October 22, 2019 Hosted at the Payne’s home
Hello, friends. It was a sweet morning in a beautiful setting and as always, I learned from all of you. Thank you, Erika, for hosting. It was an intimate gathering surrounded by the warmth of your home and with no particular agenda, we managed to cover a lot of information and shared tips. I say “no particular agenda” because the morning is meant to be a place to hold the space for your questions and maybe some concerns that you are experiencing as we maneuver this unpredictable world of parenting.
That said, I usually have something up my sleeve and this morning’s opener was to share my own podcast discovery. As part of my research in prep for my next steps, I’ve been listening to a variety of programs. It’s amazing what’s out there and I’m really having a great time listening as I reflect on my own work. My favorite parenting podcast so far is Parenting Beyond Discipline with Erin Royer-Asrilant who is the founder of Your Village and has an online parenting resource yourvillageonline.com as well as her podcast. The segments are short and sweet yet really meaty and to the point and so much of what she says as she answers parents’ questions are just what we are talking about in our times together. Check it out.
For those of you who couldn’t come, we put together some reflections from the morning that might loop you in. Be sure to read all the way through. Zoe, Bodhi’s mom, offered a link for a short parenting video that is a great reminder of who we are in relation to our children who, don’t forget, are our greatest teachers.
Today was my first ‘Coffee with Roleen‘ and I felt very grateful for the couple of peaceful hours in such a lovely setting spent listening to Roleen’s valuable insight and sharing our experiences. My sleep deprived brain didn’t absorb everything but my few take-aways included; the pod cast insight ‘Parenting beyond discipline,’ the challenges of multiple children and the importance of quality time with each one, how to address changes in the home – especially a new baby, recognizing the different milestone developments between their ages and how these changes can affect them (i.e. sleeping), taking time to reflect with our children and ourselves and the impact the parents/caregivers response can have to children’s ‘unintended’ actions (i.e. telling them ‘that’s not nice’ when this is not their aim – the ‘tell me more about that’ approach – different ideas to encourage sharing, eating etc. How to validate their feelings, ideas and suggestions within the overall operation of the household.
Overall, the realization we’re all experiencing similar things and that being a part of the NSW community brings with it opportunities for valuable support networks and new friendships. Thank you. – Anah (August WW)
My biggest take away from today was including children in the family plan. Include our kids in forming a new plan we can agree on and refer to. “Mira, do you have any ideas about that…” – Amy (Sonia EW and Mira WW)
It was interesting to see how we can all relate to having children with completely different personalities. We talked about how we can bring that together as a family and involve our children in the decisions we make, to help them feel empowered. When we were talking, I thought of this short video I saw not too long ago. I think it’s a great message. https://youtu.be/xq5wukR_dQk. – Zoe (Bodhi WW)
It was my pleasure to host! My take away is drilling “don’t try to fix the behavior, understand the underlying need.”
That’s what I really needed to hear today! :)Thank you Roleen for all your wisdom. – Erika (London WW)