Sometimes we all just need time to sit alone with our thoughts. Even my daughter, who normally acts like time alone is the worst thing in the world, chose to spend time by herself today. We need time to unwind. We time to let our thoughts drift. We need time to do the little things that bring us joy. 

I'm so grateful for some time alone. I'm grateful to see my girls needing their space today and help them find it. I'm grateful for separate bedrooms that gives them their own space. I'm grateful to just sit and breathe. I'm grateful to let my thoughts wander. I'm grateful for a new art journal. I'm grateful to take time for me and know my whole family benefits. 

How often do you take time for yourself? How often do you sit alone and let your thoughts drift around? 

May we choose to care for ourselves and see the benefits. May we take time to just be still. Have a beautiful day!

Some weeks run as planned with maybe a few hiccups. Some weeks you can't get out of the dunk tank before the next ball flies. This week is chaos, maybe partially organized but mostly just trying to keep up.

It is good for me in a way. I like organized. I like planned. I like spontaneity within the small parameters of a planned day. This is a great opportunity for growth. I am not saying I'm bounding into it with excitement but I'm doing my best to go with it. It is a great opportunity to see my strengths and weaknesses.

I'm grateful for all the great things that are happening this week. I'm grateful to know that this "storm" is bringing a huge rainbow. I'm grateful to know I can and will come through this crazy time stronger. I'm grateful to get a true gauge of my anxiety. I'm grateful for the awesome people I have in my life. I'm grateful to listen to my girls play and their perspective of the world. I'm grateful to see the buds forming on the trees and bushes. I'm grateful to just stop and watch two large blue jays outside my window.

What expectations do you have for this week? When the week changes plans (or throws the plans out entirely) how do you shift perspective? 

​May we weather whatever comes with gratitude. May we always keep our eyes focused on the goal. Have a beautiful day!

Life has stages. Some of them blend and blur and transition smoothly. Some transitions feel a little more like Frogger on the highway. 

My life is on the cusp of several big changes and, while the full effect will not transition until Fall, I can feel some of the blocks quivering with the upcoming shift. The foundation of the schedules we have become accustomed to are beginning to shift now as we attempt to prepare for the big changes. (And no, I am not pregnant.)

This stage feels a little uncomfortable and a bit stressful. I'm doing my best to move forward gracefully, for myself and for my kids. 

This stage is also exciting as it is providing a bit of "light at the end of the tunnel". I'm confident there will be so many blessings and gratitude in this next stage.

I'm grateful for the amazing stages of parenthood I have traveled. I'm grateful to be coming up to a new stage to grow into. I'm grateful for my amazing kids that teach me so much every day. I'm grateful for all the loving support I have found as we begin the transition to this next stage. I'm grateful for carving more time for family, for listening, and for creative solutions. I'm grateful to sit with all the emotions. I'm grateful to move forward with the things I can and let other things be. 

What stage are you in? What helps you move through transitions with grace?

May today be a reminder to be gentle with ourselves. May we do what we can and let the rest go. May we give ourselves grace that we are doing our best. Have a beautiful day!

More changes are on the horizon! I am excited about the new but as usual have turned into a bit of a stress monkey over the details. I want to see the change, now. 

In the midst of my distraction and anticipation I have made some silly blunders. Now is a great time to pause, take a deep breath, and remind myself to go one step at a time.

I'm grateful to feel the excitement. I'm grateful for the confirmation it gives me to feel like I'm making progress and moving forward. I'm grateful for my husband and colleague's input. I'm grateful to keep putting myself in check to slow down and not monkey-mind it. I'm grateful for deep breaths and afternoon quiet time. I'm grateful for a new season, new growth, and new changes!

What changes do you feel like making this season? What changes make you feel excited to move forward?

May today remain balanced as we look to the future and still celebrate where we are today. Have a beautiful day!

I'm grateful to take time yesterday to process. I'm grateful to take time to just sit and be still. I'm grateful for my wonderful village. I'm grateful for all the support and assistance in moving forward. I'm grateful to recognize today that this is merely a small bump in a great road. I'm grateful to start moving forward today with a lighter heart and mind.

How do you refresh your mindset? What helps you to clear your mind and get moving again?

​May today be the next step forward. May we drop what doesn't need carried and focus on the path ahead. Have a beautiful day!

Today is a day of processing. I have learned some things over the last two days that have me running through emotions from anger and guilt to a sadness near grieving. For now, I am letting the process run its course and feeling all the feels. 

In the back of my mind I have options for solutions that can be carried out. But first I feel like I really need to just let the emotions run their course and process this information. I need to be able to take myself and my emotions out of the equation before I take the next steps forward. The next steps will be solely focused on my child and her best interests. This moment is for me.

I'm grateful to just sit and listen. I'm grateful to try not to push or force it. I'm grateful to recognize my tendency to rush to fix while my emotions are still high and try a different tactic this time. I'm grateful to give myself space. I'm grateful to listen to the self-talk and counter the unproductive. I'm grateful to focus on recentering. I'm grateful to believe that my family is a team and together we can accomplish just about anything.

How do you allow yourself time to process? What does allowing your feelings to run their course look like for you?

​May today be slow and gentle. May we take the time and space we need for whatever stage we're at today. Have a beautiful day!

Do you know the best part about trying something again? It is the faith and hope that it will go better this time. When we try again, we are telling ourselves, "I believe in you!" Plus, as long as we are still trying; we haven't failed. This is true no matter how many tries it takes.

