Gratitude: a Stepping Stone to a More Mindful Life
I am obsessed with gratitude because it has changed how I view the world. I grew up in New England, so I celebrated the negative. But that all changed…
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Gratitude: A Stepping Stone to a More Mindful Life
Hi, it’s me, Stef, again. Here to talk to you about parenting differently with gratitude. I am obsessed with gratitude because it has changed how I view the world. I grew up in New England, so I celebrated the negative. It’s kind of hard to describe how a cultural mindset works, but in Massachusetts, where I am from, it’s pretty acceptable to be super negative, sarcastic, and self-deprecating.
First of all, not all of the Northeast is filled with pessimists, but I assure you that optimists are not the norm. You have to be hard to make it through the winter, and you have to be tough to fight for what you want. The world is not out to help you - the world is out to get you - and don't you dare show anyone that you can fall.
Of course, the world is not out to “get” a middle-class white girl from Massachusetts, even if she grew up in a small rural town. This is just another worldview - there are so many, after all. And so, I grew up with both the luxury of white privilege and the austerity of optimism. Weird? Maybe but if you are from the Northeast, you get it.
So you know my starting viewpoint – even if something went right, it was just law that the other shoe was always gonna drop somehow.
But I’m not like that anymore — and yes, living in California has something to do with it — but you can still be a negative SOB in the Golden State. My worldview has changed. That is what happened when I started to look inside and do the work I needed to do to become a happier human. And the intention was not enough - I DID have to do the work - I just didn’t need to grit my teeth and bear it. Parenting didn’t have to be about reading every book, going to every workshop, and FIGURING THAT $%^& out by myself.
It took action — it took courage — did I want to keep choosing my kids over my well-being or did I want to choose myself first?
Choose yourself first. What does that really mean?
Well, it’s not as simple as taking an afternoon off - motherhood doesn’t work that way - especially in the early years. A “Choose Yourself First” mindset does not mean sacrificing your kids’ happiness for your own. It’s about where you want to put your energy — you’re taking such great care of your kids — but what if you just lessened up a bit on that and started taking care of yourself a little more?
Take a quick second to reflect on the things in your control and see if you like how they are going.
Do you NEED to do everything you’re doing or is that your inner perfectionist at work? Is it society telling you that your kids HAVE to be in sports and that your HAVE to help with PTA and you HAVE to teach your newborn to swim - but do you?
You get to decide for yourself if the events and/or people in your life support or deteriorate your well-being. You don’t need to sacrifice yourself for other people’s or cultural opinions.
Let’s take a look at my well-being success formula it’s:
INTENTION + ATTENTION + ACTION + REPETITION = RESULTS
And here we are talking about attention - where is most of your’s going?
Yeah, it’s your kids, duh, I know.
Let's talk about why gratitude could be the right action for parenting in the first place.
Every mother dreams about becoming less triggered by her kids; some of us yell, some give up – we all flood with overwhelm. Unfortunately, most parenting advice assumes we can break out of these habitual reactions without learning the skills to get there.
Those preliminary cycle-breaking skills are crucial because we can't take any advice without getting to what I call "The Juicy Pause" – or that moment right before we react. We are always reading these books and trying these things and failing! Because they take patience, we just don’t have. I remember when I was a toddler parent how much I wished I could have more patience - like it was the key to everything when in reality, it was how quickly I went to reaction town that was keeping me from succeeding, I got triggered when my child didn’t respond to a new technique right away I modeled back their emotions and they slapped me in the face or laughed, I walked out of the room to have a time out and they followed me screaming, and so I screamed back. Nothing would stick, and it wasn’t because I was impatient - it was because I was TRIGGERED.
My reactions were emotional - not thoughtful.
How would I learn to be a better parent if I couldn’t stop myself from yelling at my child in the first place? I had to break some pretty deeply entrenched habits. Ones that had been modeled to me as a child and probably even modeled to my parents as children.
To take the advice of so many well-meaning child experts out there, we have to expand the pause - the moment right before we are triggered, and the only way to do that is to learn to become more present, to notice there is a pause, to begin with.
We need a more mindful approach to parenting growth, one that I believe starts with a committed, daily practice of gratitude.
Dan Harris, ABC correspondent and author of 10% Happier, has famously said, “I do meditation because it makes me 10 percent happier.” I feel the same about gratitude.
It won’t fix your whole life - but after a few weeks, you will feel the subtle shift from how you used to think, feel and behave to the way you do now - and let me tell you, your kids will approve.
And so I hope you stick with me as we plod deeper into this idea of Parenting Differently with Gratitude because the benefits make it worth it. Your self-doubt and Mom Guilt softens away, you become more connected to your friends and community, and you arrive right here in the present moment where your kids already live.
What will you do to choose yourself this week? Well, I hope you will start writing that list each morning. And if you haven’t downloaded our mantra of the week, it is a perfect reminder you can put right there on your phone screen: Taking action is a gift to myself.
And don’t forget - you are already a Good AF mom.
Other posts on Gratitude:
Shorten Nighttime Wakings With These 10 Tips
Nighttime waking happens. Learn the steps to take to make it a short and sweet adventure - not a midnight playtime.
Ok, so nighttime waking happens, but nighttime turning into playtime can be a nightmare - short and sweet is what we are after. But after 20 years as a professional nanny, I am sure that the easiest way is for your toddler to feel safe and supported. They need to feel your confidence because you have a plan, and they need to feel connected to you — because it’s scary to wake up and be alone in the dark when they are only two!
So let’s learn to address nighttime waking quickly and still honor your child’s need for connection.
First, let’s check your Environmental Set Up:
Make sure you use red light - not white in the middle of the night if needed.
Make sure the room is dark but feels safe.
Do they have their favorite lovey or stuffy?
I love a wind-up flashlight because it gives them autonomy, and it doesn’t last all night.
Do they have an “Ok to Wake” toddler clock?
I would also suggest a visual timer if you come back and check on them in a set amount of time.
Make sure you have a book like The Middle of the Night Book in their bed, ready to go — or keep it on your nightstand.
Shorten toddler night wakings with these 10 easy steps
Take a breath. Middle of the waking is normal behavior, especially if they are learning something new like walking or talking or going through any transitions like starting daycare or potty training.
Do not ignore them. Connection and belonging are important at this age, so go to them when they wake (or they will come to you!).
Make a physical connection - use soothing touch or empathetic eye contact.
Listen and reflect emotions - try not to use language that feels like ‘fixing’.
Learn the three stages of falling asleep:
Regulate - work out tough emotions or extra energy together by breathing, hugging, or listening patiently before expecting them to go back to sleep.
Settle - help them to get comfortable and find the items they need to feel safe and secure in their bed, see #6 for tips.
