|
|
Clean Your House in Half the Time!
When cleaning your house, the first thing you need to do is to find a supply and tool apron. (gardening apron works well) The apron should contain several large, deep pockets. In these pockets, you will keep your cleaning supplies .... (glass...
More than Mom and Dad
Love, love, love. It makes the world go round. It makes a family. So why does it seem the moment you have a baby, love, or at least your love life as you know it, goes right up in a cloud of baby powder? Let’s face it, you’re tired, you’re...
The Courage to Be a Loving Parent
Most of us really don’t like it when someone is angry at us. We don’t like it when people go into resistance to helping us when we need help, instead of caring about us. We don’t like it when people withdraw from us, disconnecting from us and...
The Shoemaker and the Brat
At seventeen years old, I was a brat. A mixture of innocence, immaturity and righteousness. And I carried that attitude with me everywhere, including my trip to the shoemaker. Now, to understand why something as simple as a trip to the shoemaker...
Will the Angels Abandon Us?
If we don't behave according to a specific church's doctrine, will our guardian angels turn their backs on us? If we are struggling with our overall belief in God or we're questioning the validity of the holy books, will the angels abandon us? ...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Stop 'Shoulding' on Yourself: Parenting Without Resentment
Parenting extroverted children sure can be exhausting for an introvert. Constant noise, questions, chatter. No room in my head to hear myself think. Actually, now that my kids are finally in bed, and I CAN hear myself think, I realize that I’ve been having problems setting boundaries lately.
When I have a project to complete or an email to write or a phone call to make, I haven’t been remembering to just say so and declare a certain amount of uninterrupted time for myself. Instead, I try to write with one hand and help with homework with the other. And all I get is tired. It didn’t occur to me before tonight how exhausting it is to fragment my attention.
Or maybe it did, and I just forgot.
Hey, it happens!
Anyway, right on cue, just as I was sitting here writing this, my daughter showed up at the top of the stairs. I had tucked her in an hour earlier, and frankly I was pretty ready to be done with parenting for the night. She whined that she couldn’t get comfortable in her bed.
If this had been one of my well-rested and nurturing moments, I might have remembered that there was a big event at school the next day and she was nervous about it. I probably would have gone into her room for a while and helped her settle down.
But it wasn’t one of those moments. So I told her in as neutral and loving of a voice as I could muster, “Do the best you can. I know you’ll be fine. I’ll see you in the morning.” The second the words left my mouth I felt guilty, but I was just too wiped out to do anything with my guilt. She slouched back to her room, and I didn’t hear from her again.
… until breakfast the next morning. At which point I was well-rested again, so I checked in with her about what was going on the night before. She told me her
blankets were all twisted up and she couldn’t fit her feet into her bed. My guilt delivered its verdict with the pound of the gavel ... BAD MOTHER! But in the next breath she set me free.
“Mom, I didn’t know what to do until you helped me. You told me to do the best I could. So I went back upstairs and I figured out how to fix it, and I fell right to sleep.”
And she was serious!
Wow. All that guilt for nothing!! Turns out that she was fine. Even better than fine — my exhaustion and unwillingness to exert effort on her behalf actually facilitated her accessing her inner resources.
The moral of the story: Take care of yourself first, and everything else falls into balance. Don’t let the voice of guilt entice you into overextending yourself on behalf of your kids. Sometimes, the very best thing you can do is refuse to help them, especially if doing so is going to cost you more than you can cheerfully give.
Helping a child while feeling resentment does her no favor in the long run! Take care of your own needs first. Go for a walk, take a nap ... do whatever you need to do to get yourself feeling full, happy, and generous again before you engage with your kids. The gifts that you share with your family from your state of fulfillment are the ones that truly nourish and sustain them.
