Develop Your True Self Throughout Parenting

The belief of identifying who your "true self" is a shared perspective among many cultures, who recognize the authentic self is both good and moral. With this belief, it emphasizes that anyone can grow and change for the better, no matter your past, to eventually succeed in achieving well-balanced mental health and happiness.

However, discovering your true authentic self is can be difficult when you're a parent, since you're on a personal journey but also guiding and loving your children. The beauty of self-discovery is that you must incorporate your loved ones to help you fulfill your best human potential.

Be Grateful

When we're grateful, we're able to form new social relations and strengthen old ones. Our brains become conditioned to seek and identify the positives, which becomes a great coping strategy when we become faced by stressors.

Parenting and life, in general, is hard. With so many ups and downs, it can be hard to isolate what exactly we should be grateful for. However, children are naturally mindful in the way that they are genuinely curious and excited about life. Parents can reflect on what their children are grateful for, to help be reminded of how beautiful life really is.

Set Goals

When one thinks of goal setting, they might think of the generic steps of becoming academically or professionally successful. It's easy to think of success in terms of finances or getting material things. But setting goals in order to achieve happiness can be an influential motivator to help you discover your true self throughout parenting.

Most of us think that in order to be a good parent, our personal needs should be placed last, after the children and spouse's happiness. However, in order to be your best self, it's important to take the steps in acknowledging what you need and value, and then make the goals to follow suit.

Personal Awareness

Parents are intuitively in tune with their children's emotional, mental, physical, social, and spiritual needs. Right from infancy, parental instincts naturally kick into full gear, so we know how to recognize and adapt to our child's growing needs. What most parents might not realize is those instincts that are working in overdrive to help us care for our children, are the same ones that can be used in our own personal awareness.

Emotional intelligence helps us to recognize and understand our body cues, emotions, behaviors, needs, and values while being aware of how it impacts us and our loved ones. Once one recognizes, understands, and expresses needs in a healthy way,  is when the parent can begin to identify their true self.

Have a Purpose

Sometimes, a parent might feel like they've lost who they were, or feel stuck. In order to keep moving forward, it can be helpful to be reminded of how special being a parent really is.

Yet sometimes "just being a parent" doesn't feel meaningful enough... and that's okay. Discovering your true self implies finding what your own personalized purpose is, and then pursuing it. Whether it's financial or professional success, altruistic work, traveling the world, or advocating for a cause: this purpose belongs to you and no one else.

Laugh Daily

Laughing truly is the best medicine in helping us feel good, be authentic, and being comfortable with ourselves. In fact, The Harvard Mahoney Neuroscience Institute states that our brain releases neurotransmitter chemicals such as dopamine, serotonin, and endorphins each time we laugh.

Finding a reason to laugh daily isn't as difficult as you might think. Parents can look to their children, the experts of silliness, for a dose of comedic relief. There are also more sophisticated ways to attain a few giggles throughout the day: being silly with your partner, exchanging funny one-liners with your co-workers, or turning on a comedy special on Netflix.

Make Time For You

Now that you've begun to realize your true potential by acknowledging your true self, you might feel like it's time to hit the ground running. With so many ideas of how to apply your purpose, chasing after what feels real, and setting personal goals, it can be an intoxicating feeling.

However, as great as it feels to be on top of the world, it's essential to maintain a healthy consistency of doing things solely for your well-being. Even when you feel like everything is going right, whether personally or along  your parenting journey, it's important to keep in mind: "you can't drink from an empty cup." Self-care should be your focus whenever possible.

Source: https://www.moms.com/ways-develop-true-self-parenting/

Create a Healthy, Happy Relationships with Your Kid's Pre-School Teacher

Have you ever looked at those teacher gift suggestions and thought to yourself, "I wonder if a teacher actually wants something like this or if they'd rather I just give them a gift card"? Now, have you ever wondered about what a teacher wants from parents outside the realm of appreciation presents? Teachers, particularly pre-school teachers, don't go into the field for the glory or the money, they go into it because they have a passion for it and that means they want to make a difference, but they can't do that without the parents help. They want parents to be involved, but in a way that's helpful, not demeaning.

