Have a Life and Still Be a Great Parent

An important part of becoming a life coach is creating a great life for yourself. We can’t coach our clients on having having the life they want if we don’t have one ourselves. I also can’t coach parents on how to be the parents they want to be if I’m not mother I want to be. I’ve made mistakes along the way but I know I’ve done an excellent job. It’s the job I feel the most proud of.

What has been one of the main factors in making me the parent I want to be? I learned very early on that if I was happy, so was my family. I remember soon after I had my first child a friend told me about aerobic classes that were being offered at our local community centre and they had a new childcare facility. I loved the idea of being able to work out, meet new people and have my baby cared for all under the same roof. I ended up going three times a week for thirteen years! I met lots of moms who all had babies the same age. A group of us became friends and had coffee together after the class before picking up our babies. Our babies grew to toddlers, then became preschoolers and soon they were all off to school but we continued . The exercise relieved stress, kept me in shape, helped me sleep better and the friendships kept me connected to the adult world. Our kids also made friends with each other. Because I’ve always taken the time to take care of myself, I’m more patient, less irritable, more fun to be around and better able to let go of things that aren’t important. My excercise program now is regular walking with one of my good friends, yoga and three times a week at “Curves.”

While my kids were small, I read lots of parenting books and other self-help books but seldom read novels. I decided to start a book club as a way to motivate myself to read more novels and create social time with friends that were important to me. That was five years ago and our book club is still going strong. There are six of us who meet monthly taking turns hosting. We all love it and have read some fabulous books that have stimulted some great discussion. It also provides an opportunity to share the ups and downs of our lives.

Purposely creating a life of my own, I know has made me a better mom. I have more to give my family; the most important people in my life. My kids deserve a mother who is at peace with herself and pleasant and fun to be around. My husband deserves a wife who has a life of her own and isn’t carrying around resentments.

I’m getting ready to put my workshop “How to Have a Life and Still Be a Great Parent” into an audio seminar. Watch for it coming out soon.