Parents – If you’re emotions are vacillating from day to day (or moment to moment), I encourage you to print these words and hang them somewhere your family can reflect on them daily.
How are your emotions handling this crisis? That’s a loaded question, isn’t it?!
I’ve thought about it the last few days, and as a parent of two little ones, here’s where I stand…
Obviously, I want this to pass. I want our nations health and economy to be in a better place, I want to move on to making plans and looking forward to the future, I want to wear fewer hats in a single day, and I want to have people over.
On the other hand, I know as soon as all this is over, I’m going to deeply miss it. Specifically, the extra family time, a mostly unhurried pace, and being pushed to try new things that I wouldn’t have done otherwise.
Even in knowing that I’ll miss it, I often get frustrated right now.
My husband and I work full-time and have two young kids in the house – two and four. The house is loud and messy. My husband and I manage work and parenting in two hour blocks, always feeling one step behind in each. All of our plans that we were looking forward to for months are slowly being cancelled. And my four year old reminds me daily that she just wants to play at the park and hug her friends.
I know sweetie. Me too.
And thus, my grumpiness creeps in. This crisis highlights some not-so-pretty traits about myself that I don’t have to face often when life is “normal.”
And my feelings are real and valid, but it doesn’t serve me, or my family, to spend too much time hanging out with my negative attitude.
If we let ourselves think something for too long, it becomes our reality.
So I decided that my brain was in need of a new, more positive, default message. One I could read every day, like a mantra or prayer, to start my emotional responses from a better, more serving, space.
I can’t always control circumstances, but I am in charge of my reactions. If I fill my heart and mind with good, good is more likely to pour out when I’m pressed in uncomfortable situations. So I wrote down the positive thoughts I want to start my day with, and hung them in my home.
If you’re emotions are vacillating from day to day (or moment to moment), I encourage you to print these words and hang them somewhere your family can reflect on them daily.
Here is the 8×10 .pdf: Choosing This Moment – Quarantine Mantra or Prayer by JK Coy
If you’re a parent of young kids and need some reading material, check out these titles.
My Mom is the Worst 