I was recently asked by a gracious reader how I connect and be present with my children while balancing my career and passion projects. It all started with setting my intentions and creating the reality that I envision for my life. This idea first came from trying to manage my second-born child’s toddler tantrums while also parenting an 8-year-old. One of the first books I read at this time was Dr. Daniel Siegel’s Whole Brain Child & I credit this book for putting me on a path to the place I am today, where I get to parent my children in a state of joy rather than constant stress. From understanding the neuroscience behind what the brain is doing while developing throughout childhood to adopting a growth mindset and maintaining my sense of humor, I’ve compiled a list of 5 ways I connect with my kids as they grow into adulthood while maintaining my own identity and sense of joy in my career and life as well.
5 Ways I Connect With My Kids As They Grow into Adulthood
#1 Create a Community Around You & Share Your Lifestyle Vision
Over the years I’ve created a reality for myself where I can delegate, defer, or delay certain tasks so that I can be fully present with my kids when I come home from work. Whether that be prioritizing to-do lists or bring on nannies that understand this vision, this has allowed me to create create a safe, stable, secure home & all that means for the development of my children.
#2 Learn About Your Child’s Developing Brain & Yours, too!
By better understanding the different parts of the brain, how the brain works in my child & tying that to my own emotional respsonse, I’ve been able to better create this environment of calm and safety even amongst toddler tantrums and teenage moods. While it’s a learning process, having these foundational principles in mind can allow you to better navigate different seasons of parenthood.
#3 Practice Mindfulness
Mindfulness is really the ability to regulate emotions and develop self-awareness. Practicing mindfulness exercises allows you to further harness your power to create a safe space for all emotions to be expressed by your children, without fear of judgment or repercussions.
#4 Keeping Your Humor & Playfulness Alive
I tend to be a rather humorous and playful person in all areas of my life. Some might say I’m not serious enough, but keeping my sense of humor and playfulness alive while parenting my children brings a lightness to all I do, even the more difficult parts of raising happy children into thriving adults.
#5 Learning from Outside Books & Resources
I’ve taken the time to seek out & learn from various parenting resources over the years (which I’ll link below) & then created space to talk about these things with my kids as they grow up. I find introducing these concepts as I learn them with my children and allowing them to practice them or relate them to real life experiences fosters a relationship of trust between us where I hope they feel safe to share the things that are bothering them, so we can talk about those things together.
Books, Courses, & Other Parenting Resources I’ve Loved:
https://www.positiveparentingsolutions.com/
https://mindup.org/our-mission/
https://drdansiegel.com/books/
All of these tips and tools have allowed me to bring the positive impact of being grounded and the mentality of doing life together to my parenting journey. This creates a synergy around me that’s joyful and not stressful in the way parenting can often be… the levity and awareness that comes from communicating and connecting with my children allows me to be my own self and create space for them to be themselves, while growing alongside each other in whatever direction that may take us.
Tune in to the podcast episode below to dive deeper into the way these parenting resources have positively impacted my ability to be present and connect with my kids…
Listen to the podcast episode below:
Thank you for listening in and reading along… I would love to hear your thoughts… Join the conversation & send me an email at elizabeth@integratedbeingllc.com. I look forward to connecting with you & going on this journey of life together.
xo, Lizzie