Soothe - remind them you are there, encourage them to notice their body’s sleepiness, and rub their back or forehead if they like that for a short time. This touch encourages the brain to produce oxytocin which helps to soothe a child back to sleep. At this stage, you must leave before they fall asleep so they can learn to do it independently.
Every night, practice a structured and simple bedtime routine that concludes with three simple rules they can remember “Calm body, Quiet mouth, Stay in your bed.” Your bedtime routine acts as the “Regulation” stage of falling asleep and is especially important to repeat during the middle of the night.
Then ask their permission to check in on them in a few minutes. Set a visual timer for when you will be back. Assure them that they can do this on their own. “I fall asleep on my own, and you can too! You did great at bedtime! I promise I will be back in 5 minutes to check on you.”
Say goodnight and leave. Have a Goodbye mantra that you use every time you leave. “You’re safe, and you’re loved, Collin,” or “Time for sleep, Collin. Goodnight, I love you.”
Make sure you return in the time allotted but quietly if you commit to doing a check-in. If they are still awake, check in and say I am still here if you need me, but you are doing great! I can come back and check again - is that something you want? And then, set the timer again and leave. If you have successfully gone through the 3 stages of sleep, it should only take 1 or 2 extra checks before they go to sleep naturally. However, if they are worked up or stressed, this will have the opposite effect, so really make sure they are regulated and settled before leaving the first time.
Talk about their successes in the AM with visual aids like a calendar or a sleeping photo of them - ignore the behavior you did not like.
Other Pro Tips:
Do not make the transition to a toddler bed until you have introduced a toddler clock
If your child is learning a new skill during the day they will be more likely to
wake at night
Remember their Hierarchy of needs - belonging and connection before anything else.
One transition at a time, so if they are potty training, do not introduce a toddler bed, etc.
Lots of high-quality interactions before bed! You’ve got this!
Other posts on sleep:
Daring to Parent Differently: Your Official Pep Talk
Your intention to parent differently stems from a deep well of courage. Did you know that?
You can also listen to this post in podcast form - because you need a pep talk in your ears right now!
Download this week’s Gratitude Mantra and put that s&#t on your phone! (or tablet). Totally free no email required.
Your intention to parent differently stems from a deep well of courage.
Did you know that?
The bravery it takes to look at our conditioning and make a change requires going to the places where we are most vulnerable. And that can be scary and hard. But it works, shining the light on our shadows, learning to know them, and love them too. It works, but it’s hard work. And we are doing it (!!) — and each day we stretch open a little bit allowing more and more light to seep in illuminating what we used to know and what is actually true.
“What Right Aspiration translates to in terms of daily action is the resolve to behave in a way that stretches the limits of conditioned response.” - Silvia Bornstein, It’s Easier Than You Think.
We are parents who are looking for new options so so many different reasons; maybe we want to break the cycle of childhood trauma, maybe we want to step outside of what the culture thinks is “normal” or maybe our lived experiences have forced a new perspective. No matter what your initial motivation is - know that we are all in this together and I know just as well as you do that this is not an easy path to forge. It’s even harder when you are the trailblazer unable to rely on advice, or modeling, or even your instincts at first.
We are not the first who are willing to make a change - willing to bleed a little to grow. Brené Brown famously uses the Teddy Roosevelt quote in her book Daring Greatly and I will use it here as well:
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again... who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.” - Theodore Roosevelt
How are you parenting differently? How are you daring greatly?
Maybe you have decided to live sustainably - amazing!
Maybe you have decided to separate from a toxic parent - wow, so brave!
Maybe you have decided that one child is enough - you do you!
Maybe you are transparent with your children about your emotions - kudos!
Maybe you apologize to your children when you are wrong - dare to care!
Maybe you decided that your happiness matters more than being a perfect parent - scary but so brave!
Maybe your family limited screens and TV - keep going!
Maybe each day you wake up and stubbornly look this crazy world in the face and with the determination of someone who radiates only love, you counter suffering with the power of gratitude. - that’s me, and I am brave.
Wherever you have decided enough is enough - I see you. I honor your bravery. The courage and strength to do just one of these things in the face of judgment, criticism, and even shame is a lesson that your children will never forget. I applaud you all. Thank you for your intention to parent differently.
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Gratitude Practice: Baby Steps
OK, so maybe a daily gratitude list is out of reach right now for you Mama. However, training your brain toward a more positive relationship with yourself should be one of the top priorities, so we are going to take a baby step and introduce an easy-to-follow daily routine.
OK, so maybe a daily gratitude list is out of reach for right now. Every stage of motherhood is going to be different, there are different time restraints and different priorities and so I don’t expect every one of you to be able to sit for 5 minutes each morning and make a list.
However, training your brain toward a more positive relationship with yourself should be one of the top priorities (right under feeding that baby).
So this is your baby step - the 3:33 pm alarm.
And I want us all to share how we incorporate this into our lives on Instagram so tag me in your stories @parent_differently
The 3:33 pm alarm is going to help us introduce the concept of parenting with gratitude into your life in a very simple and easy way.
Listen to this post as a podcast!
So what is this concept of Parenting with Gratitude? Why do I want us to get deep into this?
I like to say that the recipe for achieving well-being is this:
Intention + Attention + Action + Repetition = Results
We have discussed setting an intention in the past you can read more about it here.
So we take our intention, and we add ATTENTION.
That means we are going to start to train our brains to notice what we want to notice - not what it was programmed to notice because of evolutionary biology.
If our intention is: to parent differently, we need to bring attention to our parenting.
If our intention is: to become our best selves, then we need to bring attention to ourselves!
I do this without losing my mind by looking at all the parts of parenting that fill me up. We already have the Negativity Bias to help us obsess over the mistakes, so now it’s time to shift our attention to looking at the good.
Enter the 3:33 pm alarm. The positive things we look for will be made into a short list of 3, and you will be reminded each day to make your list, and yep, its as simple as setting an alarm on your phone for 3:33 - then when it goes off wherever you are I want you to focus your attention on 3 good things, or 3 things you are grateful for, or whatever is positive and going well.
Other things we can look for are:
What went well yesterday?
What makes you a good mom?
What you are grateful for?
What did you provide for your family in the last hour?
Who made you smile this morning?
Who helped you or who did you help?
We are going to do this as a baby step to the big kahuna, which is a daily list of gratitude. This alarm will teach you to stretch your brain a bit each day and notice what may be overshadowed by stress, crying, work, and forgetting the lunch box, you name it.
I believe that Gratitude is the simplest tool we can use to ease the everyday stress of parenting.
Science shows our mindset matters but also, that our route to living a more satisfying life tends to go directly through hardship.
In our case, that hardship is also a gift pssst…its parenting.
Parenting brings with it the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. It tests us and asks of us again and again, to grow and to become more wise, patient, and gracious.
