positive thinking – My Mom is the Worst

Parents, How Are Your Emotions Handling this Crisis?

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.

ALL the Birth (Book) Details – Slighty Less Graphic than My Birth Video

Can you imagine being pregnant and having the “due date” continuously pushed back, week after week?

At some point you might just think you are going to stay pregnant forever.

Many times I felt that way during the writing of the latest book. Things took far longer than I expected to come together. It literally ended up taking nine months from the time I put a call out that I was looking for positive, minimal intervention birth stories to then compile, write, edit, format, and publish this baby. And like an anxious mama-to-be, I was losing my patience with the process toward the end.

Even the name took longer than expected to choose. But a title, is pretty important. It will be around for a while. I wanted a strong title, yet one that wasn’t too “birthy.” So like most of us do when we are expecting, I made lists and ran them by friends (and fans) to gauge their reaction.

But ultimatly the decision was mine. This book was my baby. The final title is one I feel honors the women that shared their positive birth stories in the book. And it also encourages any woman, that decides to one day give birth, to believe in her body:

Because YOU Are Superwoman: How to Harness Your Superpower and Create a Positive Birth Experiance with Minimal Medical intervention

Things are finally coming together. This baby is fully baked and ready to make an appearance.

Speaking of appearances, let me share the first official cover photo!

The cover clearly lets readers know that the topic is “birth,” but hopefully the strong, modern, and bold look and feel alludes to the tone of this birth book.

I also threw in some humor and overly personal details, just to keep it light;) Think of the book You are a Bad*ss and then add the words, At Giving Birth.

Here is the working book description:

***

Do you want a positive birth experience, but haven’t heard of any?

Do you think a more natural birth experience sounds ideal, but don’t know how to go about having one?

Have you ever wondered if other strong, educated women choose to birth with minimal medical intervention?

Fortunately, these are not your typical birth stories.

These are the remarkable stories of modern-day superheroes. A bunch of bad*ss super women, just like you. They are bold, educated, strong, and they decided to do things differently. Ultimately, they chose to make their belief in their body Plan A, while reserving the marvel of medical interventions for Plan B.

Over twenty birth stories, paired with six evidence-based steps for a Minimal Intervention (M.I.) Birth, will provide you with the confidence and skills you need to go after the birth experience that you desire. An empowering experience that likely strays far from everything you’ve been conditioned to believe about birth.

Stop simply hoping for a positive, minimal intervention birth. This book contains the specific birth plan for you, and it’s easier than you think.

***

Cursing, pooping, grunting, naked, raw, real and candid birth stories told by strong, intelligent mamas. Above all their stories will encourage fellow women that they too have everything they need to birth their baby with minimal intervention.

So here is the exciting part. Unlike childbirth where you never know the exact birthdate, this book is going to be available on Amazon on Nov. 11th, 2018! That’s just two weeks away, and I couldn’t be more thrilled for you to read it! If it lives up to the expectations of those of us that collaborated on it, this book is going to change the way women, and practitioners, think about birth.

If you’d like to get an advanced copy of Because YOU Are Superwoman in exchange for an honest review on Facebook or Amazon, join the launch team! Contact me here and include the words Launch Team in the heading – I’ll follow-up with details next week. To join the team and get your free advanced copy, I need to hear from you by Monday, Nov. 5th.

Ready to get your hands on something now? For a limited time, if you buy either of my children’s books on Amazon, you get the e-book FREE and you can start reading ASAP!

And if you are still questioning, does she really have a graphic birth video? The answer is yes.

And no.

It’s not a flattering angle, and I don’t plan to share it;)

My Mom is Crazy (About Me)

I hope no one confuses my moments of frustration with my true feelings about my children and motherhood

My baby will be twelve weeks old tomorrow.

Some days are better than others. Realistically some minutes are better than others.

Parenthood is a roller coaster ride. I found that out the hard way when my first little love was born.

One minute I find myself ogling at every little thing my baby does, talking baby talk with the best of them, and the next minute I am incredibly frustrated because my kids are screaming while I brush my teeth for the first time that day (at 2pm – hello coffee breath). I swear, I often feel like I am the emotional little monster in the house.

But I hope no one confuses my moments of frustration with my true feelings about my children and motherhood, and the joy I get from those precious moments of total sweetness in between the chaos. My babies absolutely know I’m crazy; they also know I am absolutely crazy about them.

Have you been on that roller coaster today?

If so, below is one recent example you’ll relate to, compliments of social media.

Don’t forget to follow both so you don’t miss the fun: Facebook (@StoriesbyJKCoy) and Instagram (@FinishtheBook):

Part 1 part 2 part 3

“Then all of a sudden you stop. You look in my eyes and grin from ear to ear.

And it’s my turn to tear up.

I freakn’ love you to pieces, Beautiful Monster.” – Love You to Pieces, Beautiful Monster

I know as a parent you get it.

A Solid Productivity Tip from the 1980’s

Do you remember when you were a kid and your 1980’s Nintendo started freaking out for some unknown reason. You would just hit that reset button multiple times until it finally worked out its kinks. That’s exactly what I needed, a reset.

I started this morning on the wrong page.

I logged in to my January sales numbers and was not excited by what I saw. Effort and sales were not matching my expectations. It made me freeze up. It made me question myself. It started a negative reel in my head. And negative thinking is a slippery slope. It breeds self doubt.

After an hour I noticed I was sitting in the same spot, getting no where, just feeling worse than before. Do you remember when you were a kid and your 1980’s Nintendo started freaking out for some unknown reason. You would just hit that reset button multiple times until it finally worked out its kinks. That’s exactly what I needed, a reset.

old school nintendo — Neil Godwin | GamesMaster Magazine | Getty Images

So I finally pulled my butt out of the desk chair, got away from my computer, and decided to actively participate in a reset with an easy fifteen minute workout.

Here are some “resets” that typically work well…

Positve Thinking tip

A Workout: Sometimes this means a really good sweat session if time allows. Other times it means getting away from the screen and just committing to moving. When I used to work in an office this would often take shape in a walk around the complex to clear my head. Now that I work from home, it often means walking the dog, or grabbing the pair of 10 lb. weights I keep in my office and setting my phone timer for 15 minutes. Other times it is just stretching. Ideas seem to come to me more clearly when my body is active.

Ideas On A Page: Walk away from the computer and go old school (as old school as that 1980’s Nintendo I referenced). Grab PAPER and a PEN. Weird, I know. Spend five minutes jotting down a list of all the things you could do next to get to your big goal (Your sales quota, the next meeting you are trying to get, the blog traffic goal you set, the promotion you are going after). All ideas are fair game. After the five minutes are up, reread your list. What is the ONE THING on that list that will have the biggest impact on reaching that big goal in the long run? You know which one it is, even if it’s not the one you feel like doing. That’s the one you must do next. Stop rereading the list looking for an out. Get to work on THE ONE.

Gratitude: When I seriously can’t get a grip on my negative thoughts, I have to force myself to pause and think of somethings I am grateful for. This morning my list included: I get to work from home right now, my efforts today will continue to pay off in the future in ways I cannot see yet, and that I live in a place where “winter” means sixty degree weather on a rough day. Gratitude can also manifest in what we do for others. Pause your negative track long enough to write someone an encouraging note, or grab a coffee for your childcare provider, and see how you feel afterwards!

My fifteen minute workout actually ended up being a five minute workout and a ten minute dance party. My dog told me I looked ridiculous. And I did. But I was also in a much better head space by the time I finished.

It might be hard to start a full on dance party at the office, but one of these other tips should do the trick to reset your thinking.

Otherwise a conga line is always worth a try.