|
Quote of the Week
"Your beliefs become your thoughts,
Your thoughts become your words,
Your words become your actions,
Your actions become your habits,
Your habits become your values,
Your values become your destiny."
-- Mahatma Gandhi
Habits Are Everything
"Watch a video of any elite athlete or performer before a big game or show, and you will likely see one thing: their pre-performance habits, the things that they do every single time in exactly the same way. This is because habits are everything. Not just for game-day, and not just for elite performers. For normal people like you and I, for raising our children, for being happy in our relationships, for being happy as individuals.
This means that when we are too tired to think -- as we parents often are -- we default to our habits. Which made me realize: our habits are our most critical cornerstones for happiness. How can we be mindful about things we do habitually?"
As we start another new year as a family, it's the perfect time to be thinking about what old parenting habits we might want to kick and what new parenting habits we want to establish for our families. The following article by Greater Good Magazine explores the role that good parenting habits play in increasing our overall happiness. [more]
Reading Corner
 Title: The 7 Habits of Happy Kids
By: Sean Covey Ages: 4 - 8
"Just like famous fables, children will learn subtle messages in these seven stories teaching good habits. A nice added benefit is the parent discussion at the end of each section which gives ideas on opening up conversations with children. On the same page are steps you can do to solve problems or promote the character trait in your child.
"I'm bored" which translates to, "Mom, entertain me" is one of my favorite issues in this book. Children need to take charge and figure out on their own that they alone actually have the ability to solve the boredom problem. There are 6 other issues: having a plan, work comes before play, everyone can win, listen before speaking, together is better, and balance is best. While they are all important, it's a nice touch that each character trait has a separate story so parents could choose to repeatedly read the story with the behavior they would like to develop or improve."
-- Amazon Reviewer
Recommended by Cubs Editors
Be The Change
Talk to your children about habits, both good ones and those that need to go. You can start by telling them about one you plan to establish and a bad one you're going to try to eliminate. Then invite them to join you in thinking about one they'd like to take on this year and one they'd like to stop. Encourage each other in the coming weeks!
Kindful Kids newsletter is a resource for parents who are keen to teach children about compassion and service. It reaches 3,646 subscribers. You can unsubscribe here.
|