Here’s a quote from Scott Bary Kaufman from his recent article on tragic optimism in the Atlantic:
“In recent years, scientists have begun to recognize that the practice of gratitude can be a key driver of post-traumatic growth after an adverse event and that gratitude can be a healing force. Indeed, a number of positive mental health outcomes are linked to a regular gratitude practice, such as reduced lifetime risk for depression, anxiety, and substance-abuse disorders.”
Choose a traumatic event: COVID, overturning of Roe vs. Wade, pervasive school shootings, caregiver burnout - and I’ll assure you that we are ready for a healing force. Google's "Year in Search" revealed searches for "How to maintain mental health" reached a worldwide high in 2021, as well as searches for affirmations and women’s health. We are crying out for science-backed practices that work.
So this is your baby step - the first practice that will help to establish a routine of daily gratitude. To remind you to look for the good - because we need to train your brain to see just how Good AF you already are.
Listen to the podcast on the 3:33 PM Alarm for more!
And don’t forget to follow on social for all things gratitude, parenting and positivity.
A Dreamy Toddler Bedtime Routine
I bet you never thought a Toddler Bedtime Routine could also be dreamy, calm, and relaxed. I’m guessing bedtime is still a struggle despite the stories, songs, books, and music. I will ask a few questions that may seem counterintuitive but could help ease this all-to-common parenting battle…
I bet you never thought a Toddler Bedtime Routine could also be dreamy, calm, and relaxed.
I’m guessing bedtime is still a struggle despite the stories, songs, books, and music.
I will ask a few questions that may seem counterintuitive but could help ease this all-to-common parenting battle.
And the first is: What do you want?
I know I will get to the tips in a second, but I want to ensure you are 100% on board. Sometimes we are doing things because we think there is a certain “way” to do them, and speaking from years of experience as a professional nanny, that is totally untrue. There are not many 13-year-olds that still sleep with their parents or wake up a 2 AM and need a glass of milk (and hey, they can get it themselves at that point, so who cares!)
Here are some questions to ask yourself before we move on - there are no right answers, only what your instincts tell you is right:
Do you want to sleep alone right now? or do you want to sleep with your child?
What is most important to develop right now in your mind: connection, empathy, independence, self-soothing skills?
Do you want more kids? Or is this your last child?
Where do YOU want to sleep right now? In their room with them? or in your bed with your partner? Or in your bed with them in there too?
It may be difficult to figure out the answers to these questions, and that’s ok. I think we have a lot of decisions we have to make daily, and it can feel overwhelming at times. When I feel that way, I lean on what I call my GoodAF Mom intention - my “Why” or, as some people call it, my “Mission Statement.”
For a long time, my intention was to be perfect, and then it was to be a better parent, but now I intend to be a Happy Human. Do you know why? Science shows that a mother’s level of contentment had twice the effect on her children than the happiness level of the father.
In what is called the Millennial Cohort Study, 13,000 UK families were surveyed when their child was 9 months old and then 14 years later, looking specifically at their happiness level. A deeper analysis of divorce rates and well-being surveys shows that a mother's happiness directly affects her children’s mental health, the stability of her relationship with the children’s father, and her closeness to her children when they become teenagers. In fact, the study showed that a mother’s level of contentment had twice the effect on her children than the happiness level of the father.
Twice.
So that means you matter. What you want matters Mama. And if you are not being true to yourself your kid will know, you will act in a way that is different. Tips and tricks won’t work for you as well as they may for other parents. And so you got to stop and Choose You.
And so here are some ideas for a dreamy toddler bedtime routine.
No matter where your toddler sleeps now that they are 15 months and older they will be the leader. They want this freedom to choose - to be in charge - so let them.
You can do this by paying attention to what arguments you have the most - is it over the number of books or when they brush their teeth or what PJs to wear? These are your cues that they want input.
I’m a Type A Mom, so I would make a visual chart of all the bedtime routine items - not so that you can follow it to a T, but so they can pick what they want to do next without your input. I would place non-negotiables on the chart in a different color and then ask them to pick the orders of the others. It doesn’t make sense to brush your teeth before milk - but you can always wait till after PJs are put on. I have included a free downloadable Toddler Choice Chart here with space to add your own items too.
Here are some other tips:
Come up with three rules that work for your family and stick to them. Ours are: Calm Body, Quiet Mouth, Stay in Bed. These get recited every night multiple times.
Make sure the time before bed is one of deep connection - that’s why books work so well. Feeling connected will help your child to feel safe and secure.
If your child wants you to stay and you don’t want to, give them a time limit and set a visual timer like a Time Timer. And when it is done, leave. They will be upset at first but promise to check on them - tap into their independent streak and ask if they want to be checked in 7 minutes or 10 minutes. And then do that over and over but increase the time limit until they drift off without your help. Yes, the first night, you may have to do this for 2 hours, but that won’t last.
If you bedshare and your child wants you to stay, and you want to, then stay! Get some extra sleep and get up earlier the next day to do the dishes — they will still be there. You can do this for a few weeks and then begin the process of teaching them to sleep independently another time or you can do it for one night and go back to the timer method above.
If your child does not settle, it’s time to teach the three stages of sleep: Self-regulation, self-settling, and self-soothing. You can help with self-regulation or calming down: listen to a bedtime meditation together or if that’s too stimulating read a book like The Middle of the Night Book that teaches them how to do a bodyscan. Self-settling is something they need to do on their own that’s physiologically switching from an awakened mode to a sleep mode. And then self-soothing is the method you use to regulate your emotions as you fall asleep. This skill is also something that takes time to learn (like a lifetime) and is an independent sleep skill. When your child is very young a lovey, stuffy or something to hold will help them to feel connected to you which can help with self-soothing. Make it easy to bridge the gap by sleeping with that item yourself prior to introducing it — so it smells like you.
Once you choose a mode of sleep, try to stay consistent - so if they are going to bedshare make sure the bed is set up as their area too. And if you want it to be for a certain amount of time set a limit or boundary ahead of time - “When the summer comes we/you will start sleeping in your room but right now its fine to share my bed”
The most important thing is that you feel confident about your bedtime choices, Mama. Your well-being and your health are what matter most. And don’t forget - because you made it all the way to the end of this article (and even if you made it two sentences in) I know for a fact that you are a Good AF Mom already. - Stef
Other Articles on Sleep:
October Gratitude - Podcast Launch & Free Mantra Download
The Parent Differently with Gratitude Podcast has officially launched - you can find the first few episodes in this post as well as a FREE mantra download to keep you positive and on the gratitude track!
The Podcast has officially launched!
Every week I will be sharing a bit more about parenting, gratitude, and mindfulness.
Are you ready to parent with more patience, empathy, and compassion but gave up gentle parenting after one exhausting never ending day?
Then you need to subscribe to “Parent Differently with Gratitude”!
Listen in as I offer you a sneak peek into my journey to normalize imperfect parenting and discover the gifts a committed gratitude practice can bring to modern family life.
