Category: featured

I Hated Mother’s Day!!

Mother’s Day is almost here and for the next few weeks, I want to talk about it. Let’s begin the conversation with me telling you that I used to HATE Mother’s Day. Really, I hated it. I would sit in church or with groups of other mothers and hear stories about mom’s who never yelled, always said the right things, attended every baseball game, loved camping, liked playing with their kids, were affectionate and nurturing, didn’t yell if someone threw up in the car…I was not that mom.

I wanted to be that mom but I wasn’t. I frequently said or did the wrong thing. I wasn’t always nurturing, comforting or there and I didn’t like to play. I had already yelled so I was out of that competition. And baseball, yuck, I hated baseball.

It took me many years to learn how to stop yelling; to learn to hug more often, to go to sporting events, and to just be quiet and listen. I had to learn a lot of skills that I didn’t have when I started out. Sometimes coming to a realization that there was a skill I lacked was the challenge.

As far as parenting goes, I thought it was as simple as picking a good man and having a passel of kids. It never occurred to me that it would be useful to have some type of plan, to learn new skills, to be clear that things don’t always work out the way you think they should and that people, even kids, get to decide how they want their lives to look and feel. It was sometimes a jolting and unnerving experience.

I have frequently joked with my family that NOTHING turned out how I thought it would. That happens to be more truth and less joke.

However, I do not hate Mother’s Day anymore. I embrace it! I love Mother’s Day. It’s a day on which I celebrate the fact that I am a mom. I have a family and we are OK. My children love me very much, despite all my mistakes and lack. My husband is happy with how things turned out and so am I.

I may not be the mom that gets talked about in church or at the ladies luncheon, but I am the mom who raised this family of seven happy, healthy, kind, and good people. I am the mom who learned a great deal and made some valuable changes. I am content with that.

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY to all you mom’s who sit in church or at lunch with other mom’s and feel less than. NOW STOP IT. Stop comparing yourself to other mothers. Stop judging yourself harshly. Stop believing that somehow you are failing your family.

Take my word for it, that it is wasted energy. Instead, celebrate the fact that you are a mother, that you are doing the best you can, and that you do have good desires in your heart for your family. Then get more education. Learn something new. Practice a skill you need and don’t quit till you are reasonably good at it. Be proactive. Mentor with a mom who is where you want to be. Keep working on yourself. Keep loving your family. Keep going!

What you will learn is what I learned while actively parenting children in my home for 39 years – you will learn you can grow and change, your children will love you despite your weaknesses and lack and, yes, in the end, it will all be OK.

What thoughts can you adjust for a more satisfying Mother’s Day?

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY

 

Teach, Practice, Be Present

Ben, the new music reader

You know, it’s so easy to teach things to children. Every day there are ordinary opportunities to teach. This last Sunday, Ben, who is six, picked up the hymn book and was trying to sing. He’s in kindergarten and is a fabulous reader. But he couldn’t figure out how to follow the words. So I took my finger and I began pointing to each word. I watched him read and sing. It was thrilling for him because he loves to read, likes music and was fascinated by how the sentences move from line to line, each verse underneath the one before. It was the world of music that he got to step into on Sunday and he was so happy about it.

I was reminded how wonderful it is to learn something new, to have the fogginess of not knowing lifted. That’s especially poignant for me right now because I am working on learning some new things – what a hashtag is and how to use one, how Instagram works and what can be done on the phone besides make a call. : )

Getting on the other side of something that you don’t know how to do is a wonderful process and when you help someone else do it, it’s rewarding.

Roxy, Danni, Gabby and Victoria

Many Sundays ago I had the same wonderful experience I had with Ben with four other young children. I took these neighborhood children to church with me each week – Gaby, 6, Roxy, 5, Danni, 2 and Kyle, 4.

They, like Ben, wanted to understand how to read the music and sing along. I showed them where the hymn numbers for the day were posted. Then each Sunday one of them would ask just as we sat down in the pew, “So the first hymn is 1-2-6?” “Yes, and that is said page one hundred and twenty-six.”

Next, I showed them how to find a page higher than 30 when that was as high as they knew how to count. “First find a page with a 1 as the first number. Good. Now you need to find a page with a one and a two at the beginning. See this page has a one and a three. Oops, you have gone too far. Go back some pages. Look this page has a 1 and a 2 and an 8. You’re almost there. Good job!” Isn’t it wonderful all of the learning that was going on – naming numbers, counting, sequencing, patterns, as well as learning something spiritual as we sang together?

For the next 100+ Sundays, I would go through this ritual three times each Sunday morning – opening song, rest song, and closing song. That gave us a lot of time to practice learning the names of larger numbers, remembering what they look like and how to find a hymn in the hymnal.