Copyright 2005 Karen Alonge
About The Author
Karen Alonge is an intuitive life coach and parenting mentor with 20 years of experience helping families with all types of challenges. She offers consultations by phone, email, and IM. Clients often notice dramatic changes in their daily experience after only one session. Please visit http://www.karenalonge.com for more information.
|
|
|
|
|
Pregnancy | Baby | Child | Mom | Advice Tips & Resources for ... |
Parenting magazine has everything you need to raise a happy, healthy family. Get expert advice on child development, the best in baby names, our pregnancy ... |
www.parenting.com |
  |
Pregnancy & Parenting: For Today's Mom - iVillage |
From trying to conceive through your child's teen years, iVillage Pregnancy & Parenting offers up-to-date and informative articles, features, expert advice ... |
parenting.ivillage.com |
  |
Parenting.org – Help and guidance for parents! |
Answers questions about parenting and has resources for better parenting. |
www.parenting.org |
  |
Parents |
Expert advice about pregnancy, your kids, your life, and family time from the editors of Parents magazine. |
www.parents.com |
  |
BBC - Parenting |
Practical solutions to help with the challenges of everyday parenting - including expert advice as well as tips from other mums and dads. |
www.bbc.co.uk |
  |
Parenting, Pregnancy,Conception, Babynames - Parenthood.com |
Information regarding parenthood and parenting. Find the meanings of Baby names and useful articles on parenting. |
www.parenthood.com |
  |
Parenting advice, child development and family reference at ... |
FamilyEducation.com provides parents with educational printables, games, activities, parenting ideas, tips, family advice, and information on learning ... |
www.familyeducation.com |
  |
MedlinePlus: Parenting |
From the National Institutes of Health; Adventures in Parenting (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development) ... |
www.nlm.nih.gov |
  |
The National Parenting Center |
Support site for parenting. Dedicated to providing parents with comprehensive and responsible guidance from the world's most renowned child-rearing ... |
www.tnpc.com |
  |
About - Parenting & Family |
Parenting advice from moms and dads who know what's up. Whether your babies are still actual infants, or about to enter college, our Guides will give you ... |
about.com |
  |
Positive Parenting - Main Menu |
Debbie Critzer Positive Parenting is dedicated to providing resources and info rmation ... Welcome to Positive Parenting online! For our long-time readers, ... |
www.positiveparenting.com |
  |
Parenting Tips and Information on Baby Care and Pregnancy. |
This parenting and baby care resource center offers essential pregnancy, baby care and development information, tips, and articles. |
www.parenttime.com |
  |
Parenting, Children's Health and Education, Family Crafts and ... |
Parenting, Children, and Families - ParentCenter is the most trusted online resource for parents of young kids. ParentCenter offers free weekly newsletters, ... |
parentcenter.babycenter.com |
  |
Parenting - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
The term "child training" implies a specific type of parenting that focuses on ... Parenting measures can also be observational, such as the Parent-Child ... |
en.wikipedia.org |
  |
Today's Parent |
At Todaysparent.com you'll find a parenting community to call your own, with a library of information on all the ages and stages of your growing family, ... |
www.todaysparent.com |
  |
Indian Parenting - The Definitive Guide |
Comprehensive website for Indian parents with topics ranging from pregnancy to raising children, including articles on infertility, health and medicine, ... |
www.indiaparenting.com |
  |
Exceptional Parent Magazine - Eparent.com - parenting those with ... |
Magazine for parents of children or young adults with disabilities. Includes reports, forum, products links, books. |
www.eparent.com |
  |
Parenting: information, advice and support from toddler to teenage |
Parenting advice, information and support to help you with your family, from toddler to teens. |
www.ivillage.co.uk |
  |
Parenting-QA.com - Parenting Questions and Answers For Parents in ... |
All parents have questions about their children’s behavior, growth, and development. The challenges of parenting seem never-ending and constantly evolving. |
www.parenting-qa.com |
  |
Parenting Teens - Troubled Teen Help Information. |
Information for parents of teens, including troubled teens, parenting tips, teen education, and more. |
www.parentingteens.com |
  |
|