Parenting with gratitude is not the end goal - it's the method. 🎟
It's the means to achieving the goal of gentle parenting without skipping the prep phase.
🎧 Listen to this podcast if you want to parent differently than you were raised.
🎧 Listen to this podcast if you want to parent differently than you did 5 years ago.
👉 Hint: it starts with figuring out how to be less triggered and more present; less burned out and more accepting; less guilt-ridden and more compassionate. It sounds complicated - but with the compound effect of gratitude and a supportive community of GoodAFMoms - you've got this.
Every week, I will also give away a free "Parenting with Gratitude Mantra" to compliment the week's theme right here on the blog (scroll down). Other podcast bonuses include interviews with expert guests, sleep consultants, and other mindful parenting guides, and easy and fun gratitude practices that fit your modern parenting lifestyle.
Latest Episodes
Free Gratitude Download 👇
No email required, Mama. Download then add it to your phone’s lock screen for a simple pick-me-up — or even add it your iPad!
p.s…. love the positivity? Follow me on all the socials and never miss a pep talk.
And don’t forget to share the podcast with a friend and leave a review on Apple Podcasts!
DM me on social if you leave a review and I will send you some free swag!!
Is it a Toddler Sleep Regression?
Your perfect sleeper is gone; overnight, they were replaced with a screaming, exhausted, and cranky zombie child who just won’t sleep through the night anymore. Is it a toddler sleep regression or toddler sleep problems?
Your perfect sleeper is gone; overnight, they were replaced with a screaming, exhausted, and cranky zombie child who just won’t sleep through the night anymore. You may be wondering….
Is it a toddler sleep regression — or did they just learn a few bad habits?
Well, here’s the way to tell.
First things to check:
Were they sick in the past 2 weeks
Did you have a major life transition like the birth of a new baby, toilet learning, a new bed, a new house, a new school, or a new caregiver?
Are they ready for the next size pull-up or diaper?
Did the weather change significantly, like it’s now really hot or cold?
Has there been a time change like daylight savings or traveling?
Can you see a new tooth coming through their gums or a spot on their gums that is super red?
If you can say No to all of these things, it might be a toddler sleep regression.
Here’s the final way to tell:
Your toddler has learned something new during the daytime.
This is the final piece to the puzzle, typically, when a toddler (or child ages 15 months to 36 months) is learning something new, child development experts call that a developmental leap. When they are in toddlerhood these developmental leaps typically are:
Learning to walk
Learning to climb
Learning to talk
and many others like becoming more independent-minded, etc.
When a young child is learning these types of skills, they are rewiring large parts of their brain — so much so that they cannot sleep well. We all do this in our own ways from restless sleep due to anxiety or to being excited for a big day the next day. Imagine that feeling but over 3 to 4 days. And so they experience a sleep regression which is typically a disturbed sleep cycles. When this happens they may be unable to go through the three stages of sleep independently again.
The three stages of sleep are:
self-regulation
self-settling
self-soothing
And so they will need you. They will scream and yell, have nightmares, and want you to come to their bed or sleep in yours. It’s not pleasant. However, if you can provide a steady and consistent middle-of-the-night routine in these moments, a sleep regression will not result in a new sleep routine that includes you, lol 😬 ! I would suggest that you use the same bedtime routine when you are woken in the middle of the night as you do at the end of the day.
read the last book of the night - called the anchor book,
listen to the song or lullaby you sing,
say good night and remind them of your bedtime rules,
and/or do whatever your routine may be right before you leave them in the evening.
I find that after a week or two, they will have learned their skill enough that they can get back into their normal sleep routine, so hold on, and in the tough moments remind yourself that it won’t last!
For more sleep help check out the posts below:
Monday Mantra: Grateful for…Free Downloads
Let’s train your brain to notice the good with a free Gratitude Mantra every week - download the wallpaper to your phone, no email address required.
Every Monday I pull a Mantra from a filter on Instagram and I make it into a wallpaper that you can download for your phone.
I hope you like it! No email is required for the download just hit the button and throw that thing up on your lock screen! - ✌️ Stef
Don’t forget to followl on the socials!
Faith to Parent Differently (2.0)
Betting on a mindset shift to combat family trauma can feel like “not enough” but if you have faith you can use your intention to parent differently as the catalyst for so much change.
Last week, my brother sent me a text message, it said:
Did you know that trauma gets baked into three generations of DNA?
And I said:
Oh, gosh, where does it begin, though? And where does it end?
Right?
Here’s the other side of that statement - the ripple effect of “where does it start or stop?” can cause a lot of anxiety when you're parenting, the next generation.
And so I had to take myself out of that for a minute, I had to say, no, no, it stops with me. It doesn't really matter how many generations it may take - I don't care, it stops with me.
This is my commitment to parenting differently.
My intention to break the cycle of trauma, to be the change, makes all the difference. I think everyone has the ability to make a conscious choice to do things a bit differently than maybe the generation before.
For me, the action this choice demands really boils comes down to maintaining a positive mindset. When I wake up in the morning, am I committed to parenting differently? And if I am, then that is enough.
Of course, you can’t see it happening - the change - it takes faith to believe that intention is really enough. My choices every day, my effort every day, it's enough — because that intention is it inspires me to action. And every day, even if I mess up 300 times, I know that the 200 times that I did something really great those are the actions that are going to make a difference.
And generational change doesn't happen overnight.
It's not going to be something that I can say, “Oh, wow, there it is. My kid magically knows how to come to me when they're feeling upset instead of going and hiding alone” — right? It doesn't happen instantly like that. But it does happen over time.
And you have to believe that in order to keep going, right? We all do. We also need to have faith in the goodness of our hearts, and the goodness of the hearts of the people that we care for. And we have to have faith that we can do it.
The way that I do it is I make sure that when I wake up and I make that commitment to parenting differently, to ensure I'm meeting my own needs first. And that does mean that I've had to get up earlier and earlier over the years. But for me, my biggest “need” is alone time - it’s incredibly nourishing for me because I grew up the oldest, in a chaotic family of five kids. I never had time alone. Now I make sure that I get up every morning and I find time to be alone. I meditate. I do my gratitude journaling — I write down 10 things every morning I'm grateful for and I reorient my mindset.
And the rest really boils down to believing that my inner goodness and my inner love is enough for these kids. And that even when I mess up, saying sorry is enough, and even when they mess up, letting them be okay with messing too.
And it really does boil down to having a deep, deep commitment to faith.
Join the 12 Week Gratitude Challenge
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Join the 12 Week Gratitude Challenge 🤍
Did you Parent Differently this Weekend?
The negativity bias gets in the way of parenting differently, but gratitude can help with that!
I got a question for you: Did you parent differently this weekend?
Think about it. I bet immediately your thoughts are: No!