Gabby, Roxy, Kyle

By the time Gabby was 8, she could find any hymn in the book and could say the number correctly. Roxy at seven could find any hymn in the book given enough time and she could say most of the numbers correctly. Kyle at 6 was just starting to find the numbers, that is when he was motivated to do so. : ) Danny at four was beginning to notice that everyone else seemed to know something she didn’t. She had begun to pick up a hymnal and ask for help. By this time I didn’t really need to help her because the bigs were capable of doing it. I watched them help her find the page and then point out where on the page we were singing.

This wasn’t just a valuable exercise in learning how to find a page and sing a song. Gabby had to work extra hard with reading and it was challenging to get her to read at home. However, on Sunday she would move her finger along with each word, staying right where she should be for the most part. I could see her lips moving as she tried to read the words. She missed many because music moves quickly but she got more of them each Sunday. There are a lot of strategies to teach reading but making it part of life was working for Gabby.

For Roxy reading came more easily and she missed only the really big words. However, I noticed that although she was singing all the words she couldn’t stay with the music. She was singing each line as you would read a sentence so she was always ahead.

“Roxy, do you see that little black dot? It means the word is sung for a short time. Do you see that little white circle? Well, that means you sing the word for a longer time. I demonstrated what I meant. Love vs. loooove. As we sang I pointed to each word or syllable and said long, short, short, short, short, long, and so forth.

Those 100+ Sunday singing, reading, and pre-math lessons were fun for me and the kids. This last Sunday it was fun watching Ben go through the same process.

Every day we do many ordinary things but they are opportunities to teach children what they may find difficult to learn in more formal settings – reading labels at the store and looking for pricing, buying gas and counting as the meter turns, counting out tithing for Sunday, reading a newspaper headline along with dad.

But this isn’t just about teaching kids important skills such as counting, reading or singing. It’s about parents practicing being Present. All those Sundays I had to be Present during singing time. I had to see what was happening. Who was lost, who didn’t understand, who was successful? I had to pay attention. Using ordinary moments of daily living to teach is valuable practice for us as we learn to be more Present parents.

As you pay attention to teaching your children in the everyday moments you will begin to learn how to be a more Present Parent despite the busy-ness of life. The fogginess will lift and you will experience more and more success. And that extra practice will pay huge dividends in your relationship with your kids. It’s wonderful to learn something new, to have the fogginess of not knowing lifted.

What have you been able to begin teaching your children in this new year?

 

If you like this post, please share it with your community by using one of the social share buttons.

Words Are Powerful!

 

Words are powerful. They can make us feel worthy or worthless, beautiful or ugly, they can empower or destroy. Words can move people to action or cause resistance.

Yesterday morning when I woke up I said to myself, “Ugh, I am so tired. I just want to sleep. All I have waiting for me is work.” It was difficult to get myself out of bed.

This morning I woke up at the same early hour but my first words were,” Man, I need to get hopping. I have a ton of projects I want to do today.” Before I knew it I was up and in the bathroom brushing my teeth. Can I say that the projects I had waiting for me were the very same ones that hadn’t gotten finished from the day before, the same work.

What we say and how we say it impacts ourselves and others.

Last week I talked about getting kids to buy in to what we want them to do by making the mundane and everyday special. Another way to get kids to buy in is to use words well.

Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) practitioner Alicia Eaton says that by understanding the power of language parents can get their children do almost anything without yelling, bribing, or threatening. In her book How To Get Kids To Do Almost Anything, she reminds readers that the words we use matter and so does the structure of what we say. “We use negative talk and then we’re surprised when our children don’t do what we want them to,” Eaton says.

Here are a few tips for using words and phrases that will get your kids to buy in more often.

 

1. Say what you want and not what you don’t want

A friend of mine, Bob Nicoll, wrote about the power of words in getting people to take certain actions in his book Remember The Ice. His passion was reminding people to say what you want and not what you don’t want.

• Don’t leave a mess. vs Clean up when you’re done, please.
• You have to stop being late for school vs Let’s get our bikes and see if we can be early for school today.

2. Allow choice

• Put your shirt on, were late for church. vs Which shirt will you wear today, the blue or the red.
• What do you want to do first, put away the blocks or pick up the books?

3. Make words and phrases positive

• Let’s leave the room tidy and put all the Lego away. vs You guys clean up this mess and put those Lego’s away.
• Keep the paint on your paper, OK. Vs Don’t make a mess.

Recently a mom said to me, “When I want my children to clean up after themselves I say, “Put away your project rather than put away your mess.” Isn’t that brilliant! I mean, who wants to clean up a mess. But putting away an important project, well now, that’s a horse of a different color.

