We all have our good days and bad days as parents, but what matters is the choice to keep working towards becoming a better or calmer parent!
I try to become a more calm parent each day and work towards it. However, I have my bad days where I lose my cool, and feel like I am being pushed to the edge of my patience by my child.
I feel awfully guilty about losing my cool later, especially now that kids are off to school and we get little time with them since other classes have also started.
Whenever I am about to lose my calm in a tough parenting situations, I remind myself of these little affirmations which save me my energy that I waste of yelling and then later feeling guilty about it.
While Dealing with all the Mess and Dirt
When kids keep dirtying their clothes while painting, eating or playing it is natural for us, moms, to tell them to stop. We often say “Stop, don’t do it, you are making a Mess”.
But screaming or discouraging will stop them from exploring and learning.
Affirmation: This is how kids explore and learn. Cleaning up will take 5 minutes and it can be done later.
When they Keep Running Around and Don’t Sit
It is exhausting to run after or establish communication with a constantly moving child. We can easily get irritated and say “SIT DOWN NOW OR ELSE….”.
Kids keep wandering aimlessly & it is tempting to give them gadgets just to make them sit.
Affirmation: It won’t be long before they will be too busy to move around aimlessly. While they are still little, I will enjoy this. If I am too tired to run along, I will just sit down & watch them run around.
When they refuse to study or write
Toddlers often run away from sitting down to study or write. Its easy to get agitated and use force to make them sit down and study. We often think that if they don’t study now, they won’t do well tomorrow!
But if I force them to study now, they might lose their love for studies.
Affirmation: It’s okay if they don’t feel like learning now. I will try a different way or a different day. My child will learn at his or her own pace.
When they do not sit down to EAT
Every moms biggest struggle is to make their kids eat. We worry too much about the right food, quantity and time around food. We land up saying… “Eat your food now or else I will not…..”
But force feeding always has adverse effects and the blackmailing approach will lead to insecurities.
Affirmation: My child will eat when he/she is hungry. I will not let my child’s portion size decide how healthy they are or how good a mother I am.
Kids do test our boundaries but to be able to set boundaries we need to be calm first. Positive affirmations has been a great way in which I have been able to control my reaction and helped being more gentle on myself and my child.