New Day

Today is a new day. We get to start over and put yesterday behind us. It is a good feeling as a parent to start again each day. We all make mistakes and starting fresh is good for the family and good for the soul. Teaching our kids about forgiveness and forgetting the wrongs of yesterday helps to take away guilt and grudges. God forgives us every day, so let us teach our kids about moving on. It is good for me to practice moving on as well. I promise it is better to leave whatever it is behind you, take it off your shoulders, and do not look back.

With that said, summertime is here. Do you feel like you are on your kids more than usual? There seems to come a point where they are continually not listening to you, or they seem to not make the best choices over and over. It is tough when summer arrives, because it can just become nonstop fun, which leads to tired kiddos and one really tired mommy. I love the laid back days of summer, but I realize I need some downtime away from the downtime of summer. Do you know what I mean? We are on the second week of summer, and as much as I love laid back and no schedule, there comes a point where I need some structure for some quiet time. My kids need this as well. For the first week of summer, every day we were heading to the pool or heading to meet friends. Finally, I decided we needed to take some restful time every afternoon that we could. This is a time with no electronics, TV or friends. A time when our brain can turn off and we do not have to be ON for others. They can play, read, rest, draw, color or anything else that is calming. We also have a rule that it is ok to take time by yourself, but if you want to be alone, you have to take that time in your room. We all need alone time to recharge and it is ok to feel that way, but we just need to be respectful about how we handle it with others.

The first afternoon we took our restful time, it helped all of us so very much. We felt refreshed that evening and boy did it show. It was tough for the kids to slow down. They must have asked me at least 10-15 times if they could turn on the TV or play a video game or go outside with friends. I calmly kept reminding them that we were taking a break and some quiet time so we could recharge to have more fun. Once again, I gave them options of what they could do during this time. It took awhile, but eventually they settled and it was well worth it. I need time as well to not have to answer a multitude of questions, over and over. I love the curiosity of my kids, but I know when the questions are starting to aggravate me, in the sweetest possible way, that I need a break as well. A little time to myself changes my whole perspective and their perspective will change as well, I promise. When you are ON with your kids all day, you need a few minutes away from them to think. If it is not possible to leave by yourself, teach your kids how to take a restful break. It might be hard at first. Actually, let me rephrase that…it WILL be hard at first, but stay calm and persistent. Kids need to learn how to turn off, disengage and find something else to do. This eventually gives you a bit of time to turn off your mind and take a small break. I am in search of a DO NOT DISTURB sign for my bedroom door, so I can use it during our downtime. 🙂

Again, I love my kids and all the fun we get to have this summer, but I also realize how much we all need some quiet time to recharge so we can make it through these super fun days of summer. So if, by chance, today was a rough day, take some downtime and start over again tomorrow. We get that opportunity to start over every single day. Thank you God.

Enjoy today… and tomorrow is a new day,
Kelley