4. Speak as if they have already bought in.

• When you get your room done we will have a snack.
• When we get done picking up the living room we’ll go for a walk.

5. Try saying thanks at the beginning rather than at the end.

• Please put your shoes in the closet. Thanks for helping.
• Can you help me sweep the walk? I appreciate your help.

Using words well generates positive energy and feelings. The more positive the words the better chance for the outcome we want. Using words positively and well is a skill. Skills can be learned. We do it by practicing and remembering that simple things, done consistently over time, bring BIG results.

Have an experience using the power of words? Please share. We would all love to know!

If you like this post, please share it with your community by using one of the social share buttons.

Can Chores Ever Be Fun?

Spring is here and one of the things that we may want our family to buy into is ‘Spring Cleaning’. That begs the question, can cleaning ever be fun?

I love the principle “Make it Special” because it adds more joy to the ordinary and mundane things in life. It works at bedtime, family night, family dates, vacations, bath time, having a meaningful conversation with a spouse, in many ways. If you want your family to buy into a system, activity or even chores, then make it special. When something is special, meaning it doesn’t happen every day, or when the everyday is managed in an extraordinary way, people want to be involved.

When our family members  ‘buy-in’ to an activity or family project they feel ownership and they tend to give more of themselves to it. As a parent, when it comes to getting kids to help with chores, that can be very valuable.

Let’s face it, most of life is mundane. So if we can add some fun and build some enthusiasm, then it’s a win-win. Our kids have fun, and we get a bit more of what we want, in this case, chores done.

Six Ways to Make Chores Seem Like Family FUN!

1. Plan to have snacks and drinks on hand. Play some up-tempo music to keep everyone’s energy level up. Let everyone in on the fun. Preschoolers enjoy helping with cleanup and can easily dust lampshades, books, and tabletops, or line up CDs. Let an older child help a younger child for more difficult tasks.

2. What about those messy dresser drawers? Give children badges marked Clothes Drawer Inspector. Have the children sort all the clothes looking for anything too small, out of season or in poor shape or torn. Have ice cream on the way to donate anything you aren’t keeping. (You will see this ice cream reward being used more than once. I LOVE ice cream)

3. Do your bookshelves need a good dusting? Give everyone a shelf and a time limit. Now race to see who can remove the books, dust the shelves and put the books back on the shelf within the time limit. Whoever makes it gets a cool summer activity page. (I did this game with my grandchildren. I had a pile of about 60 activity sheets of all kinds printed free from the internet. They loved it and couldn’t wait to choose one. We did a number of jobs with the timer, and they got a page after each job. They kept them in a colored file until we were done working and then they were free to work on their sheets. Can you imagine that on a non-school day a worksheet can be used as a reward!!)

4. Make a “to-do” list that’s clever and inspiring. Try a tongue-in-cheek menu of spring-cleaning tasks, and let your child decide which jobs to tackle by ordering from it. Put the list on your refrigerator.

  • For example, Surf and Turf: Clean the garage, organize sports equipment, hose off boogie boards and surfboards, inflate basketballs and beach balls, and rake the lawn.
  • Hot Tamales: Clean the stovetop, dust the radiators and empty the crumbs from the toaster.
  • High Tea: Banish cobwebs from the ceilings, replace burned-out light bulbs, and dust the chandeliers.

5. If there is a lot of laundry to fold, hide a prize in a sock and see who finds it. You can also do this with a room by hiding a prize in a hard to clean spot. These can be inexpensive items from the dollar store or even small amounts of money. You can also use coupons for a trip to the park, etc.

6. What about those everyday chores that each person is assigned to do? As a family, determine how much time you think it will take everyone to get their assigned chore done, 30 minutes, an hour. Now set the timer and play “Beat the Clock”. If someone finishes early, they can help someone else. They will want to do this because you have designed a reward for the family if they can “Beat the Clock”. Maybe it’s their favorite pie for dessert, maybe a trip to get ice cream, or a family movie, a walk to the park or a drive to see grandma.

You won’t do this every day or every time your family has work to do but I can guarantee that if you throw in a bit of fun every now and then your family will be more willing to participate. In fact, just the other day I was in charge of my grandchildren and decided that we ought to clean the living room. There were groans all around and then Jack said, “Grandma put on the music.” They have this fun thing down!

What do you do to make chores and family work special at your house? We would all love to know!

 

If you like this post, please share it with your community by using one of the social share buttons.

Words Carry Enormous Weight

Who Wears Shoes TOO Big?

My daughter Kate wore shoes that were a size too big for many years after she became a teenager. I didn’t realize she was doing that. In fact, she was married before I found out. Her husband found out first and he called her on it.

