Mom Mantras

I know I post a lot about parenting. Tips and tricks, philosophies, enouragements. I am always worried when I post something like that, someone is thinking, "Why does she think she's such an expert?" Well, the answer is, I don't. At all. I just think about parenting ALL THE TIME. I am the type of person who, when faced with a problem, reads about it and makes plans to solve it. I try numerous ideas. My little ones are pretty much guinea pigs for different theories that I've read about. After struggles getting Wesley to stay in bed, I immediately bought the book No Cry Sleep Sleep Solution for Toddlers. I subscribe to no fewer than four parenting blogs. When Drea's nap schedule seemed to be chaotic, I dusted off my copy of Secrets of the Baby Whisperer. I am a parenting book junkie.

But, nothing has helped me in my journey as a parent (and finding peace with my parenting) as much as something I decided to do on my own. After a recent church service, where Pastor Neil encouraged us to have silent prayer time, I wrote down a few parenting mantras. But, instead of just thinking about them during a hard time with my kids, I typed them out, printed them and hung them all over our house.

Since that Sunday, my husband and I have both found ourselves being more patient and more compassionate toward our kids. And, in the end, solve the problems at hand much easier and without any yelling.

In case you want to do something similar, here are our mantras. Feel free to change and add as you need.

Choose love

This is not an emergency

Stop. Breathe. Love.

Lord, soften my heart.

Wesley and Drea have been entrusted to us. We must nurture and protect them.

Children do not act out just to anger you. It’s not about you, it’s about them. What do they need?

Solve the problem, don’t punish the child.

Figure out what need is not being met, and meet it.

Relationship first

You are the adult. You are the parent. Wesley and Drea act like children because they are children.

Did you mess up? Stop. Apologize and ask for a do over. It’s never too late to start over and redeem the situation.

One day, you'll walk into his empty room and give just about anything to have THIS day back, THIS day with all its exhaustion and chaos, and laughter.