The Parenting Coach

Just for today, why not focus completely on all your child’s strengths and special abilities.  Write them all down and read them out loud.  Once you’ve read them out loud once, read your list again only with more passion.  I promise you the things that bother you will fade and his/her strengths will be what you see mostly. 

To continue the exercise, write something positive everyday about your child or each of your children.  See what happens.

I wanted to let everyone know that I’ll be leading an information packed teleclass on “Parenting Your Preschooler” on Thursday, April 12th at 9pm Eastern.  Once you’ve signed up, I’ll send you the number to call and some guidelines around teleclasses. The cost of the class is $20.  I’ll be leaving time at the end for Q & A so bring your questions. ”See” you on the call!

To register, go to the homepage and there’s a link on the top, right corner of the page .

This weekend I spent some time de-cluttering and my gosh it feels good.  I had a few disorganized piles in my office that badly needed sorting through.  I threw a whole pile of papers in the recyling bin, created a few new files for things that didn’t seem to have a home and cleaned off my main surface.  My office is now clean, dust free and organized.  It wasn’t out of control before but it definately wasn’t the way I wanted it.  I now need to go through the big pile of CD’s that sit beside me on the counter.  I  need to come up with a better system and I will.

 What has de-cluttering have to do with parenting?  Living in a cluttered space is one of the many things we tolerate.  As I’ve mentioned before, tolerations weigh us down and slowly eliminating them creates space and lightness.  When you’ve attended to some of the things you’re tolerating, it gives you a sense of accomplishment.  It’s satisfying.  Anything that creates space for us contributes to our general sense of well-being and our kids always benefit when we feel some weight has been lifted from us. 

When we attend to our messes, we also set an example.  We’re approaching spring.  What a great time to start doing a little de-cluttering.  Do the kids’ rooms need going through?  Is it time for some re-organziing?  Have they grown out of some of their toys?  When my kids were small I went through their rooms from top to bottom once a year and got rid of clothes that were too small, toys that were broken, toys that were no longer suitable and sorted through a lot of stray art work and school papers that would accumulate. 

These jobs that hang over us never take as long as we anticipate.  In two hours I had my office in ship shape yesterday!

I have recently teamed up with three other coaches to create a website that will teach people how to apply the Law of Attraction to every area of their life.  We are hosting a FR*EE teleclass on Wednesday, March 21st @ 9pm EST.  You’ll go away with tools you can immediately start applying to gain more of what you want in your life.  I will be talking about the LOA and how it applies parenting.  All of us have been studying this powerful universal law for several years and feel led to share with you.  Log on to http://www.universityofprosperity.net to sign up.  Can you think of a better way to launch into spring?

I happen to one of the hundreds of thousands of people (mostly women) who have discovered scrapbooking.  Although I don’t do it as often as I’d like, I’m proud of the books I’ve put together and thoroughly enjoy working on the one I’m doing now.  A couple of years ago I put a scrapbook together of my daughter’s elementary school years and now I’m working on my son’s.  He’s now 17 so it’s fun creating pages of his birthday party when he turned 7 and his many team pictures from soccer, soft ball and hockey. 

Many scrapbook stores have crop nights where you can scrapbook until midnight.  I went to my first one last night and sat with several other women who were all putting together pages that showed off their kids in some way.  The woman sitting across from me was doing a page of her daughter when she lost her first tooth and she even had the tooth to add to the page! 

  A big part of scrapbooking is telling the stories that go along with the pictures. It’s call journaling.  So many pictures have a story to go with them.  Those stories become treasures when your kids grow up. I’ve also included art work and written pieces with their early printing. I’ve included a paragrah Marc wrote when he was 8 where he said that he was “pretty good at drawing but not so good at art…” Everything is done on acid free paper so the books will last forever. 

Scrapbooking has helped provide me with much needed balance.  It’s a complete departure from my work and allows me to be creative.  It can be quite addicting and while you’re doing it the time flies. I couldn’t believe it last night when the woman running the store told us it was 11:30!   If you’re looking for a way to preserve memories, I can’t think of a better way. 

I recently led a teleclass called “Street Proofing Your Deaf Child”.  While I was preparing for the class I decided to call a police officer just to ask what he/she would advise. I knew for the most part street proofing a deaf child is the same as street proofing any child.

Here are the tips the police officer gave me:

1. Always listen to your inside voice.
2. If you’re scared always find a safe adult.
3. Never go off with anyone you don’t know.
4. Don’t pick up needles or items you’re curious about such as pill bottles.
5. Don’t wear clothing with your name on it.  Predators will say:  “Oh I remember you from….”
6. Always be with a friend to give you a feeling of safety.
7. Have a general awareness of your surroundings.
8. Always have a plan if you get into trouble.
9. Walk the street with confidence.  If you look like a victim, you are more likely to be approached.