“Why do you buy shoes that are a size too big”, he asked her. She replied that she had big feet and needed a bigger size. Well, eventually the whole story came out.

She doesn’t really have big feet. She wears the same size that I do, a respectable eight. But one day when she was a child her dad said something that impacted her for years.

We were hiking and she had climbed a tree. Kate was about eight or nine. She lifted her foot and set it on a branch. Her dad made what seemed like an innocent comment, “Hey Big Foot”. The rest is history. She computed that to mean that she had big feet.

I Believed I WAS Fat!

When I was about eight my grandma said something that impacted me for all of my childhood and many years into my adulthood. She owned a Sweet Shop in Afton, Wyoming. I loved going there and she would let me work the candy counter and bag popcorn.

We grandkids could have lots of nickel and penny candy but we were never allowed to have chocolate bars because they cost a quarter. One day, before I had all the unspoken rules down, I asked her if I could have a Twix bar. I had never had one and they seemed so wonderful up on the highest shelf. She said, “No, do you want to get fat.” Another pretty innocent comment but here is what I heard and believed for many years…”You are fat”.

The TRUTH is I Have Beautiful Eyes!!!

Not only did I begin believing I was fat, I believed that I must be really unattractive because I was fat. But when I was seventeen I was at the home of a woman who was doing some alterations on a dress for me. Her husband told me that I had the most beautiful brown eyes. I know that it seems incredible because I didn’t even know the man, but I believed him. I had beautiful eyes! Even now at 65, when I look into the mirror I think to myself, “Man, you have beautiful eyes.”

Pigs or Pigsty…That Was the Question

When I was a middle-aged mom, with six of my seven children, I came down the stairs one day to the sight of a totally cluttered living room. As I gazed out over the room and the many children playing there I said, “This room is a pigsty”. Many years later, when my oldest child was in her late thirties we were having a conversation about moms and how they should talk to their children. I made the comment that although I wasn’t perfect I at least never called anyone names. My daughter looked at me in astonishment and said, “yes you did”. I, equally astonished, asked her to tell me when. She replied, “Well, one day you came down the stairs and you said, “You are such pigs!”

Wow, talk about two different views of the same experience. We talked about it. What we both realized is that children hear what they hear and we just need to be careful what we say, because children don’t always hear the words…they hear the feeling.

It is not just children that hear a comment and then believe it. It isn’t just the young that are affected by what is said to them. Let me illustrate. I will have to tell on myself a bit, but for the sake of emphasis, I will do it. : )

The SATISFYING Laugh, Ahhh!

My youngest daughter is married to a really wonderful man. We like him a lot and frankly, he thinks we are great too. Recently I was talking to my daughter on the phone and she said something that made me laugh.

I have to stop here and say something about my laugh. It is distinctive and it can be loud. I have a witch laugh that is legendary and on Halloween I am called upon to do it a lot. Frequently, during the year, a grandchild will say, “Grandma do the witch laugh.” Now all of my laughter isn’t witchy but that just lets you know it is distinctive and sometimes loud. I have always been a bit self conscious about it.

Back to the phone conversation. I laughed and I heard my son in law say something in the back ground. “Mom, Brady said he likes your laugh.” That was such an odd comment that I asked her “Why?” She asked him and then came back on line and said, “He said it is satisfying.” Isn’t that the most amazing thing to have someone say?

Here is what has happened from that chance comment. Every time I laugh I think to myself, “That is so satisfying.” I am no longer self conscious, but pleased.

Our words can be very powerful for both good and bad. We need to be thoughtful in how we talk to our children and others, about their strengths and their weaknesses, because sometimes what we say can impact them for decades.

In all of our teaching and interactions with our children, we should be kind.

In all of our teaching and interactions with our children, we should be kind. Kind words not only lift our spirits in the moment they are given, but they can linger with us over the years. The same is true of the off hand or unkind chance remark. We would do well to ask ourselves questions such as these:  “Is what I am about to say going to uplift the hearer? Will it inspire, motivate, and create forward momentum for them? Will it dissolve fear and create safety and trust? Will I create a positive or negative ripple effect by speaking out these words?” Harness the Power of Words By Barbara White

What has been said that has lifted you, buoyed you up, helped you learn or made you feel good about yourself? I, for one, would like to know. I encourage you to leave a comment. : ) 

If you like this post and it would bring joy to a friend pass it on using the social share buttons.

 

Read to your Children this Easter

I recall an Easter when I was a girl. There were nine of us children and my mom and dad lived on a shoestring. This particular year my mom couldn’t afford baskets and so she made a nest of Easter Grass (very cheap) for each of us. To make it more exciting she hid the nests all over the house. I recall mine was in the bathroom shower. I had a very creative mother. : )

I have another memory of Easter. I remember reading a great Easter book for kids, The Country Bunny by Du Bose Heyward. My mom never took us to the library. I just learned to use it by myself and for the most part, I walked. So although this is a book for younger children I was probably in third or fourth grade when I read it. I didn’t care. I loved the book.

