I suspect I am a great deal like you. I worry. Sometimes I wonder if I am the only person in the room whose brain is bouncing in 5,000 different directions. My response to worry has always been to arm myself with knowledge. Fast forward a few degrees and children later and I am Dr. Snell …and mom…and still a worrier.
But I don’t feel alone any longer. My research concerned the experience of stress among at-home mothers and their coping processes. I KNOW I am not alone. Hello my friend.
Plus, I’ve learned a few tricks when life looms larger than me.
I breathe. I have breathed through frustration, fear, boredom, and anger. I have stopped chasing someone else’s idea of perfection and seek instead an authentic life where I MESS UP and I APOLOGIZE when it is warranted and DON’T when it is not.
I believe that if we breathe we can achieve a calmer moment, a better day, and a means to thrive.
I have taught my children to breathe through tantrums, arguments, fears, frustrations, and restlessness. It is for them that I started writing children’s books and for the children I have met through the process that I will continue to add my pebbles of knowledge to the mountain of self-care references.
I believe in the modeling and teaching of self-care strategies. If we show our children that we value our wellness and theirs, share our practice with them, and encourage their journeys then imagine the adults they might become.
Children learn from the characters they encounter in the stories they see on television and on the written page. If my stories offer a lesson my children can carry into the next day then all the better. If they grant a smile or a cheer then all the better. I hope to offer the children who read my stories a small tool to help them take a breath, find their center, and practice mindfulness. Mindfulness is a practice not only for adults and not nearly as intimidating as it sounds. If we can raise children to be self-aware and capable of self-soothing what a great foundation they will have for the challenges of their later years.