keep all your excuses, “I’m too tired.” “I don’t feel like it.” “I don’t know how.” “Someone else should do it.” Keep ‘em, AND do the dreaded task anyway, AND here are a couple tips.

Don’t obsess over the final destination. Look in the distance, squint your eyes, start MOVING. Movement feeds your brain. We all try to THINK our way out of situations. Think a little, move a little, learn a lot.

Start with today – some of us spend a lot of time analyzing our problems, the WHY of the procrastination – the deep seeded issues, the angst, the theory when really we might get further setting our timer for 10 minutes and doing something.

Go ahead and quit, but start again. Re-frame quitting as resting, or re-grouping. If all you have done is taken a rest, it’s much easier to get back in the game rather than having to berate yourself as a quitter

We will get to the magic of our projects by doing our projects.

I’m here for you! Email me if you want any help. I mean it.

Anxiety!

Worrying, or anxiety gone rogue, can eat up A LOT of time!

Anxiety! We all feel it. Our kids are feeling it more and more. As a life long anxiety sufferer/thriver I’ve come to understand that mild anxiety can have so much to teach: life skills, self-management, nutritional awareness, motivation to exercise and the need & practice to ask for help. Anxiety is here to stay and it behooves us to address it head on.

 1. First, we can change our mindset about anxiety. Anxiety, like anger, is a normal human emotion and cannot/should not be eradicated – lest you throw out the baby with the bathwater. Consider that kissing cousins of anxiety are:  excitement, anticipation, planning, avoiding truly dangerous situations, listening to our inner wisdom. These feelings/skills are anxiety feelings that haven’t gone sour yet. Imagine, we don’t need personality transplants to tame the beast. Once our mindset around anxiety is cleaned up and we aren’t victimized by it, or afraid of it, but we open up our arms to it we then can find some energy, space and creativity to move anxiety up and out of ourselves (so it doesn’t curdle and go sour into fear, avoidance, panic).

2. Anxiety can be GREATLY reduced by the following: limiting screens, diminishing sugar, deleting comparisons, regular outdoor activity, a meditation practice, a work-out regime, regular playtime with our anxious kids that is physical and joyful, a daily 10 minute dose of writing down what is making us anxious (it’s amazing when you do this and you review it regularly how many things consistently DO NOT happen and thus release us from having to worry about it so much), journaling, more green vegetables, less processed food, eating at regular/predictable times. WHAT on this list sounds like it’s bad for you? What on this list will make you feel worse?

I understand, the list makes us anxious because we all know we spend too much time on screens, eat too much sugar, are over caffeinated, need more outdoor time, a workout routine. It’s those darn simple solutions that aren’t easy. I understand so the third tip I offer is a list of my current favorite resources!

3. Anxiety Resource for more information

·       If your little one has anxiety: The Opposite of Worry, Lawrence Cohen

·      If your tween/teen has anxiety: Crazy|Stressed, Dr. Michael Bradley

·      If you are anxious: The Worry Cure, Robert Leahy

·      If your family is overwhelmed: Simplicity Parenting, Kim John Payne

Sign up for the weekly Nifty Tip and/or check out my event page at www.paigetrevor.com/events or email me at paigetrevor@mac.com to see upcoming events.

Effective Parenting Through Mindset

Mindset is a VERY powerful parenting tool.

One overlooked tool in our parenting toolbox is learning HOW we think about parenting (and our kids and ourselves). When we are aware of our current thinking, a.k.a. mindset , we can then start tweaking, transforming and revising it to create a happier, healthier and more harmonious family life based in reality. (Reality is a VERY under-used parenting tool!)

Who is in charge of who? We are in charge and can change only one person in the entire universe - ourselves (even if we try super duper hard, and even if we are so, so, SO righteously right!). When we truly embody the KNOWING we are only in charge of only ourselves, we focus on our own lives, our own limits and our own values. We stop trying to entice, bribe, shame or punish our child into being different from who they are today. We conserve our energy to be the parent we want to be, and SEE the actual child we live with.

Why do I feel so strongly? When we are overly involved with our kids, we are well served to think to ourselves, “WHY am I so worked up?”. When our kids lives take on a life of their own in our heads, we can bet we have hit a spot RIPE for personal growth.

WHY does their hair matter so much to us? WHAT is the 4 AP classes – all with A grades to prove about us? HOW is them being out and socializing every Saturday night going to fix our own middle-school loneliness?

Our emotions can lead us to personal growth, but our mindset that our OVERemotionality is our own immaturity guides us back to. . . we are only in charge and can change ourselves.

I know what’s best for them! We are NOT ever an expert on anyone else. I remember so CLEARLY being a new Parent Educator with the Parent Encouragement Program (PEP), sitting in a leader meeting sharing problems from our classes. OH MY GOSH, back in the day, I had an ANSWER for EVERYTHING. I was sure, with only 2 sentences that I could diagnose and SOLVE the problem. However, I noticed the MOST experienced PEP Leaders took a different tact, they asked for more information – they lead with curiosity questions and then, in their wisdom – they offered up a variety of solutions. I also noticed they used very little blame, very little shame and high dosages of compassion. Revolutionary!

Where is our mindset getting in the way? Where do we keep trying to control? Where do we feel so strongly we can’t stop thinking about it? How can we focus being the expert on ourselves instead of forcing our opinions on them?

Check out this Washington Parent article for more insights on parenting mindset shift.