I remember that I really liked the pictures. They were just plain interesting.

I also loved the story. I really wanted to be that mother bunny. I love that little mother bunny; her wonderful helping children, her outwitting of the swift-footed, pompous hares, and her tender perseverance. I did grow up to have 7 children! (Heaven forbid 21!)

I was intrigued by the golden shoes. I wanted some. I knew that someday I was going to make one of those fabulous sugar eggs that she delivered with the help of the golden shoes.

I also had a question which has never been answered: How did they decide which children got regular eggs, chocolate eggs or those beautiful sugar eggs? Hmmmmmm!

Your kids will like this book and they might like making some beautiful sugar eggs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is another very readable Easter book, Henri, Egg Artiste by Marcus Pfister. I like it because it’s about art!

Henri is a true artist who has grown tired of decorating his eggs in the same old way. Your children will be led on an exploration of the art world as Henri creates beautiful works in the styles of celebrated painters of the past, Vincent van Gogh, Leonardo da Vinci, and Claude Monet are just a few of the geniuses who inspire Henri, Egg Artiste. This is a delightful way to introduce children to a world of masterpieces.

What are your favorite Easter books and traditions? We would love to have you share!

 

If you like this post and it would bring joy to a friend pass it on using the social share buttons.

Reinstating Play for Healthy Kids

Spring is on the way! In my day that meant playing outdoors but things have changed.

I’ve noticed that with all the advances in technology kids don’t play like they used to. In today’s world, I wonder if we haven’t lost many opportunities for children to exercise their thinking, problem-solving and creative skills. There’s also tremendous pressure to cut children’s play hours short to make room for more clubs, classes and school time. This pressure has even reached into our preschool population.

What I have been doing to help my grandchildren play without using the computer, TV, or electronic games, etc. is to introduce them to what I liked to do as a child. These more antiquated types of play are engaging because they encourage thought, imagination and observation.

My mother lived on a farm and she had a favorite past time. She would collect empty bottles that had pretty shapes; empty perfume bottles or small jars that pickles, olives and the like come in. Then she would head down to the creek with a box full of crepe paper scraps and make colored water. She kept her jars down there as a hidden treasure. When mom told my sisters and me about doing that we tried it. It was fun watching the small bits of paper color the water. Then we lined our jars up on a sunny windowsill. They were beautiful in the sun.

My favorite pastime when I was between eight and ten was making mud cakes. My sisters and I would find very large stones.Then we made a big pan of mud which we frosted the stones with. As soon as our “cakes” were frosted we decorated them with bits of leaves, grass, twigs, and flowers. Then we set them in the sun to dry. We got pretty creative. We played that game over and over all summer long.

At my grandma’s house, in the back, was an old set of shelves. We played store out there every time we visited in the summer. We would name the store and make a sign. We made play money and took turns being the shopkeeper. We picked weeds and flowers, priced them and then went shopping.

Queen Ann’s lace was cauliflower, yellow flowers were butter and we collected seeds and berries from plants, like her honeysuckle bush. We just picked whatever was available. It was really fun.

In school during 4th through 7th grade, there were many tall trees in the schoolyard. That translated into tons of leaves in the fall. During lunch hour we would use the leaves to design floor plans for a house. We would shape the leaves into rows along the ground to designate the living room, kitchen, bedroom etc. By the time school was over the “house plans” would be blown away but we didn’t care because we knew we would just create them again the next day.

I had a friend who had small children. Her eight-year-old son loved to dig in our large sandbox. So one day I took some broken jewelry and assorted beads and buried them in the sand. You should have seen the delight as the children unearthed the treasure. Most of the children only dug for treasure occasionally after that first time but the eight-year-old dug every time he came until he was well over ten. Even after all that time, he would occasionally find a bead or two.

When I was a girl I enjoyed taking junk and creating something. I have a drawer that I collect junk in – toilet paper tubes, cardboard corners off the frames I bought, old keys, pieces of plastic, – you know junk. Today Ben and Mary made leprechaun traps using the junk from the drawer. They had a wonderful two hours of creating. No technology, just themselves, their imagination and fun.

Put on your thinking cap and remember what you and your friends did when you were five, seven, eight, and ten. Ask your parents and grandparents what they liked to do. What was it you or they liked about that activity? What materials were needed and did you put those materials together your self or did you need adult help. Then help your children recreate the experience.

