Growing Up

 

As a child, I dreaded mornings.  They were always a mad dash to get dressed, brush our teeth, and get out the door.  Whether it was for school, activities, or even church, most mornings ended up with huffs and puffs, raised voices, and a lot of frustration.  Just thinking of this makes me cringe. I swore as a child I would not be that way when I grew up. And while I do have a major pet peeve for people who are late, I had fallen right back into my childhood chaos filled mornings with my own children.  I absolutely hated it.  

 

I keep trying to figure out how it is that I have allowed for this to happen.  Laziness? Probably. Exhaustion? Definitely. Honestly, it’s just a massive combination between so many different contributing factors.  Regardless though, I am ashamed and upset I have created this for my children. As parents we always want our children to have better than we had and I swore that I would do that.  

BUT, with that being said, this has only lit a fire under my butt because I want better!  Which brings me to some basic questions that I have needed to answer to set up my game plan and goals.  

 

What exactly is it I want to change?  What do I want to replace the negativity with?  How was I going to achieve this during one of our most challenging times of the day?  I have been reading a book lately, called “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families”, that has inspired me to start the day with a gratitude journal.  

The light bulb went off!  This was going to be the change I was yearning for.  I looked frantically around my house for my spiral notebook.  If you know me, you know I am a list maker. I had ideas firing in my head and I couldn’t find my damn notebook!  I came across my daughters notebook that she uses for doodling and practicing her spelling words and began writing and writing between her pages and stories and began my list making.  

 

I knew I wanted to make it fun as well a little bit of work and brainstorming.  I ended up creating 5 sections that I wanted to include on my daughters worksheets. 

1. 3 things I am grateful for.

-this is pretty basic.  I am OK with it being the same 3 things every day.  Or we can talk 

about different things to list daily.  

2. Goal of the day.

-this is something that we can think of that would not only be a positive experience for 

ourselves, but for others as well.  But most importantly, it is something to keep on our 

minds and remember throughout the day to try to achieve.  

3. Journal prompt.

-This is a question that I prepare daily to encourage thinking positively and promote a 

deeper conversation for us to explore and expand on. 

4. Draw a picture that makes your heart happy.

-both of my daughters enjoy doodling and drawing so I knew I wanted to create a space 

for them to do that.  The picture usually ends up being one of the things they are grateful 

for, and I just love that!

5. Joke of the day.

-I really enjoy that we end this with a smile and a giggle.  What better way to create a 

positive experience than that?

I am so happy with the worksheets I have created and my daughters like them, too.  I do sometimes kick myself for waiting this long to create something like this. But something I have to give myself credit for is that I was doing the best I could with the situation I was in.  I was a full time working Mama, and let me tell you, that is HARD! I have been so blessed, after the many years of work I put in, to have the opportunity to stay home with my children now. Though being a full time working Mama has many challenges and a level of exhaustion I have never ever experienced in my life, being a stay at home Mama isn’t as easy as I thought it would be.  But we will dabble into that another time. Back to the length of time it has taken me to get to this point.  

I do struggle with the fact that my older child is somewhat getting the short end of the stick.  But that doesn’t mean that I cannot introduce this concept to her now.  I am glad, however, that as a 7 year old, she is learning the skills that adults older than me search for.  Affirmations, positive thinking, and the law of attractions are terms I had never heard of until I was in my late 20’s.  I hope that in doing these things at such a young age, I can help my children create a habit of creating and embracing positivity in their lives.  Just that alone would give them, and myself, great peace in their hearts and minds.  

 

I truly believe that making a few small changes during the start of our day improves the overall flow and feel.  I have noticed a difference in my home, and I wish the same for you if this is something you are also struggling with.  If you are, try the gratitude journal I have created, cut out that unnecessary TV time and connect with your kiddos in the morning through chats and giggles and often lead to hugs and kisses.  It’s worth it! I promise!

Click HERE if you’d like a free copy of the gratitude journal I have created for this upcoming week.