EN#002: How I went from being an impatient mom to a patient mom with this exercise

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Hey 👋 - How have you been?

Enjoying the rains! or its still hot in your area?

Parenting can get tough sometimes, there is so much to handle.

We feel lost and directionless. I have been in such situations where I have felt helpless.

It’s easy for our minds to get stuck in the rut of negative self-talk.

The result:

• You feel out of control

• You feel powerless

• You are angry

We all go through this and we generally find our way out in few days. But we end up doing a lot of damage to our mental health.

I was uncomfortable with the way I was reacting to my son in certain situations.

I wanted to change this in me.

One day I consciously reacted positively to a situation that generally makes me angry.

So in the morning instead of telling him " Wake up or you will be late to class" I chose to say , "Looks Like a beautiful day today, what are your plans?"

It was very powerful, Adi was quick to wake up and actually shared his plan with me for the day.

I started applying this to many other situations and made a list of affirmations that helps me be calmer.

Magically, I am able to pause before I react.

I have made a practice to go over the affirmations every night before I go to sleep.

See below some examples of positive affirmations:

• I am the best mom/dad for my kid

• I trust my kid's intentions

• I will do what I can

Once you repeat these, you will realise how your brain is getting calmer and more accepting of your situations.

I have created 80 affirmations cards for free for parents to help them feel stronger and in control.

Find the link at the bottom of this page.

Last time, I mentioned to you about conundrums.

What are Conundrums?

Conundrums present students with open-ended ethical questions that kids may not come across in a regular lesson plan.

I learnt about conundrums when I came across the learning app Class Dojo.

This is basically a learning series with activities that introduce the challenging idea that not all problems have a clear right answer.

Sounds interesting right!!

Let me try this Pizza Conundrum with you from Class Dojo.

There are these two pizza places tha want to move in the same part of the growing town but there is only one place for rent available.

How should the town decide which pizza place moves in?

• a) Early Bird (The pizza place that comes to rent the place first)

• b) Flip a Coin (Both places have the same chances )

• c) Highest Bidder (The place that pays the most)

• d) Best Taste ( Town leaders get to taste the pizza from both places and they decide)

So, which option did you choose? and why?

Remember there is no right or wrong answer.

If you want to learn more about Conundrums, do check out my blog (link at the bottom)

You can create your own conundrum and try out with your kid

There is something Adi and I love to do together, we go for these walks in the evenings. Sometimes we make a list of things we need or sometimes just to go around the market casually.

Every city has these different market areas, sometimes you would see rush and sometimes not.

We generally talk about people, we discuss about the shops.

We also talk sometimes about how this one shop is always crowded, what must be the reason behind it?

He likes cars so mostly he tells me about some rare cars he sees during the walk.

We love this little shop that sells peanuts, we watch the entire process when the peanut is being roasted.

The shopkeeper tosses the peanuts in the pan and roasts it.

Then he packs in these little packets made out of newspaper.

It's fun to crack these peanuts open and eat it together under the open sky in our verandah.

We love the little things we do together.

Cheers, Priyanka

Recent Ideas and Posts

Get set of 80 affirmation cards for free.

Want to learn more about Affirmations, check this article

Conundrums Post