Don’t do for them what they can do for themselves. Tell them your stories and how much fun you had and get them excited about having the same type of experience. Then stay present. Let them use the materials freely. Help when asked. Oh and ah. You’ll all have a great time.

 

I’d love to hear what you and your friends did for fun on long summer days. Why not share?

If you like this post and it would enlighten a friend pass it on using the social share buttons.

Set Yourself Up For Success

Choosing one ‘best’ thing to work on right now makes ALL the difference in how much success you will have in making changes in your life.

“I fight the 100% Devil constantly, daily, every minute of every day. In my head, I have a To Do list a mile long, and that doesn’t include the things I need to do that I forget are even on the list! I said to my husband the other night that I felt like I was drowning and that I just wanted to give in and sink to the bottom and find some peace.

‘I am still working on the same problems from over 20 years ago… I now know it is because I try to do too much at once and set myself up for failure.” Jody

“I keep saying to my husband that this can’t be the way it is supposed to be. Life shouldn’t always feel like you are always behind, always disappointing yourself and others, always with more to do. I feel like I spend my days just getting through the day, and that’s REALLY far from my larger view of what life is for. I deal with whatever is urgent right at that moment.” Shannon

I’ll bet this sounds familiar to you, this feeling of drowning and sometimes just wanting to give up and sink. I’ve been there, I mentor hundreds of parents who have been there and I’ll bet you’ve been there.

Life can feel as if we are spinning too many plates at the same time. There is a limit to how many plates we can spin at once. If we have too many plates spinning many end up falling to the floor and breaking.

It’s important that we decide which plates are vital and which are not. Some plates may be important but not at this time. We can spin them later when we take off some of the others that can only be spun now. Why not stop spinning plates and choose in, to the 1% principle. What one thing could you begin today or this week that would make a BIG difference in how you feel, how your family feels and in your overall sense of success and happiness?

How do you determine what the best 1% might be? Here are a couple of things you can do. There are others but this will get you started.

1. Personally, I pray. I ask, “What one thing could I do right now that will make the biggest difference in the quality of my life and my family. Then I pray that prayer until I have a very clear thought come into my mind. I have had to pray for as long as three months and as short as a few seconds. It all depends on how ready I am to hear the answer and respond to it.

2. Make a list of all the things that you think you need to work on or change. Then ask your self this question – What feels like it could wait. Then cross that item off your list. Repeat this process until you only have 2 items left on your list. Now take a day or two and see how each of those is manifesting in your life and how they make you feel. Then ask the questions again – Which feels like it could wait. This will leave you with the one thing that ‘feels’ as if it would make the biggest difference. Now do something to change it. Remember the steps to making lasting change and begin working on your best 1%.
REMEMBER – It’s by simple things, done consistently over time that BIG changes are brought to pass.

What is your current 1%? Mine is tracking daily successes. Every day I write down at least one thing that I did well. What we track we do longer, more consistently and get better at. I’m making good progress and I feel better about myself and my progress every day.

If you’re interested in learning more about the 1% Principle, I recommend Raving Fans, by Ken Blanchard.

If you like this post and it would enlighten a friend pass it on using the social share buttons.

Want Lasting Change?

Over the years mentoring parents I have found that there’s one challenge that comes up over and over again. I call it the

100% Devil

 

This is the troublemaker who sits on your shoulder and tells you all your problems have to be fixed now; there’s not enough time to make the necessary changes; you have to do it perfectly, or not at all; there’s so much to do you’ll never get it done or you don’t have what it takes to make a lasting change. His purpose is to make it difficult for you to begin, let alone stick with it long enough to effect change. And he’s excellent at his job.

BUT there is a cure for the 100% Devil. It’s called the

1% Principle

 

This principle states that if you focus on the best 1% of whatever it is you feel needs to be changed, corrected, fixed, etc. then success in that 1% will affect in positive ways, all of the other things you aren’t focusing on now. The 100% devil is the enemy of this principle: small and simple things, done consistently over time bring big results.

The 1% principle works because the results of focusing on the 1 thing that will make the most difference right now is exponential change.

When you work on the best 1%, other issues which you aren’t even looking at miraculously resolve themselves. If you splinter your focus the best you can do is to maintain mediocrity and at the worst move backward. Real growth comes from building on a solid, consistent, best 1% improvement.

When I was a young mother, I was a yeller. It kept my family walking on eggshells because they never knew when I would explode. It took a neighbor walking across my street and handing me a brochure on anger management to get me to look at what I was doing. It was a painful place to come to, and for a few months, I wouldn’t even accept I was there.

But as I observed myself it became evident it was true. I needed to do the obvious and simple thing and stop losing my temper. In our struggling family of seven children, five of whom were teens, there were many things I could have worked on. But my heart told me this was the best 1% at the time.

