Tag Archives: parenting

35/40 – on Mom’s moment(s)

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You know my Mom is a talker (her and my Dad passed along strong genes to 4 extremely extroverted chatty offspring) so this long post is no surprise…..plus a good excuse to share some silly childhood and college photos.

There are numerous, numerous moments and milestones of my Patti over the years …but it’s the very “simple memories” that makes me feel this Momma’s love and smile the most on this week of her “40th” Birthday…

When she was very young her absolute favorite food was always salad!  If she was given a choice of candy or salad…she would always choose salad! Crazy, Crazy Girl!!

Nothing compares to her young imagination tho…from the imaginary “Sunglass Family” which she graced us with constantly for quite a few years to follow about their imaginary adventures when she was around age 4 to the adventurous novel she wrote in her younger years (complete with multiple chapters, index, etc)…there are way too many examples to count of how her imagination entertained us for years!!

She loved, loved, loved office-paper supplies! Going back-to-school shopping was a must each year…and Patti cared very little for the school clothes shopping but it was the school-office supplies that made her the most excited!  Binders, organizers, notebooks, pens, paper, post-it notes, scissors…you name it, she LOVED it!!

(Also, she was not the tidiest child of mine and in her bedroom, especially under her bed or in her closet we would find mountains and mountains of doodled paper, scraps, pens, pencils, etc  for all school or personal projects of hers!!)

The multitude of dances that were created with her cousin Cara through their younger years at our annual family camping trips for the pure entertainment of Gramma & Grampa and many of her Aunts and Uncles brought us all loads of smiles and laughter! And, through this current year at our own family camping trips amongst her brothers and their families she can be found creating many, many tik-tok dances with her nieces for us to enjoy all over again!!

One of my most treasured, small but beautiful memory of mine tho is one which we shared when driving her to Pullman for her first year at WSU (Go COUGS)…the anticipation, anxiety and excitement was at a very high level in our car and about 2 hours outside of Pullman, she handed me her headphones to listen to a song which brought on way to many tears for me as I gazed out the window at the beautiful wheat fields and listened intently to those words…. “Wide Open Spaces” by the then Dixie Chicks. At that time I had never heard it before and she wanted me to listen to the song to remind me it was time for her to leave our home and go spread her wings out in the world! Oh goodness… to this day that song brings back that memory and tears to my eyes thinking of that car ride and the soon to be dreaded “good-bye” I was going to have to say to my Girl!!

Actual picture from the morning I left to WSU my freshman year. Sweet slippers.

Again, none of these mentioned are big milestones for my Patti of which there are many, many, many…most of all her unrelenting, admirable crusade of support and having the biggest heart possible for ANY kiddo, especially those with trauma…but these are just a few of my “simple memories” that this Momma heart holds with so many Smiles, Joy and with so much Love!!!

Thank you Mom for your forever support of me, my big and little milestones, and all the little Wonders we bring in (and unfortunately sometimes out) of your life along the way.

33/40 – on Dad’s moment

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To no one’s surprise, my Dad’s favorite memories of me come from our days (and late nights) together in Pullman from my college days. Go Cougs!!!

I think one of my favorite times with you were the Dad’s weekends at Wsu! Great memories of the games and partying after the game, remember almost crawling home from the fire house  frat to your apartment!

My favorite moments with my Dad:
– him calling me “Nadia” during my early childhood gymnastic days
– practicing the Dirty Dancing lift in our first house
– him supporting and watching all of my sporting events in high school
– sharing our love of all things WSU (especially Coug football games)
– him continuing to support my sports career and serving as our official FHS volleyball announcer at home games

Love you Dad!!!

On the Enneagram – again

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Two years ago I wrote about my new love and discovery of the Enneagram personality typing system. And let me tell you, my excitement and the novelty of that discovery has NOT worn off over time. Anytime I am discussing relational health (or dysfunction) with others, I ask if they know their enneagram types and whether or not that information might be helpful in understanding the other person. There is something about knowing my spouse’s and childrens’ types that almost depersonalizes their hurtful behavior (whether intentional or not) and helps bring us to a place of resolution much faster.

Don’t know what I’m talking about? Start here with my first post about the topic.

As a devoted and (sometimes embarrassingly passionate) enneagram 3 – I want to be best at understanding how this assessment works, my type and how to use it to achieve success and the best possible outcome. Next step is of course – read all the things!!! Here are a few of the books I have read in diving deep into this topic.

I would highly recommend the Becoming Us book although it does have a heavy biblical base to it.

There are lots of other places to find information too. I follow some amazing instagram sites where creators add memes, videos or other graphs visuals about types that can help you understand yourself and those around you better. DM me on instagram and I can point you in the right direction or just search enneagram hashtags for some great content!

I have presented multiple workshops on this topic throughout my school district (my fave was to our whole entire crew of bus drivers – it was awesome) to raise their self-awareness, the most courageous act of self-care there is in education I believe. Even just knowing our little set of school counselors’ enneagram types can help me relate to them more and provide meetings/professional development that will be truly effective for them.

This coming week on Wednesday, I am SUPER stoked to present a workshop combining the Enneagram and my other love, ESSENTIAL OILS at my house. We are going to be talking through our types and which oils might be beneficial to us (especially in times of misalignment or stress). If you’d like an invite, just message me and I’ll get you the details. I have been working this idea in my head for a while so we’re excited to offer it this summer – and in person too!!!

