March 10, 2023
top trending topics
🌟💞 Focus on being in the present not making it perfect– You’ll make more memories!
✋ Stop the lying! When your child lies, start by asking yourself these 3 things.
🧡 You need to know what your teen really needs from you.
🌷😎 You don’t have to travel this spring– Have a spring staycation!
⏳ Taking a break can often benefit both mom & child.
tips & tricks for growth
regulate YOUR emotions for them
I woke up late because I forgot to set my alarm, so I hurried to the shower and got dressed. Then I rushed to my son’s room to get him up and ready for the day. On my way to the room, I’m greeted by a BIG smile and my son saying, “MOMMY, look! I helped you. I got dressed and ‘made’ my breakfast.” He was dressed like a bag of Skittles. He had on a purple shirt, lime green shorts, red socks and his blue shoes. Breakfast consisted of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a glass of milk. Actually, only half of the peanut butter and jelly made it to the bread. The other was spread on the table, and none of the milk made the glass. It was in a puddle in the middle of the kitchen.
👊 I was experiencing a variety of emotions including feeling stressed, bothered, frustrated and angry.
My son watched what was going on on my face and waited for my response…. What could I say or do? I could yell out of frustration and anger.
Or say, “YOU made such a MESS! I don’t have time to clean this up. We are GONNA be late! What are you WEARING?”
Or, I could laugh, open my arms, and say, “OMG! Thank you for helping Mommy this morning. I was running behind. I appreciate you dressing yourself and eating your breakfast.”
No matter the response I chose, one thing is for sure: my response will have an impact on my child.
don’t let them sour your mood
🤨 Have you ever noticed that every time you leave a certain family member’s presence, you feel worse than you did before you saw them?
Have you ever noticed that your aunt gossips all the time?
Or that your in-laws criticize your every move?
Or that your own parents are more controlling now than ever?
And what about that uncle who doesn’t care what you’re doing—he thinks it’s okay to show up whenever he wants.
Toxic family members make your head hurt. They are poisonous to your health. They can drain you emotionally every time they are around.
🙈 How do you recognize toxic family members?
- When you leave their presence, you often feel worse than you did before.
- They want to control your life. They tell you the decisions you should make, how you should spend your money, and the people you should be friends with.
- You feel that they seem to always criticize you—your parenting, your cooking, your house management, anything and everything.
- They may be physically, verbally, or emotionally abusive.
- They always “need” you to come to their rescue.
It’s important to deal with the toxicity. Your mental and emotional health—and maybe even your physical health—can depend on it.
let’s get REALatable
It’s time to take things a step further & get a little intimate with a Q&A. What do you say?😉 Learn a little bit about the faces behind all of this relationship gold. This week we’re chatting with John Daum, husband to his wife Monica, dad of 5, story enthusiast, and the content creator here at First Things First! Let’s get REALatable💛 & learn a little bit about him:
Q: What was your first job?
A: 🧑🍳 I think my first “real” job was working at an Italian bakery making fresh cannoli for customers. But I had several lucrative “neighborhood jobs” as a kid.
Q: What’s your ideal free day?
A: 📖 I love to read and learn, but I’m almost always doing it for work-related projects. So, a day of reading & studying whatever is fascinating to me at the moment. (I know that prolly sounds lame!)
Q: One thing you couldn’t go a day without?
A: 💞 Working from home, I need SOME sort of human contact during the day. I LOVE it when the fam starts coming home!
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