It took over ten years for me to conquer that demon. So what kept me going? How was I able to persevere long enough to make it happen? How did I dash the 100% devil to the ground so I wasn’t tempted to quit after a few months, two years, or even nine years?

I learned a lot during the time I worked to conquer my temper. Here are the steps that worked for me. There may be other possible steps, but this list is more than enough to get you going and keep you going.

1. CONCENTRATE on the one thing you need to do right now
Do you need to take a look at your current family culture and build a vision? Do you need to give up using technology when you’re working with your kids? Do you need to listen more, yell less, play with your kids, have more mini-conversations, eat dinner together, or go to bed earlier, control your money habits? What is it for you?

2. COMMIT to being consistent for as long as it takes
Some of our family goals will take many years to come to fruition. So will many of our personal goals.

3. REMEMBER being consistent is not the same as being perfect.
Never let the 100% devil remain on your shoulder for long. Dash him to the ground. Don’t believe his lies. Change takes time. Growth takes time. Perfect is not the goal; progress is!

4. BREAK what you want into smaller steps
If the goal is to stop yelling, how would that look?
• Accept that it’s about you and not the behavior of others.
• Commit to your family you’ll use a respectful voice—ask for support.
• Decide what you will do instead of yelling when times get tough.
• Get counseling if you need it.
• Practice, fail, practice, fail, practice . . . for as long as it takes

5. CREATE space
When I was working on controlling my temper, I had to create space for reflection, for getting help from others who had accomplished what I wanted to accomplish, and for nurturing myself as I did the work. Make a commitment to the change you want to see and then make space for the work that it will require.

6. KEEP your word
Do what you’ve decided to do. Be as consistent as possible. Track your efforts. I had to keep taking the steps to control my temper for ten years. Don’t quit.

7. MAKE CERTAIN the steps you take are in your control
When I was overcoming yelling, I was careful my goals were in my control. I couldn’t attach my success to someone else’s behavior.

For example, if a mother wants to have the kids’ chores done by nine, her actual goal might be to stay Present at chore time and move from child to child encouraging and helping them.

If she works with her children each day, supporting them, then she’s successful and reaches the goal even if they’re not completely finished with chores by nine. If success hinges on having it all done by nine, she has less chance of success because she doesn’t have total control over what each child does.

8. FOCUS on today—it’s all you have to work with.
Ten years is a long time to work on one thing. But as I focused on one day at a time, I was able to persevere. Do your best today. If you don’t do well today, then when tomorrow is today, begin again. Once today is yesterday, let it go! Don’t quit!

9. BELIEVE the end result will be exponential growth.
Believe that 1%+1% will not equal 2%, it will equal exponentially more. While I was working on overcoming my yelling what else happened.
• I learned to be more forgiving
• I learned to be more charitable
• I became more grateful
• I strengthened my relationship with my husband and
children
• I got control of my responses

I could list quite a few more but this will suffice as an example that when you focus on the best 1% you get exponential results.

Real growth and change come from learning to move toward your goals and desires one step at a time, consistently, for as long as it takes.

It takes time and practice to make lasting change and to grow as a person or as a family. We must commit to it. We need to consistently do the work. We have to believe we can accomplish our heart’s desire. In fact, it has to be our heart’s desire.

Doing small and simple things, consistently over time, is what will ultimately give us the success we seek as individuals and as families.

Have you waged war with the 100% Devil? What have you done to win your personal war? Let’s share and help each other out.

If you like this post and it would enlighten a friend pass it on using the social share buttons.

The Family Togetherness Thief

I am not Jewish. However, over the years I have known some Jewish families and I have admired their Sabbath Day worship. (Shabbat) Orthodox Jews take a one-day break from electronic devices to focus solely on faith and family without distraction.

In an article I read recently I was impressed with the feelings that were generated for young people as their families were consistent in their observance of this Sabbath day tradition. (David C. Dollahite, Making the Sabbath a Delight: Seven Lessons from Strong Jewish Families, February 24, 2018)

Hannah (17-year old Conservative daughter): The rest of the week totally different time. we have Shabbat . . . different. We don’t have to worry about the rest of the world. The rest of the world goes on, but we are here with our family and our religion. That’s just . . . it’s our time. (All youth’s names are pseudonyms.)

Josiah (19-year-old son): For me, Shabbat is the pinnacle of everything . . . . We all spend time together. We have three meals together. We play .

Nate (20-year-old son): I don’t know if there’s any particular practice . . . that’s . . . more meaningful than to me personally.

Tobi (17-year-old daughter): I think is really nice because it’s consistent. It’s not changing at all . . . and I kind of like that. . . tell my friends I’m eating at home tonight . . . and I really like that consistency, that we all sit at the table together and say the prayers.