Let me know if you’d like to come to our workshop – Wednesday, 7/14 at 6pm!

Want to start figuring out your type? There are a lot of different quizzes you can take….or some people read about each type and try to figure out which resonates the most for them. Here is the quiz that I most often give to people to take which also gives short descriptions of each type:
Fast Enneagram Test

Let me know if you’re as into this as I am! I love to geek out on types and figure out how everyone in my circle of love works – inside and out!

On kiddos who feel BIG

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I have talked to lots of parents throughout my years as a school counselor and just mama-to-mama talks about how to help children regulate their emotions. Many times it can feel like you are just along for the ride as they navigate life’s highs and lows (that probably in your opinion shouldn’t even have been a feeling at all) in BIG ways and if being honest, usually in public….with eyes watching….judging……and your cheeks turning red……

I thought I would share some of the tips and tricks I pass along to those parents in order to help their child LEARN how to regulate their own emotions (versus the parents stepping in and doing it for them). I, myself, have one kiddo that feels big feelings on a daily basis and another who is pretty numb and doesn’t show any feelings. And if given the choice, between the two, I would 100% choose the big feelings because these reactions and strategies to regulate them are easily taught and remembered.

Always remember that all feelings are OKAY, but some reactions to feelings are NOT OKAY. When we tell children to NOT feel something, this is suppressing a very real physical reaction in their body and in adulthood, this suppression of feelings can result in lower skills in problem solving and denial of problems that need help/mental health support.

  1. Rate the problem. (NOTE: this does not say “name the problem” – it doesn’t always matter WHAT actually happened, but we can just help the child REACT to the problem).

    Parent: “What size problem is this? Small, medium or big? (for an older child/teen you can have them rate it 1-10)
    ** Don’t disagree with the child’s rating but if you don’t agree, you can say “Okay….I probably would say small but let’s go with ________.**
    If the child says small, I would say “Okay sounds like you can handle that one on your own and move on.”
    If the child says medium or big, I would say “What can we do to turn it into a small or medium problem?”
    (You could teach these beforehand or give a few examples like….take a deep breath and move on, apologize, use calm words to tell the other child ________, etc.)

    This can help the child learn that not all problems are HUGE and that they are in control of choosing how they react.

  2. Choice or choice.
    If you child has a hard time hearing the word no, try to increase the amount of control they “perceive” to have by giving them two choices that are BOTH acceptable to you as the parent. This is especially helpful during transition times or schedule changes.

    Child: “I don’t want to go to bed.”
    Parent: “You can either go to bed now and I’ll turn off your lights or you can choose a book to read for 5 minutes and then turn the lights off yourself.”

    Many times, we are trying to make our children OBEY when the extra 1-2 minutes or extra 1-2 chips at lunch doesn’t matter in the big picture. Children need to know they have control and choices and can make compromises with other people as problem solvers.

  3. Give them time to regulate before a disappointment.
    When a choice isn’t possible and a firm no is coming…..give your child some time to be ready and anticipate their own disappointment.

    Child: “Can I have extra game/screen time?
    Parent: “I’m about to tell you an answer you’re not going to like and it might make you mad. Are you ready for me to tell you?”
    If child says no, then say you’ll ask again in a minute.
    If child says yes, I would say “If you’re mad when I tell you the answer, that’s okay. What strategy can you use if you’re mad? (breathing, go to room, get a hug, etc.). Unfortunately, game time is done for the day but if you ask again respectfully tomorrow, I will add an extra 1-5 minutes onto your screen time.”

    **It’s important to reward a calm and respectful response, even if they are mad.**

If you are parenting a special kiddo with big feelings, I hope this helped you (there are lots more tricks I’ve learned along the way that I would love to share with you). But more importantly, I hope you appreciate that a child with big feelings also means they experience LIFE in a way that is exaggerated and colorful and AWESOME. For the low lows and the big tantrums, there is usually BIGTIME JOY and that is what being a kid is all about.

(check out this big time joy- WonderBOY and his Mickey Mouse pancake at our favorite Everson Cafe 544)

Quotes I live by (Monday)

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Along this winding road of 34 (almost 35!) years, there have been a few quotes spoken or read that have stuck out to me as not only useful, but rocks of truth that I find myself coming back to time and time again. I thought I would share those thoughts/quotes this week to document them into the permanency of blogland and as usual, potentially pass along the inspiration to someone else that could use it.

Love is a verb – Stephen Covey
Love DOES – Bob GoffAlthough this quote is more of a cluster of little quotes with similar meanings – I love all that it implies. That love is a moving, breathing thing. It changes from season to season and looks different in each and every relationship it shows up in. It’s not just a warm, fuzzy feeling but that true love is in actions. I also remember reading from Bob Goff that as much as love DOES, it also DOESN’T. The importance of saying no and setting boundaries is just as important as what you say yes to. I come back to this so much, especially now with a busier “mama” schedule. We try to limit our activities, especially on weekends to recover and reset for our weeks that add stressors to my Wonders’ hearts/brains and to our relationships.

One other interpretation of this quote is that “love is work.” That work is hard, that work is tiring, and that work will kick your behind from one side of hell to another. And the real, actionable kind of love keeps putting the work in, even when you really really don’t want to (yes kind of true in relationship to marriage/romantic relationship struggles but this quote seems much more applicable to me in raising little humans into what are supposed to be successful, empathetic adults).

Stay tuned this week for more quotes….some of the true foundational pieces of how I live/choose my humble little life.