*This blog was inspired by a quick conversation I had with PEP’s Executive Director, Kathy Hedge - so stay tuned for more information on a possible Parenting Mindset Shift Webinar!

3 Ways to Get Your Kids to LISTEN To You!

Communication . . . a life long relationship tool!

Looking for a new parenting tool to deal with conflict, upset and drama? Are you tired of saying the same thing over and over? Here are a few new communication techniques to calm you down, mix-it up, get you thinking and create the change you are hoping for.

 Transform

FROM: “It’s time to wake up. I’ve told you a 1,000,000 times. Get up, get up, get UP! We are going to be so late . . . again!”

TO: “I am willing to come upstairs once in the morning to make sure you have woken up to your alarm clock. I am unwilling to nag or yell at you anymore.” Consider offering anyone 6 and over $25 to buy an alarm clock of their choosing (not their phone, not their phone, NOT their phone!). Offer it this way, “I’m really sorry, I’ve been treating you disrespectfully – nagging and yelling every morning, it must be really discouraging to start the day with so much negativity?” Kids will certainly be much more interested in what we have to say if we begin with a heartfelt apology, and sincere acknowledgement of our contribution to the problem.

Transform

FROM: “Put your dirty clothes in the laundry bin! It’s not that hard.”

TO: “I am unwilling to buy any more clothes until the current clothes in your room are reliably picked up once a week. I am willing to help you tidy every Sunday at 4pm if you’d like my help. I promise to help and not lecture and advise.” Consider training anyone 11 or over to do their own laundry. Be sure the laundry basket is where the kids like to take off their clothes, not necessarily where it looks best to you. Laundry baskets with lids are subliminally asking kids to chuck their clothes on the floor.

Transform

FROM: “I need you to put your shoes on.”  

TO: “The car is leaving in 10 minutes, what do you need to be ready to go?” (pssst . . . if you live with anyone 5 and over, they KNOW they need their shoes on, do NOT waste your precious life energy on repeating things people know.) Or – with a friendly smile, point to your shod feet. Or reach out to them and walk them to their shoes (nary a word is necessary). AND de-clutter your launching area (front hall, mud room, tiny nook by the most used door) to support shoes on – only 1 to 2 pairs of seasonally and fashion appropriate shoes per person are in that area.

When we have something important to communicate our children will be MORE likely to receive our messages if we: speak quietly, in a normal tone of voice, at their eye level. Communicating effectively takes a lot of practice, skill and patience. Mutually respectful communication is a relationship building tool and worth our while.

Follow me on Twitter: @BalancingAct_DC, https://twitter.com/BalancingAct_DC

Check out my event page at www.paigetrevor.com/events or email me at paigetrevor@mac.com to see upcoming events.  

Not making much progress on your New Year resolution?

 Wish things at home went differently? Not enough time to get it all done or have a hard time prioritizing?

We all have things we want to start or stop doing in life. We work hard to reach our goals, but too often we go it alone hoping that or personal will-power will be enough to get us the results we want. When this doesn’t work, we end up stuck—disappointed or resigned to the way things are. It doesn’t have to be this way! Research shows that caring and supportive group work increases your chance of developing new habits and behaviors faster than you would without it.

 So, we have joined forces for our clients! Parenting Coach and Certified Parent Educator Suzanne Ritter and Professional Organizer and Certified Parent Educator Paige Trevor will facilitate discussion, share knowledge, tips, inspiration and ideas for both quick wins and long-term sustainable change. And, you will help each other make it all work! If you’re serious about reaching a professional or personal goal, improving a relationship or your parenting, or creating a new habit, this exclusive series is for you!

 Register Here

$449 for the entire series!

Series includes:

·      4 Monthly in person roundtable sessions* and 2 recorded Zoom support sessions**

·      Goal setting support with buddy help (book optional***)

·      Teaching in Time Management and Time Mapping and Positive Parenting skills

·      Listserv communication and tips

·      Discounts on individual coaching

*In-person seminars on Mondays from 7:30 to 9:00 pm (90 minutes each) at IGNITE Good Health in Bethesda: 3/25, 4/25, 5/20, and 6/10

**Zoom calls on Thursdays from 8 to 9 pm (60 minutes each): 4/18 and 5/9 (you can watch it later if you can’t make the call)

Contact Suzanne Ritter (sritter@the360parent.com) or Paige Trevor (balacingactLLC@me.com) for questions and monthly payment options.

Wait! Let Me Say That Again

Enjoy this 18 minute podcast on how to change how we speak so we can change up how we parent.

For More Information & Inspiration

Shhhh . . . Listen, Up!  You guys, listening IS communication!

To Change the Walk, Start with the Talk: No, not "THE Talk." Examine how the way we talk, how we phrase things, our tone of voice and even our intentions can impact our parenting and relationships.

BOOKS & ARTICLES

Letting Go with Love and Confidence: For parents of tweens & teens, Ken Ginsburg gives sound advice and clear language on how to communicate with your child over a myriad of typical tween/teen behavior.

How To Talk So Kids Will Listen: A classic parenting book with communication at its core.

Duct Tape Parenting: My number one, go-to parenting book by the amazingly wise Vicki Hoefle.

VIDEO

Wendy Mogel: 10 ways to communicate NO to your child, with respect (and a teeny bit of Wendy Mogel’s irreverent humor).

Dr. Mike Bradley: Communicating with teenagers.