Tag: kid

Right after our son’s second birthday, my husband raised his voice to me, and our son, Garrett, walked into the room, planted himself firmly in front of his father and said in the sternest voice he could muster, “No Dada. Stop it. You no yell at Mommy!” while holding up his hand in a ‘stop sign’ fashion. Our jaws dropped. “I am stopping it Garrett,” was all my husband could stutter. I was speechless. While all relationships are mirrors for our inner discord, our unhealed wounds, none are more so than the relationships we have with our children. Our children are our greatest teachers; and they have the power to transform us into our most awakened selves if we let them.

At one time or another all parents struggle with discipline—establishing and enforcing limits, and getting their kids to speak to them respectfully and do what they're supposed to do. But remember, discipline isn’t only about correction. Discipline is also about teaching kids to control themselves and care about others so they can grow up to be productive members of society. Here are some approaches you can use to help your kids do just that:

"Mom, I’m so fat. I need to go on a diet," says your 10- (or 6 or 16) year-old daughter as she pinches at her belly. Your stomach drops. She’s too young to be feeling this way!

You are flooded by a tsunami wave of thoughts and emotions:

* It’s my fault!  I’ve disliked my body for so many years.
* It’s the media’s fault!  I shouldn’t let her watch so much TV.

The two happiest days for most couples are the day they get married and the day they welcome their children into the world.  But when time goes on and the fairytale the two of you were once living turns into daily battles, disagreements and just not wanting to be together anymore, the decision to divorce can have a major impact on everyone, especially your children.

No matter the age of the kids, not living under the same roof with both mom and dad anymore is a major life adjustment.

"Often, it’s not about becoming a new person, but becoming the person you were meant to be, and already are, but don’t know how to be."  ~ Heath Buckmaster

Jarring is the mildest descriptor I can use to describe the space that is left with the departure of my last child. I feel lost in our home with only photos to fill the spaces that were not long ago embodied with the noise and mess of growing up. I cry intermittently at almost anything and struggle to imagine how to go from here, back to some sense of normalcy. But the truth is that there is no going back, only forward into a space that I cannot yet see.

Almonds have been around for a long time. They are mentioned in the Bible, and were a prized ingredient in breads served to Egyptian pharaohs. It is believed that almonds originated China and Central Asia. Early explorers traveling the Silk Road between Asia and the Mediterranean snacked on almonds. Before long, almond trees flourished in the Mediterranean, especially in Spain and Italy.

In the mid-1700's, the almond tree arrived in California from Spain, compliments of the Franciscan Friars. Today, California is the only place in North America where almonds are grown commercially.

Childbirth, caring for a newborn, SIDS, pre-school, picky eating, toilet training, bullying, homework, friendship issues, discipline, tween issues, teen issues, dating, college… is that really what the last 20 years of my life has been about? Ok, I am actually thrilled that is what the last two decades represent.

My kids are at the end of the rainbow... talk about the Wizard of Oz! Yet when I pull away the curtain now, there is no wise, elderly man shaking in his boots.