Reconnect With Your Family
Let’s face it
Parenting stretches us and it’s not always pretty. We can end up feeling pretty disconnected from our kids.
As Jon and Myla Kabat-Zinn said in their book, Everyday Blessings: The Inner Work of Mindful Parenting -
“Parenting is a mirror in which we get to see the best of ourselves and the worst; the richest moments and the most frightening.”
We have the best of intentions to respond with love to the people that matter the most, right? So how do they end up getting “the worst” or “most frightening” parts of us?
The answer lies in our body’s threat detection system, aka stress response. In today’s world it is working overtime to protect us.
Even though you are bigger than them (at least for the time being), it is possible for our children’s actions to trigger a cascade of biological reponses in us that cause us to react from a place of fear, not respond from a place of love.
This doesn’t mean you are destined to be disconnected from your kids forever and…
Lie awake in the middle of the night replaying how it could have gone differently.
Feel guilt and shame about how you reacted.
Worry about your connection with them all the time.
Question your ability to even be a parent.
Never be their safe place to land.
While we can’t predict what life will throw at us, we do have the power to help ourselves and our children respond differently.
You can reconnect with your kids and
they can reconnect with you.
You can own your reactions and leave
the parent guilt behind.
You can have the relationship that
you’ve been longing to have with them.
If you're ready to...
Stop snapping at your kids and have them stop snapping at you.
Tap into your power to own the way you show up for and respond to your kids
Model a healthy way to respond to life’s stressors for your kids and practice them together.
Expand your awareness about your body and its reponses.
Then…it’s time to RECONNECT.
Here’s a sneak peak of an easy and effective tool you can use to de-stress and stay calm with your kids, providing time to reconnect. This technique is also one your children can use to calm themselves when they’re upset.