And of course, as parents, this is what we do. We go right to two things:
Too much of and not enough of:
So too much screentime not enough family time, too much sugar, not enough healthy food, too much errands, not enough outside time you get it.
Or we go to cataclysmic events:
Like the meltdown in church or the bedtime that took three hours instead of one.
This is called the negativity bias.
So when we look back quickly, over our weekend, we can say to ourselves, “No, that was not a good weekend” or “Okay, some things went great, but that tantrum really was my fault. And I didn't do a good job this weekend. So no, I didn't parent differently.”
If we are not paying attention, our negativity bias takes over and that is how you end up with guilt, shame, and built-in fear of messing up in the future — never getting it right.
The reason I always talked about parenting with gratitude is because it's an intentional way to look back over your weekend and override that negativity bias.
The simple yet effective practice looks like this: I'm gonna look over Saturday, and I'm gonna find five to 10 things that went well, or five to 10 things that I'm grateful for. Maybe they're small moments, maybe they're big moments, but you know what? You forgot. You forgot you're a good mom. And I guarantee you're gonna find five to 10 — I bet you could find 20. And then you're going to do that with Sunday.
And this is the practice of parenting with gratitude. It's looking over our lives with intention and saying, “I am not going to let the negativity bias ruin my week — I'm not going to enter into the mom guilt, shame cycle, because I am going to practice gratitude.”
And the more we do this, the more we look over our yesterday's for the good the more we can experience those situations in real time and begin to notice them the moment they happen. And in those moments, we can feel its positivity even deeper because we are present with the ones we love. And we are not doubting ourselves. We are not feeling lonely, and we are not somewhere inside of our anxiety or depression.
So I want you to ask yourself, did I parent differently yesterday? If you immediately go to a “too much” or “not enough” or that one thing that you just screwed up I want you to take the time to go through and look for the things that did go right because there are lots.
🤍 Stef
Want more? Join my free 12-Week Parenting with Gratitude Email Series here.
Parenting in a Memento Mori World
We do not know when it will end or how, so while we are here, we must cherish the moments that enrich and fulfill and do everything we can to protect those we love.
So just what is memento mori, you ask? The Latin really says it all: remember that you [have to] die. Pondering our mortality has been around since the Roman times, and I doubt that they had it any better off than we do now, but it sure does feel like I am pondering more and more these days. Sometimes I parent scared, and others I parent while I look away from the world's tragedies so I just can make it through one more day.
Sure reflecting on death and its inevitable arrival may seem morbid or maybe even a bit basic — after all, death is life's simplest truth — but the practice of memento mori is not about being sad or giving up. And although these days our American culture feels littered with reminders of our mortality, it is really about what we do next that matters.
"You could leave life right now. Let that determine what you do and say and think." - Marcus Aurelius.
The tragedies don't seem to stop, and it's getting exhausting living this memento mori life. In the wake of another heart-wrenching school shooting, we kiss our babies and hold them extra tight - if we are lucky enough to. We are grateful for them and infuse them with our love. But we are also reminded of just how helpless we are to protect them - the ones we love with more than just our hearts, our whole entire beings.
The modern world has a way of throwing us into the practice of memento mori, whether we like it or not - constantly bombarded with reminders of life's limits. My (just as important) mental health work is overshadowed by ever-constant reminders that my kids are not safe, creating an underlying anxiety that I just can't shake.
I should not have to worry that they will not make it home from school, or get into a car with another teen who has been drinking. I should not have to worry that an intense bout of depression will hit, and they decide to end it all instead of asking for help. But I do. I worry. Because these things happen to families every day.
And these are the many pebbles we carry as parents. Unlike the treasured finds of toddlerhood, these rocks we can't unload onto the dresser, our pockets becoming heavier and heavier, and just full.
Life is precious and fleeting, and it's my job to keep my kids safe — and it's feeling harder and harder to do that these days.
And so I rely on the action memento mori spurs. Appreciating what I have and holding tight to the hope that love will always prevail — and letting that love dictate my next move.
Of course, if you are a long-time reader, you will probably guess that my first move is to let the feeling of gratefulness wash over me. Memento mori can be a deep and introspective way to reflect on the impermanence of things, which I think produces instant gratitude. You can't help but feel grateful for your kids as they tumble off the bus, for your garden as it bears fruit, and for your partner as they grab their coffee and run out the door.
Small moments become big, and things that didn't seem important crystalize before our eyes — gorgeous in their simplicity because they are so fleeting. But I don't think it stops there either. Because the next action I am inspired to is savor: to hold my children close and take in their smell, to bite into a deep dark juicy tomato, and to grab my partner and run my fingers through his hair.
I refuse to accept that hugging my children a little extra each day and feeling that love does not change the world - it does.
Of course, that change takes time. And so I also need to do something now, and maybe you do too? And so, I hope that you will join me in advocating for gun control in whatever way you may seem fit. I support the non-profit Moms Demand Action, and I wear orange on June 3 - 5th, and I commit to doubling down on love.
These may seem like small pieces of a much bigger pie, but it's what I can do. I hope you can find a moment to reflect and feel grateful AND to act. Our kids and our world need both.
We do not know when it will end or how, so while we are here, we must cherish the moments that enrich and fulfill and do everything we can to protect them too.
I do not get discouraged. I keep hope alive. I keep cherishing this one precious life, and I hope you can too.
The 4C's: Going Beyond Self-Care
Is your parenting complete sh$%? Maybe you’re just burned out and done? I get there too…Check this list, and try out the 4 C’s.
The 4C’s help me to maintain my well-being on a regular basis ✨or when something happens and I discover I am off track.
When I feel ‘off’ it’s usually because I am skipping one of them.
Here they are:
1. Care
2. Create
3. Connect
4. Contribute
ps. the 5th C is chocolate for me! What would it be for you?
Care is important but it also seems easier now that I have made it my intention to be happy - and my kids are older. I have time for self-care. I can take a few moments and go to the beach if I need to or just meditate for 5 minutes after lunch. Speaking of lunch - just eating lunch is care.
Create means to make something - let’s bring some beauty into this world! It can be through art, of course, but creating something could be as simple as a tasty dinner that has a bit of pizzaz. You could create a beautiful sandcastle while playing with your toddler at the park. You could make music together or alone. Anything that brings more beauty into this world and ignites the senses will work.
Connect. Connection is our quickest way to regulation. Studies have shown this time and time again that negative emotions are immediately trumped by a few minutes of good quality human interaction - and that can be as simple as being kind to your barista or asking your neighbor how their day was. It doesn’t have to be a deep soul-filling conversation with your bestie - but of course, that’s good too.
