May 20, 2017

Quote of the Week

"Our greatest strength lies in the gentleness and tenderness of our heart." -- Rumi

Child, Do I Have Your Heart?

"He was sitting in time-out again, tears streaming down his face, his eyes cast downward, and his chin quivering. His body was only feet away from me, but his heart was completely out of reach. I had won the battle, but at what cost? I wielded my parental authority and he knew I had power over him. He sat in the chair, defeated. I wasn't celebrating my victory, though. I'd come out on top of another power struggle, but our relationship was suffering, and both of us sat there with broken hearts. To be truthful, victory felt terrible. I longed to have the bond that we once had, my sweet baby boy and I. Oh, how I missed the joy.

And I know he missed it, too. [...]

I looked back on the simple joy I felt when he was first placed in my arms, and I wished it wasn't so hard to reach now. [...] My sweet, sensitive boy, have I lost your heart? The answer was yes, to a certain degree I had. But not forever. There was still hope. There was still time to make things right."

In this week's featured article, a mother shares her top tips on how to end power struggles with children and to reconnect heart-to-heart, with love and compassion leading the way. [read article]

Reading Corner

Title: A Perfect Pet for Peyton: A 5 Love Languages Discovery Book
By: Gary D. Chapman
Ages: 3-8

Why?  "This wonderfully imaginative children’s hardcover book will help children learn the importance of love. Based on Gary Chapman’s highly successful The 5 Love Languages®, A Perfect Pet for Peyton tells an entertaining and playful story of five children who each, with the help of Mr. Chapman and the unique pets at his special emporium, discover their own personal love language. Children and parents alike will experience firsthand the power of the love languages as they cuddle up and spend precious time together reading this book over and over again." -- Publisher

Be the Change

Find some time during the week to practice one of the first tips in this week's article -- to reconnect by entering your child's world and staying for a while!  Practice deep listening in this space when you are together and watch the empathy in your heart expand as you understand life just a little bit more from your child's perspective.