What is consistent with the comments from these young people is the sense of family that is generated when the family lets go of technology for 24 hours. This is consistent with what I learned while doing research on the family and technology for my book Becoming a Present Parent.

I know adults think its kids who have the most trouble putting down their technology but from the research I read and my own informal research I discovered that technology use by adults has the most negative impact on the family because technology is a primary way for parents to check out in order to get time and relaxation away from their children. Managing technology in our homes is crucial for parents who want to be Present and who want to help their children learn to navigate technology in healthy ways.

One of the ways that I have often suggested to help you put your family first is to turn off your digital devices, ditch technology – just for a while. Have technology free moments every day. For example, maybe you have a TV, computer and no phone hour just before bed. Maybe dinner time is no technology time. When you are willing to let go of technology for even short amounts of time you will be surprised at how much time you can open up for the family.

The Smith Family

There are many ways that a family can manage their technology use. Here is one that I ran across and found fascinating and challenging. However, their experience bore out the experience of the Jewish youth I have quoted here – when you find ways to decrease your technology use you increase the sense of family togetherness.

Some years ago I met a family, The Smith’s, who actually go screen free for a month every year. Yes, a whole month! I got all the details from the mom, Courtney, and I am sharing them with you because I think you will be so impressed that you might consider making this a tradition in your home.

So what is Screen Free you ask? No TV, no movies on TV, no computer time, no games on the phone, no screens.

HOW TO MAKE GOING SCREEN FREE WORK

 

Here is how the Smith’s make it work:

1. Prepare your kids ahead of time. This family goes screen free in the summer months because they feel that in the winter you are shut in and it’s more difficult to disengage from TV, videos, games etc. In the summer you can get out, walk, go swimming, go to the mountains, etc.

2. Presentation is everything! That is my phrase and you’ve heard me say it before, but it is what they do. They talk it up. They talk about all the great things they are going to be able to do as a family, how much fun they are going to have together, the family reward at the end of the month.

3. Get everyone to buy in. As Courtney was telling me how they get their kids to cooperate I said, “Oh you get them to buy in.” She smiled and said, “Well I didn’t have a term for it but yup that’s what we do.” They get their kids to buy in by allowing them to pick a reward they would like to have at the end of the month. It has to be a really fun family activity. It might be swimming, camping, eating out, going to the movie theater, visiting grandparents, a road trip, whatever the parents want to throw out there. When the kids pick it, plan it and talk about it – they are IN.

Here is their one caveat – They don’t use screen time as the reward. They don’t want to reward ‘no screen time’ with screen time. : )

4. Parent’s have to be honest! It isn’t the kids who struggle the most, it’s the parents. They really do have to commit. Courtney told me that the hard part for her is at lunch. She usually has lunch when the big kids are at school and her little one is taking a nap. She likes to read Facebook, watch a show, catch up on the news, whatever, as she eats lunch. It is a challenge to read instead or call a friend.

It also becomes challenging for her and her husband in the evening when everyone is in bed. They usually veg out a bit in front of the TV, just the two of them but – YIKES – it’s screen free month. She told me that they have learned to play games together or read to each other. It has become really fun.

The one caveat – They do occasionally check email, pay bills online or prepare church lessons; just no screens for entertainment purposes.

5. Plan ahead. Get the games out. Check some great books out of the library. Stock up on popcorn. Know in your mind what you are going to say to your kids, how are you going to direct them when they come and ask to watch a movie. Get prepared.

THE RESULTS

Courtney said that it’s a bit hard the first few days because it’s a serious transition, but then they settle right in. They have a lot of fun. They play together, they talk, and they laugh. She said that it’s something that they really do all look forward to each year.

They feel more connected at the end of their Screen Free Month. It takes a while for screen time to become important to them again. The break feels good – after the first few days. : )

In fact, Courtney shared this with me, “Last time we did it our kids wanted to continue for more than a month! And they hardly ever ask when it will be over.”

So why not consider it and give it a try. You just might find out how much your family likes to read, play games, hike or swim. You may relish the increased sense of FAMILY.

How do you manage technology in your home? When do you go screen free? Do you find it challenging to go screen free yourself? Let’s share and help each other out.

If you like this post and it would enlighten a friend pass it on using the social share buttons.

Would you like to:

 

ORGANIZE your internal world to create powerful and healthy family relationships.
INCREASE your momentum, confidence and joy in life!
LEARN empowering tools to help you accomplish more without the “hurry” and overwhelm many feel.
UNDERSTAND yourself and others better and feel more at peace.
BECOME a more Present Parent
If this is YOU then join me for FOUR SESSIONS of GROUP MENTORING.
It will increase your parenting and family happiness level.