Contribute. Probably the most overlooked C on the list- at least for me. When I feel “off” typically it’s because I haven’t been of service that day, or maybe the way I do “give back” has become stagnated. The “tend and befriend” aspect of coping with stress has been studied a lot and scientists have discovered time and again that many people regulate stress best by being with other people. That includes either through caring for others (tend) or interacting conversationally (befriend). We are wired to be together - in fact, there are three zones of the brain that are activated through reaching out to help another human. That’s a lot of positive reinforcement. So if you’re stressed, it may seem counterintuitive, but finding a way to help someone will help.
The 5th C is chocolate for me - and is really a joke. Of course, we all have our ways of “dealing” and in my book, a little bit of chocolate makes me happy and it doesn’t numb me. If I can stop eating at one or two pieces I know that it’s not an unhealthy coping mechanism but a source of enjoyment and satisfaction instead.
How will the 4 C’s apply to your daily grind? I am excited to find out. Leave a comment below and let me know!
How to be a #GoodAFMom
Yes, we can have the intention to be better parents, but if that means we are unhappy parents then maybe it’s time for a system breakdown.
Listen to this post as a podcast:
James Clear, author of Atomic Habits has a famous quote:
“You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems…Your system is the collection of daily habits that will get you there.
It made me wonder if I had been explaining my mission clearly enough to people. Parenting differently with gratitude - but how? And what is the goal? Well, there really isn’t a goal. There’s only the person I want to be: the happy parent who shows up.
A long time ago probably right after the birth of my motherhood, I made the intention to be a better parent. To break the cycle that I had survived, and to be a kind, attentive mother who raised kind, compassionate kids.
Well, that lasted a while, but along the way the realities of modern motherhood woke the Kraken deep inside, revealing my childhood trauma and my firey Inner Critic, fueled by expansive self-doubt, and stoked by an even larger store of perfectionism.
The intention of being a “better parent” was actually making my day-to-day worse. It kept reminding me of just how much of a not-so-good parent I was - and I was losing the parts of me I loved as they were sucked into the black hole of negativity, resentment, and shame.
Let’s just say I had fallen to the level of my systems and those systems were unintentional parenting and basically one big ball of reactivity and yelling. You know — what I was modeled as a child.
I just wanted to be happy but all I felt like was a Bad Mom. Things had to change. The whole system was F-ed from the original intention down to the daily habits, I needed to start anew.
And so I decided my intention would be to be a happy person instead. If I was happy I knew all the other stuff would fall into place, it just had to. It took the focus off my kids and put it on me, this intention asked me to take a look at my triggers as well as look for things that were good AF about my life already.
With a new intention, I set out to change my “process” or the daily habits that kept me stuck in resentment and yelling because Damn It! my kids were a reflection of my success and things were not going well.
Spoiler Alert: I made it out of the Bad Mom cycle - and I have added habits along the way that only serve to solidify my happiness, I got rid of my Mom Guilt, and I became a better partner and mother along the way. Listed below are the steps I took — over three years mind you!
I hope that in time you too can take these steps and find a new collection of daily activities that help you to rise each morning feeling good AF and not like a failure because you no longer subscribe to the unreachable goal of Parent of the Year.
The new system:
Commit to daily gratitude. Take what can sometimes be a fleeting emotion, and teach your brain to embrace a more permanent state of grateful living.
The process:
Each step is anchored in a new skill (in parenthesis) that will help you to achieve each step over time.
For science-based activities and more on each skill join my 12-week free email series - and you will be guided through one skill a week.
Wake up a bit earlier, nothing crazy, just like 5 minutes earlier. (Courage)
Write down 10 things you are grateful for - this trains your brain away from the negativity bias. (Gratitude)
Remind yourself your children don’t know your past traumas or the emotional burdens you may carry. (Equanimity)
Then remind yourself that they are new to this planet. (Empathy)
Go through your day and observe your children with the same awe and wonder they observe the world. (Joy and Delight)
Start saying out loud the nice things that are already in your head. (Affirmations)
Begin noticing when you’re upset and what your expectations were at that moment. (Mindfulness)
Before you go to bed, go into your children’s rooms and look at their sleeping faces. Wish them well and feel your love for them intensely throughout your whole body. (Compassion)
Mentally list 3 things you're grateful for as you get into bed. (Courage)
Remind yourself of one thing that went well during the day. (Self Reflection)
Are you ready to set a new intention? If you are go ahead and do it now because that’s the easy part. Then you need the courage to change one daily habit, to commit to the compound effect of daily gratitude, and then watch over the coming year as your self-doubt, isolation, and shame dissapaer. And don’t forget - you are already a #GoodAFMom - Stef
25 Free Self Care Ideas
So if it’s not a trip to the nail salon then just what is self-care? And can I do it for free?
Self-care for mothers doesn’t mean running a bath because a certain product will “soothe” you — it means if you are going to take a bath doing so in a way that fills you up, in a way that supports your needs and wants at that moment in time.
Is it your need to have mom alone time? Then make sure your partner understands using solid communication that you can’t be interrupted for 60 minutes. In the end, it’s clear communication and asking for support that is self-care.
Do you want to take a moment to set goals for the next week? Then make sure you bring the items you need into the bathroom with you. Self-care here is having a plan and getting prepared for your week.
Maybe it’s the need to reset your nervous system with Enya and low lighting. If that’s the case make sure that you are set up for success and choose a time that will be a bit quieter in the house. That may mean no shared TV watching with your partner just this one night.
This is self-care. It’s a “choose yourself” mentality that gives us the opportunity to look at what is lacking in our roles are mothers (whether it’s needs or wants) and try to fulfill some of them. And it certainly should not be once a month — more like every few days. Maybe you sit in your car, turn up Britney Spears, and dance your head off on Monday, then drink an extra glass of water on Friday - if you feel cared for, then that’s good enough for this week.
If we look at self-care in the same light as we do caring for our children then we would not only meet our needs but also our wants and we can redefine it as self-mothering or simply just as CARE.
Below I provided a list of 25 ways to mother yourself on a weekly basis. My favorite is the one I do each week called Dad Fun Night. Every Monday night I disappear at 7:00 pm. Sometimes I leave the house, and sometimes I stay home but I become unavailable to the point where I wear noise-canceling headphones to make sure I am not sticking my fingers into any sticky situation that arises. My partner is in charge and I am gone.
Sometimes, my kids complain, and I say, “Why would you complain about Dad Fun Night!? What does Dad have planned that’s going to be fun?” and then I look at him because at least once a week he needs to figure it out — and over the years he has and he has created a new layer to the bond he has with our boys that maybe they wouldn’t have had.
So everyone benefits in the end, but it came from that first push, me saying, “I need one night where I’m not in charge.” That push was self-care.
take a look at the list. they’re all free and they’re all things that most of us can do. if you have more leave a comment below so that we can help each other out.
Health & Fitness
Add one glass of water to your day.
Dance party to college club music at nap time.
Meal prep yourself some easy, grab-and-go lunches for the week on Sunday.
Moisturize your hands after each diaper change hand wash.
Keep your toothbrush with your kids and brush when they brush.
