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The Number One Resource Your Child Needs to Thrive?

The answer is... YOU!


At my lectures and workshops, I often tell the story of an incident that occurred when I was teaching my parenting class a few years ago.  I gave the class a simple homework assignment to see if they could find a unique and simple way of taking care of themselves that they have never done before.  It had to be something entirely new to them.  When they returned the following week to the 2nd session of the class, I asked the group, “Who did their homework and found a unique and simple way of taking care of themselves over the past week.”  Almost everyone raised a hand but when I asked if anyone would be willing to share it, most of the hands went down. 

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One mom did offer her idea.  She said, “I locked the bathroom door.” This produced laughter and giggles from the other parents, but when she further explained, she said she no longer allowed her young children to come into the bathroom with her, invading her space and privacy. Of course, we can imagine the scene, little fingers coming under the door, persistent knocking and screams of, “Mommy where are you? What are you doing?” coming from the other side of the door.  I encouraged everyone to keep it up whatever it was they were doing, including the mom with the locked bathroom door.

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When the class returned for session #3 the next week, I asked that one mom if she was able to keep the bathroom door locked.  She replied with a hearty, “Yes!”  Delighted but a bit surprised, I asked, “What are your children doing now?”  After she had been doing this for 2 weeks, my assumption was that her children would most likely have adapted.  She said with a laugh, “I have no idea!”  This of course brought the room to laughter.  She explained that she had purchased some headphones and a portable CD player and when she was in the bathroom alone she enjoyed listening to relaxing music.  I acknowledged her success and congratulated her.  She set a clear boundary for her children to learn from and was setting a great example of taking care of herself.


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So what are you doing for you? Before you walk into that classroom, when you rise in the morning to start your day with your family, what are you doing to take care of yourself?  What kind of example are you setting?  Are you walking around pulling your hair out and then wondering why your kids are behaving in a similar manner?  My point is, adult emotional chaos can create misbehavior in children.  If you have challenging behavior at home or in the classroom, do a personal check-in to see if you could be generating the behavior that is frustrating you.  You can change the scenario simply by starting with your own self care and being better equipped as a healthy caregiver in mind, body and spirit.

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This is a brief excerpt from Bill Corbett’s new eBook, “10 Little-Known Facts About Kids That Will Change How You Parent Forever!”  Download the book today for just $4.99 by going to http://store.payloadz.com/go?id=1044394. 


Comments

  1. Mary-Anne Schelb, HHPSeptember 10, 2012 at 3:39 PM

    Always GREAT information Bill!!! Thank you for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Bill CorbettSeptember 10, 2012 at 7:24 PM

    Thank you for your comment Mary-Anne and thank you for reading. I hope you will share it with your network.

    ReplyDelete

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