Do: Get To Know Them

Your child's pre-school teacher is (gasp) more than just a teacher. As it turns out, they have a life outside of their job which often impacts who they are as a teacher and the lessons they teach. Your child spends so much of their time with this person (who has likely grown to really love your kid) so they want you to know who they are as a person and as a teacher. No two teachers are exactly alike, and when you understand your child's teacher, you'll be able to better understand their teaching style and trust them a little more.

Don’t: Expect An Email Reply After Hours

Your child's teacher may have a great relationship with you and love your kid (your kid may even be their absolute favorite) but that doesn't mean your child is a higher priority to them than their own life. You don't want to have to answer work emails or calls after hours, and neither does your child's teacher. You're welcome to send them messages during those hours if that's the only time you are able to do it with your own personal schedule, but don't expect a reply until the next business day.

Do: Ask for Ways To Help Your Kid at Home

Teachers love parents who are engaged and want to help their child succeed. When a parent actually shows interest in their child's education, teachers know that the child has a much higher chance at succeeding and mastering a skill than a child whose parents aren't involved. So, if you're interested in figuring out what the kids are doing in class so that you can help encourage the same behavior/lessons at home - ask! The teacher will be happy to fill you in and give you tips for helping at home.

Don’t: Blame the Teacher for Your Kid’s Behavior Problems

As much as your pre-school teacher is trained and knowledgeable in running a class full of crazy kids, they're still human and there's only so much they can do to control individual behavior. If your child's teacher sees misbehaving, then they will do whatever they can to correct it, but the fact is that there are usually 6 kids to one teacher and they only have so much power. Your child will likely pick up bad behavior from other kids in class, and other kids will pick it up from your child, too. Don't blame the teacher, instead, just send a note letting them know you're working on this behavior at home and you'd like their support to watch for it in school. Chances are good the teacher will be more than happy to help.

Are you a ‘Snowplowing Parent’? Find Out!

We’ve heard of helicopter parents and we have heard of free-range parents but now it’s time to make way for another breed of parents: the snowplowing ones. That’s right: these are the kind of parents who are willing and ready to bulldoze their way to ensure that their child will always have what they need, regardless of what age they are.

They are also the kind of parents who will stop at nothing to ensure their children’s success. With that said, here are ten signs that suggest you might be a snowplowing parent. Some people act this way without even realizing it. Here’s what you need to know.

YOU SCHEDULE THEIR APPOINTMENTS

If you have an adult child that still needs you to make all of their doctor and dentist appointments for them, then you don’t have an adult child. You have a child, period. And let us let you in on a little secret here: there are pediatricians out there who refuse to see children who are older than the age of 18, so they might be out of luck here.

If you have to also schedule their oil change and tire rotations, then perhaps your adult child isn’t mature enough to own a vehicle of their own yet. Let them make the call!

YOUR KIDS DON'T DO CHORES

It doesn’t matter what age your children are, but if you find yourself often picking up after them, cleaning their rooms and doing their laundry, then you are one tired parent who needs a break! No parent should step in and do their child’s chores, especially if its their responsibility.

Children should be taught at a very early age to pick up after themselves and help around the house. The last thing you want to do is raise a lazy child who doesn’t know where the trash bin in the house is. That, or not know how to do the laundry on their first day of college.

YOU ‘SERVE’ THEM

While there’s no doubt that a good parent wants to make sure that their child grows up in a loving home where they feel both secured and warm, you don’t want to be that kind of parent who does every little thing for them.

Yes, small kids need assistance when it comes to meals. But at some point they should learn how to help set up the table and help clean the table after a family meal, too. If you find yourself often “serving” your kids, it’s time they find where the dishes are in your kitchen cabinets themselves, right?





Source: https://www.moms.com/signs-snowplowing-parent-stop/