Thursday, April 8, 2010

Check this - a calmer family

I've been following this blog Noble Mother for some time now on my reader and there's always something to inspire and refocus as a parent. The current series is called '10 days to a calmer family' is full of great tips such as the following random snippets:


I feel it coming on – it’s in the air of our home when our little ones need more rest, more down time, more slowness.   Like a physical fever, they need me to be close, to stop the busyness of the household, to provide more snuggles.

So often we over-schedule our children so that we don’t have to “entertain” them at home or to prevent them from becoming bored or because “it will build their self-esteem,” or because they begged and begged and in the back of your mind you worry that if you don’t start them in ballet by age 3, they won’t be as good as the other ballerinas.
Step 3 involves pulling your child close – both physically and emotionally.  This can be a challenge if your child has been throwing you for some big emotional loops lately.  The last thing you want to do is pull them towards you.  It’s during these difficult times that they need you the most.  Your willful child is the one you hold at a distance instinctively.  We pull in those easy to snuggle, those cooperative children.  I’m encouraging you to start the soul fever healing and stretch yourself by staying close to that fevered child.

And my favourite one:
Our conflict, our challenge isn’t to convince ourselves that dishes and laundry are amazing.  It is to acknowledge that as mothers to young children we are investing time into being present to these little ones as their spiritual mentors.  It is our love and guidance that makes all the difference in these early years to their own development of who they will become.  Being committed to the work of mothering is to be committed to your own inner work Your child can pick up on your unrest, your dissatisfaction, your resentment of mothering.

So head on over to Noble Mother and read the whole thing for yourself.