Oh Boy! Here we go....

Ok so the question is, when do you start dealing with facts but not hurt your child's feelings. Let's say your beautiful perfect child wants to sing but can't hold a pitch. You have seen it over and over again in the audition stages of American Idol. The worst singer in the world gets in front of the judges and says my family and friends think I'm the greatest. We sit at home and think "how cruel" if you were a "real" friend wouldn't you tell the truth? So here I go....as a good spiritual mom I have taught my kids that the sky is the limit and they can do anything. They are perfect and blessed! PROBLEM...life isn't fair...oh God, why can't life be fair. How crushed they are when rules "rule". I feel like such a liar! I bring up all of the wonderful things they are, I let them know how incredible they are but that no one is perfect...WAIT...I've been telling them that they are perfect FOREVER....OH no! All I can say is....these are some painful years. Love, Joy, Tears and Fears. I wish I were perfect:)

Do Bad Things Happen to Good People for a Reason?

Ok...a popular philosophy is that we attract things to us, both good and bad. Although I agree with that, I also think that sometimes bad things just happen to good people. I seriously don't believe that we attract all car accidents, all sickness, murder, etc. to ourselves. I know this is not a popular thought in some of my friend's circles but I really don't care...thought is thought, and this is mine. Here is where I DO THINK WE ATTRACT...I think once something bad has happened we attract an end result. We can attract a good lesson, a better outcome, a healthier lifestyle, friendships and many other things. Why am I talking on this subject? Well here is what happened:

My daughters facebook page was hacked and some pretty nasty things were posted. It was only up for about nine minutes, but by that time several boys in her class had posted other off color remarks. She was mortified! She didn't want to go to school and she was sure that she would be teased. She cried and said "I'm always so nice to people why did they do that to me?" So here is where the Spiritual Parenting kicked in. I said to her, "You have attracted good friends and people who know you well enough to know that you would have never posted anything bad". I want you to go to school, keep your head held high, be an example of grace AND EXPECT to have a good day.

I of course was nervous all day wondering what was happening to my dear girl. When she came home I asked her how the day went and she said "Great." I asked her if anyone said anything good or bad to her and she replied, "No one said anything bad and my friends all told me that they knew I wouldn't ever say anything like that."   YAY!!!! Mom can breathe again....

Spiritual Parenting-

They create their own world:

(how wonderful & terrifying all at the same time)

            I am a mother of a now adult step-daughter (22 years old), a 14 year old daughter and a 13 year old son. I was introduced to the Unity Church in 2001.  Unity is one of many churches that teach “New Thought” principals.  After immersing myself in the study of Unity and New Thought Philosophy I started thinking to myself AND out loud… this is great stuff!  I wished that I could take what I was learning and translate it into parenting. To be honest, a lot of what I was reading was pretty sophisticated for my then 3yr old son and 4 yr old daughter.  I thought maybe my 13 year old step daughter would get it but she really just wasn't interested.  I looked for materials to help me and didn’t seem to find exactly what I needed.  Years later I looked back and realized that I have been translating these principals all along and they have been a huge success in the lives of my children (So far, so good!). One of the keys is just consistantly living the principles your self and talking about it to your kids. Leading by example, knowing full well that I would not always be a perfect example. But that is kind of the point...recognizing and communicating to your kids that you can falter, be aware of it and do things differently the next time. I believe that I create my world and I am responsible for the results. My children are creators as well and they know it. I think this is the most important lesson I have taught them.

No More Wake Up Calls

One of the kids stocking stuffers this year was an alarm clock. Since today was the first day back to school I decided that it was the perfect time to use their new gift.  I helped them set their clocks last night. Basically they set them and then I checked to be sure that the were correct...especially the "am" and "pm" settings. I told them that they were on their own this morning and I was sleeping in. I woke up, heard their foot steps upstairs and slept an extra 15 minutes. They did a GREAT job! Both up and out on time. Day one was a success!

A New Year

My goal for this New Year is to start fresh...and I MEAN FRESH. Furniture re-arranged, drawers cleaned out, finances in order (and PAID OFF) and calendar organized. I enlisted very little help from the husband or the kids, just an extra hand here and there. I'm not sure if this was a good idea but it seemed right at the moment. Maybe I should have asked for more so that they would feel ownership in keeping it up. We'll see....Today I am having them do a little more and I will admit that they both thanked me and hugged me yesterday. I was grateful for the hugs and thank you's but I did tell my son that it would have been nice for him to ask if there was anything he could help me with....maybe next time....