Personal Development
Clean and organize one drawer.
Dress up or wear makeup “just because”.
Make a list of goals for the year - or month.
Sit in the car outside your house and jam out to your favorite song before going in.
Listen to a podcast on headphones, or put in earplugs while you make dinner, and put your partner in charge.
Spiritual
Follow the hashtag #artistmom on Instagram and fill your feed with color and beauty.
Make a list of gratitude every day.
Each lunch outside.
Look out the window and list all the colors you can find - see if your child can add any fun ones to the list.
Notice when things are beautiful, a certain melody, a colorful flower, a stranger’s kindness. Really pay attention to the good in our world.
Relationships
Ask your partner for support.
Ask your friends for support.
Teach your children the language of boundaries.
Establish an emoji that you can text to your partner when you feel worried, upset, or frustrated.
Maintain nap time, even after they drop their nap, as “quiet time”, set a timer for a reasonable amount of time.
Quality of Life
Ask a friend at the park to watch your kids for 10 minutes while you take a walk around the block, then take hers so she can do the same.
Take one night a week off completely. Disappear from view.
Take 30 min off your phone each day, put it on the charger, and in Do Not Disturb mode. Set a timer.
Lay on the couch and read a book for the entirety of nap time. Pick one day to do this weekly.
Make a recipe from your childhood.
Ready for more? Join my 12-week email series called Parenting with Gratitude. It’s free.
Parenting with Gratitude Email Series
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Parenting with Gratitude Email Series ☀️
Choose Yourself First - It's Not that Simple.
A choose yourself mindset does not mean to be selfish. It means to think through big decisions and remember that your opinion matters most.
Choose Yourself First!!? It’s not as simple as taking an afternoon off - motherhood doesn’t work that way - especially in the early years.
A “Choose Yourself First” mindset does not mean you sacrifice your kids’ happiness for your own either.
It just means taking a quick second to reflect on the things that are in your control and see if you like how they are going.
You decide for yourself if the events and/or people in your life are supported or deteriorating from your well-being. You don’t need to sacrifice yourself for other people’s or cultural opinions.
And that starts from day 1:
Who do I really want inside the birthing room?
Am I breastfeeding because I want to or because of the cultural pressure of “breast is best”?
Does bed sharing feel like the right choice? Or do I want them in a crib?
And then as they grow:
Am I potty training because I’m ready or because my mother said it was time?
Do I really need to go to swim class or is it making my afternoons too insane?
By choosing yourself first, your voice has an equal or more important seat at the table.
Parent differently with this genuine and curious mindset. You’ll be grateful you tried it.
Parent Differently in 12 Weeks
Parenting with gratitude is a practice. Use these activities to stay on track and train that brain!
The timing to establish a new habit varies wildly from person to person. Studies have shown people can learn a new habit in as little as 66 days - but for some, it can take over 200.
I think 12 weeks is a safe bet for most people - and so I put together a free email series called Parenting with Gratitude™. It takes you on a 12-week journey where you will learn new habits and fun activities to boost your well-being and lessen the stressors of parenting in the modern world.
I love this series - it is the basis of my upcoming book called Parenting with Gratitude™: Parent Differently in 12 Weeks and I put everything I have learned over the past 13 years of motherhood into it. I am living these practices on the daily and let me tell you things are better around here!
My readers love the series too! I have never opened a weekly email newsletter consistently and over 3 months - but MAMAS ARE DOING IT and its AMAZING! I am so excited that what I have to say resonates so much that for 3 months readers stick with me.
Not one parenting book has ever focused exclusively on gratitude, a well-studied emotional state, habit, and trait that has been proven to provide a variety of measurable benefits - decreased depression rates, increased immune function, and cognitive rewiring, all happening in measurable periods of time.
Making use of rich personal insights and evidence-based practices, the Parenting with Gratitudes™ email series (and eventually the book too!) takes the reader on a 12-week journey where they will learn to:
notice how great of a parent they already are,
learn to choose themselves first,
lower their expectations,
take ownership of parenting imperfectly,
and to remain calm amongst the chaos of modern life.
I hope you join me on this fun and action-packed journey! - Stef
The Struggle is Real
What is “benefit finding” and how does it work for my parenting life?
Parenting is not all roses and unicorns - this is obvious. So then why do we feel the need to show it off that way?
I hope that on this blog I can make it clear that being positive all the time is not the ultimate goal. My overall well-being and yours is the goal - not blind optimism.
So if you’re unhappy or feel like your wellness journey has been put on the back burner — or left in childless life — you’re in the right place. Burning out is something that happens to us all and these days it happens even faster than before BECAUSE of the perfect parenting messages we receive and our surrounded by on the daily.
I know you are an amazing parent.
You’re here reading this after all. I just think (myself included) that we forget to look at all the good things we do every day because the “bad” is so heavy and LOUD. When we hurt our kids it feels awful - like so, so bad. When we are tired we get triggered, when we have emotional baggage or trauma it comes out, when we are burned out we are not able to parent the way we want.
But you aren’t all bad - you are a loving and kind parent whose intentions are good — and because of that truth I also know there are a million things you are doing right each day. So by using a daily gratitude scan to notice the good we can fight the jump to mom-shame or self-doubt.
Here’s the kicker though - our parenting experience is also a growth opportunity and so we don’t ignore those tougher moments, the yelling the mom-tantrums, and/or apathy.
We must open to both the good and the bad - and allow space for both. Why? Well #1: because we all make mistakes and modeling making mistakes is just good parenting, especially if you follow up with an apology — but also #2: Because scientific magic happens when we acknowledge both our suffering AND our positive moments.
When we reside in difficult circumstances like the ongoing stress we have felt throughout the pandemic, if we are able to notice both our suffering and the silver lining of our circumstances and hold them as equally important we provide our brains the opportunity to grow what are called “benefit finding” muscles that support our overall resiliency.
What is Benefit-Finding? Well at its simplest definition it is finding the silver lining in tough situations - ones that may cause a significant amount of personal suffering.
From the book The Upside of Stress by health psychologist Kelly McGonigal, Ph.D.:
“To my ears, benefit finding sounds like the kind of positive thinking that tries to scurry away from the reality of suffering: Let’s look on the bright side so we don’t have to feel the pain or think about the loss.
But despite my own allergic reaction, this research doesn't suggest that the most helpful mindset is a Pollyannish insistence on turning everything bad into something good. Rather it’s the ability to notice the good as you cope with things that are difficult. In fact, being able to see both the good and the bad is associated with better long-term outcomes than focusing purely on the upside…Looking for the good in stress helps most when you are also able to realistically acknowledge whatever suffering is also present.”
