Parenting Archives - Page 2 of 158

What’s In Your Journal?

December 4, 2018 By: Nanette

Do you journal? What does your journal look like? Is it a home to dump all the negative or a journal of your daily successes and accomplishments? Is it a simple book or is it one filled with colorful stickers and doodles?

Mine is a simple little red notebook, no doodles or stickers just a place for me to dump all my thoughts. My handwriting is so bad, I’m probably the only person who could read it and even I have trouble sometimes.

Why Journal?

After the Confidence Workshop in late September, I began journaling. I had given it a try before and felt like it just wasn’t for me. However, I gave it another try and this time, I realized the power of it. I was able to put all the negativity that clouded my mind down on the page, put it aside on my nightstand and leave it there. It wouldn’t follow me around all day, keeping me from doing the things I should and wanted to. The negative thinking wouldn’t hold me back.

Sometimes I find myself writing only the negative stuff maybe just to get it out I don’t know but then I look back and think, Stop it! Your life is good, be grateful for it.

Yes, I have bad days, we all do but is that what I want to go back and read in a year or two, or even in a week? No, I don’t!

I want to go back and read what I loved about today, yes it’s ok to write out the negative stuff to get it out of my head but then replace it with the good. Find the joy in my heart. What am I proud of today?
What brings me joy today?

I Must Be Doing Something Right

I’ll tell you one thing, I am proud of my baby girl today. I’m always proud of her. Today she sent me a message that warmed my heart. Sometimes I fear I’m failing her as a parent, today her words reassured me I am not. She is growing up strong, intelligent and kind, able to be as happy for others and their successes as she is for her own.

The Power of Womanhood

This is the kind of woman I want her to grow up to be, one who is supportive of another woman, encouraging and uplifting rather than competing. This is the power of womanhood.

Today again I am a proud mom!

How To Put Negativity Out of Your Mind

October 17, 2018 By: Nanette

We all have rough days, some days worse than others. Some days negativity comes from those around us but somedays, we do it to ourselves. We let the negative thinking take over.

Recently, I asked some friends about how they handle it because I was having one of those days. The advice and tips they gave me were so loving, kind and helpful that I wanted to share them with you. You just never know when you’re going to have to put negativity out of your mind.

Dealing with Negativity

Self-care – do something to feed your soul. Don’t do it for any other reason than it makes you feel good.

Be a duck! – That may sound silly but it was good advice. Let the negativity roll off like water on a duck’s back.

My sister has been using that one for years, how could I forget that?

Focus on the Good – Be grateful for the day and move forward with a smile. Too many people have trouble seeing the good that surrounds them. Look for simple things to be grateful for and look for the wonder in small things (little hands, a leaf, wildflowers). It may sound silly but it really did help.

Positivity – Remove yourself from the negativity and surround yourself with positive people who lift your spirits.

Meditation – Close your eyes and be quiet with your thoughts.

Read your Bible – When you’re feeling low, God’s word reminds you how much you are loved and how precious you are to Him.

Music – Listen to music that makes you happy, that gets your toes tapping and your heart singing. It’s amazing how music can change how you feel so quickly.

Learn from it, then move past it – Sometimes the negative can make you stronger, you can learn from it, and then move past it.

Journaling – dump all the negativity that surrounds you onto paper. Let it stay there instead of allowing it to weigh on you.

I hope the next time you are surrounded by negativity, you remember these tips and they help you put the negative thoughts in their place and move past them.

The Woman Within

September 19, 2018 By: Nanette

So many women who become moms lose sight of the woman they once were. That’s not to say they don’t love their life as a mother but at some point, every woman feels lost within the motherhood that surrounds hers. Has this happened to you?

The woman you once were whether physically, emotionally or mentally is no longer.

You look at yourself in the mirror and see only the tiredness of the day or long nights wearing on your face.

You look in the mirror and see a body you don’t recognize.

You look at yourself and rather than see the beauty your husband and children see when they look at you, you see the battle scars of carrying a child within you, the sleepless nights, the wear and tear visible on your hands from the endless piles of dishes and laundry.

Yet, in your mind, there is a woman,

the woman you once viewed yourself as.

The woman who was strong, and brave.

The woman who believed she could change the world with her words, or her actions.

You need to realize that that woman, that woman of strength and courage still remains.

Hidden behind the tired eyes, the not so perfect body, behind the scars of illness she is still there. You are still there.

Our strength and our might as women may look different now, at 30, at 40, at 50 but it is still strength and even stronger than before. Even more beautiful than before, for we as women have grown not only in strength but in love for more than who we once were.

For now, we are mothers, givers of unconditional love and it is within that, that true beauty lies.

I see your beauty.

Now see it for yourself.

Photo by Leon Biss on Unsplash