I'm grateful to try again. I'm grateful to have a little ditty I sing to my kids about trying again. I'm grateful to be honest with my kids on where I have fallen short of my goal and how I plan to try again. I'm grateful for the amazing, supportive people in my life. I'm grateful for a very patient family. I'm grateful to believe in myself and have faith that I will accomplish each goal I set. 

What are you trying to accomplish? Which goals have you already had success? How often do you give yourself encouragement to try again?

May today be a reminder at where we have succeeded. May we always keep faith in ourselves and our ability to grow and achieve. Have a beautiful day!

I will admit, I am a little drained after this weekend. All weekend it seemed like high alert between potty-training and a sick kid. Somehow on top of that I cooked a feast of near Thanksgiving proportions to ring in an early Fat Tuesday with the family. Today was more of high alert as it was our first outing and so early in the potty-training process. 

Even with all of it going pretty smoothly (okay minus the kid vomiting part), it has been a lot. I can feel my body dragging. I can feel my mind wanting to just shut down for a bit. But before I sign off and go do some needed self-care, I wanted to give a cheer for a new month starting tomorrow. Spring is one day closer!

I'm grateful to be trying to keep my "boat" in the flow. I'm grateful to recognize when I am needing to just rest. I'm grateful for my husband's help this weekend as we navigated the demands of watching every little signal. I'm grateful for my daughter's resilience and her doing so well at potty training. I'm grateful she's feeling better too! I'm grateful to see the evidence of Spring getting closer. I'm grateful for some sunshine and warmer temperatures. I'm grateful to keep floating toward flower season.

What helps you reframe and keep going?

May today give us a deep breath and a fresh perspective. Have a beautiful day!

Something tells me the little guy in the picture above is not really feeling as "smiley face" as his response. While I got a good giggle out of the irony of a dead bug on the feeling good symbol, it isn't as funny to think how accurate this is. 

How many times do we get asked how we are doing and say okay or great when that isn't really the case at all? We tell ourselves the person is just being polite or doesn't want to hear the real answer. We tell ourselves we are maintaining boundaries or protecting our privacy. Or maybe we think if we say it enough it will come true.

But what do we gain from hiding away like that? What do we gain by never sharing negative feelings? We create a wall and a stigma about what is okay to share. When, in fact, we all have shitty days sometimes. What if we could just say, "you know, I'm not doing well." What if we answered, "I struggling today."?

Would it be so terrible for people to know we're human? Would it be terrible for someone to know our life isn't perfect every minute of every day? And let's be honest, they still have the option of how they choose to respond to that answer. They may let it go at that or they may just show a deeper level of caring than you realized and lend and ear. Either way is perfectly fine. 

I'm grateful to be seeing more push lately to erase the stigma of our emotions. I'm grateful for more people taking off the "perfect" images on Facebook and admitting we all have issues. I'm grateful to try to be catching myself and giving real answers instead of mindless ones. I'm grateful to admit when I'm not doing great and see the amazing people in my life give support. I'm grateful to do the same for my friends and family. I'm grateful for clients that confide in me. I'm grateful to do my best to teach my kids all emotions are okay. I'm grateful for this bug and his big dying message. And I'm grateful to find a little humor in the message as well.

How are you today? Who can you be real with and who do you allow to be real with you? 

May we give everyone the respect of being real. May we make room for the unpleasant. May we accept not every day is great. And may today be beautiful no matter what it brings.

A good portion of my life is dictated by a clock. Wake up and get the kids ready for school, breakfast, out the door. Then it's errands to run and back to pick up from school, lunch, and get ready for work.

Classes start a set time. Clients come at scheduled intervals. Keep naps and bedtimes on schedule for happy kids. Timers, reminders, and alarms tick throughout the day. 

When I feel the tick of the clock vibrating through my veins and I've worried we're going to be late a dozen times, it's time to talk back. It's time to tell the clock to hush because I DO have time. 

It's time to dial back to prodding along and just let go and play. It's time to shrug and say, "one day of being late won't hurt us." It's time to look at the to do list as you stuff it in a side pocket and head to the playground. 

No one can live in the constant ticking of the clock. It isn't healthy. It doesn't feel good. And yet that is the society we live in, the society we bring our kids up in. 

I read something about childhood depression and anxiety being way higher than it was in the seventies. Setting some obvious jokes aside, look at the schedules we keep? There is a lot of pressure on kids, from learning more things at a younger age to needing more extra-curricular activities to pad their college applications. On top of that, let's face it, this pandemic is increasing everyone's anxiety and stress for one reason or another. 

I'm not some perfect mom. There are days my stress oozes into my interactions with my kids. There are plenty of times I have to remind myself to slow down and quit starting our mornings in an anxiety driven rush. And we are just re-joining the world of extra-curricular activities. But perhaps the best tip I can give is recognizing when to tell the clock to hush, just turn off the alarms, and just breathe. It really makes all the difference.

I'm grateful to go to the playground today. I'm grateful to get a couple things crossed off the to do list as well. I'm grateful we slept in and dawdled and still made it to school on time. I'm grateful to just slow things down. I'm grateful to pause and hug and connect with my kids. I'm grateful to share a meal together every day. I'm grateful to hear their thoughts about the world. I'm grateful to tell time to hold its horses because I am going at my speed today.

How does your schedule FEEL? How many timers or alarms do you have to listen to throughout the day? When was the last time you stepped away from the ticking clock?

May today remind us that time is just a perception. May we remember there is plenty of time to enjoy. Have a beautiful day!