Tough times are not a good thing - no one wishes pandemic parenting on you so you can grow. However, learning to accept that the tough times will be part of the whole modern parenting package and still see within them the good also helps with the feelings of helplessness. The helplessness that may be spurred by burnout - like there is not enough time or energy to do all that is demanded of you. When you can see your circumstances as both temporary and also beneficial (even in the smallest way) you can adjust your mindset enough to regain your footing.
This week has been tough for me - it wasn’t one major thing that happened but just a piling on of a lot. I felt heavy I wasn’t sleeping well. My office was a total mess. I felt out of routine and like my personal goals were not being met. It has been funky!! On top of that, every time my kids are sick and have to stay home from school (which this week happened) I go into pandemic whiplash — like: WHEN AM I EVER GONNA HAVE TIME FOR ME AGAIN!!
But by bringing a silver lining perspective to these types of days (or weeks) I can begin to find the way out of my funk. And I no longer fight my reality. These weeks happen, but compared to 2020 this is NOTHING! And I look at my feelings with curiosity. Is there anything I can do to help out myself? No, ok. Then what can I find in this week that is good and beneficial - oh, I am going to bed earlier because I am tired! Well, more sleep is always a good thing! I am can’t clean my office but I cleaned the dining table and worked there - so that clutter is gone yay! etc, etc.
Once I can find the silver lining it gives me the confidence needed to say “This is temporary!” then I step into a more equanimous outlook: It is what it is, for now! I will ride this out and use my gratitude practice to gain some much-needed perspective. My kids are happy and healthy my extended family, the same. We live in a beautiful place and have 3 adorable happy cats. I have access to clean water and get to exercise every single day - and take a shower!! (which back in the baby days I would have died for).
Things are both good and not so good - and that O.K. right now.
Share where you are at in the comments below! -Stef
Faith to Parent Differently
Change doesn’t happen overnight - if you are choosing to parent differently you better read this.
Parenting differently takes faith. Faith that your actions each day are enough, that your intention is enough, that your love for your children is enough.
Parenting differently is not easy, but I choose it anyway. I choose it even though trauma may be baked into 3 generations of DNA, the cycle stops with me. And I will do my best to make the most difference I can in ONE generation.
But the effects of positive generational change are very hard to see. That’s where the faith comes in.
When you have the faith to parent differently you don’t need proof that you are making a difference because your actions each day are enough. And so your intention to parent differently becomes your motivation and inspiration. And the ways you find to meet your needs become your fuel and you discover with each passing year that it’s enough and that you are enough too. Watch the video for more. - Stef
The Modern Baby Book
Tired of empty baby books? Get the memory box that grows with the amount of time you have to reflect and remember.
Baby Love Letters was born from the desire to leave a story for my children. At 8 and 12, their baby books were pretty much empty and there was no going back. But they were still growing and doing fun and memorable things. So how do you make sure to record both the baby years and beyond, and with what time?
Since I now shower regularly I decided that I had time to write letters to them. These letters would be a nice replacement to the empty baby book years….until I discovered that even for a writer, writing the letters was tedious and I felt like I didn’t know what to say.
Motherhood is always filled with answers though, and on a road trip I was suddenly inspired - I would make mad-libs-style letters that anyone could fill out in a few minutes and add them to the box - perfect for toddlerhood AND teenagerland.
I would also include simple writing prompts - and finally a bunch of Thank You notes because it was very easy for me to be grateful to my kids. They had brought so much joy and love into my life and a letter of gratitude never was as hard as the blank page.
So many people tell you to enjoy every minute with your babies before they grow - and well, looking back I do miss their little faces but in the moments where I could barely figure out laundry and dinner if you told me to enjoy the moments NO that would have not gone down so great for you - so the idea of writing letters or long entries in a baby book HA!
But I could have definitely thrown a few things in a memory box 😂 And when I was feeling a little extra maybe write a short loving note. And so that’s the story of how I designed Baby Love Letters — to be a modern take on the baby book. This is not a sprint after all its a marathon and the memories don’t stop when they head off to school.
There are pretty pieces of stationery for that note you will write after 5th-grade graduation and the one on their 13th birthday. And while things are hairy, use one of the supplied prompts, write a short thank-you note, or just throw their preschool diploma or baby teeth (ew? 🤷🏼♀️) inside. And as they grow up the box will grow with you.
Obviously, Baby Love Letters make a great shower gift, duh - but buy it for yourself because you need a place for all those memories too!
How to Overcome Gratitude Resistance
What is holding you back from starting a gratitude practice?
Let’s talk about gratitude resistance. I know I’ve got to do it, I’ve read all the pieces that tell me it will rewire my brain, but I just can’t get started.
You know that a daily gratitude practice will change your parenting mindset and you even know that it doesn’t take much time but you still can't get started?
Still, holding out? Bring curiosity to it. Curiosity is the key to overcoming resistance.
Check-in with yourself. Are you afraid to ask, “Why won’t I do this for me?”
We are all afraid to dig deeper under the resistance because it could mean that we'd have to pause. We'd have to take a break from all our running around, our busy, busy world, and in that pause maybe we will notice that our lives are not working for us? Oops.
I don’t want to go there and drown. So let’s not. Let’s find a way to be curious without drowning in the unmet needs we are not ready to poke at yet.
Instead, let’s focus on the results of that daily gratitude practice. I swear that once you feel the results of daily gratitude the big existential questions get answered!
So let’s swap being afraid of what will be uncovered and get excited for what may come. Scientists say more small moments of positivity make the biggest impact on our mindset and well-being. And excitement is a small positive moment. So is gratitude. And the process of self-reflection can help you to find more moments just watch.
Maybe your curious moment is as simple as asking: Just what did I miss yesterday that I can savor today? What have I already forgotten?
And so you get excited about discovering the result. This is the beginning of turning your brain towards positivity and pulling your focus away from the negative. Because when you do, your daily gratitude practice will train your brain to see how great of a mother you already are. And I want that for you.
I know from my personal experience, that my life has dramatically changed since I started to pause and reflect. Sure I do not have toddlers anymore and my kids are in school. But my kids have been in school all day for six years. And during those six years, three of them I was a mess. I was not delegating. I was not choosing myself first. And I certainly wasn't communicating with my partner.
The need for self-care is real. It’s giving yourself the space to look at your resistance and say Ok! I am ready for a change. And self-care is not sitting in a bathtub either. It's when you're in that tub, and you have the space enough to do the self-reflection needed — then you make an intention, and maybe that intention to ask for help. Maybe that is exactly the motivation you need to talk about daily chores in the household with your partner.
Self-care is about action, it’s about taking the next steps after you've carved out that small moment of peace.
So I will leave you with that. And I hope that this week, you sit down with yourself and ask “Am I taking care?” and “Where I am excited to get started?”
And if you're looking for a simple place to start find a way to insert gratitude into your daily routine. Five days of the week. Just do it because the compound effect of doing it every day will kick in I promise, but it won't kick in if you don't start. Good luck. - Stef