Supermom is Getting Tired

Question of the Day: Middle School Worries

Question of the Day: Middle School Worries

Today's question is from a mom worried about her son starting middle school.

“My son is starting middle school and I worry about all the things he’s going to be exposed to. Vaping, drugs, girls, social media, bullies, online porn, you name it, I worry about it.

He is such a happy, sweet boy and I don’t want his peers to ruin his innocence. Part of me thinks I should talk to him about some of the things he’ll be exposed to. But the other part of me thinks I should keep quiet and let it unfold as he experiences it.

How can I prepare him for the big, bad world of middle school without scaring him or giving him more information than he is ready to handle?”    Catalina

Parent Education Answer:

I think there are many parents who share the same middle school worries and apprehension. I heard this a lot from the parents who came to my classes on “How to Talk to Kids about Sex”.

They wanted to be the ones to tell their kids about how babies are made but they get nervous about taking away their innocence. Rather than saying the wrong thing or giving too much information, they end up saying nothing at all.

In a way, your instincts are correct in not talking to him from your worrying energy. Emotions are contagious and you telling him about your fears and all the middle school worries could do one of two things:

- Scare him. He might mirror you and become equally worried and stressed.
- Reject you. Kids don't like the energy of worry. He may disregard your helpful information and not want to listen to you, be around you, or confide in you later, if he thinks it will worry you.

I believe knowledge is power.  This could be a great opportunity to inform him of things he will be encounter. But keep in mind that only if you are in a calm confident energy.

Benefits of  Information

When parents inform their kids about vaping, sex, drugs, etc. before they are exposed to it, there are many benefits:

• Kids learn they can talk to their parents about anything that comes up.
• When your middle schooler hears something taboo, he doesn’t need to rely on peers or youtube to answer questions because they already received information at home.
• Talking about personal, important things builds trust and brings you closer.
• Middle schoolers are surrounded by peers willing to give their opinions and judgments easily. When they also have the voice of their parent in their head, it helps them make an informed decision.
• Kids tend to rise to our expectations. If we expect them to do drugs and get bad grades, they probably will. If we expect them to encounter such, but not partake in unhealthy activities, they probably will do that.

Format of Discussion

Think about this format when talking to your kid about difficult subjects: information, consequences, opinions, choice.

Let's take online porn as an example.

Information: Porn is short for pornography. It refers to visual materials (mostly digital these days) containing explicit display of sexual organs and/or activity intended to stimulate erotic feelings (as opposed to aesthetic or emotional). Showing pornography to children is considered illegal and obscene.

Consequences: Some people experience it as harmless and healthy. Others experience it as addictive, exploitative and damaging to relationships.

 

Opinions: Your Dad and I don’t want you watching it because it’s going to give you an unrealistic picture of what sex is like in a real relationship. When you are in a real relationship someday, we want you to experience the best of it.  This includes emotional intimacy, companionship, friendship and love, not just the physical aspects of sex.

 

Choice: We realize we can’t control what you view on the internet but we hope you choose will things that uplift your spirit and not watch things you feel you should hide. We also want you to know, you can come to us if you ever have concerns or you encounter something that feels weird or icky online.

 

Life Coaching Answer: Handling Middle School Worries

What gets in our way from being this calm confident parent discussing these middle school worries and informing our child of unhealthy risks of middle school? FEAR.

Fear of what could happen, fear of letting go, fear of how other kids will behave, fear of losing the child you have known, fear of him getting hurt, fear of watching our baby suffer, fear of not being able to help him solve his problems, fear dressed up in multiple outfits.

When we feel fear in the absence of immediate threat, we struggle because there is no productive action step to take.

It helps to know that fear is an instinct to keep us (and our loved ones) out of harm’s way. We are hiking, we see a snake ready to strike, we freeze. Some crazy person running towards us yelling, we run away.

Hence, our brain’s fear response is brilliantly designed to keep us safe, except for when there is no clear reason for our fear.

When we feel fear, yet everything around us appears safe, we go into our heads and try to figure out why we are scared. We look for an explanation for our fears: school shootings, bad guys, drugs.

The news will give us plenty of logical reasons why we have this fear. It makes our worries seem valid and important.

Fears and Worries

Worry pretends to be helpful. It makes us feel like we are DOING something productive but we aren’t. All we are doing is making it harder to help our children navigate a fear-filled culture with confidence and ease.

In order to prepare your child for some of the negative things he might be exposed to in middle school, you’ll want to release these middle school worries and process the fear.

Fear is just an emotion. It is energy in motion and it shows up as a vibration in the body.

Close your eyes, take a deep breath and notice what fear feels like and where in your body you feel it. The more you stay with this feeling, without having the need to run away from it, the easier it will move through you.

Our brain thinks we’re going to die but if you look around you, and all is well in this moment, it’s safe to process this feeling so that you can return to a state of calm.

From the sound of things, it looks like your son is healthy, happy and safe. He is going to school in one of the safest countries in the world, in one of the safest times in history. He’ll be with other kids who have been raised in a safe environment, having all their basic needs met.

Worrying gives you the illusion of safety, but it really doesn’t help.

Once you’ve allowed yourself to feel the feeling of fear without reacting to it, you’ll notice you feel calmer.

Your Mindset

This is when you want to engage the brain and ask, "What do I need to think and believe in order to talk to my middle schooler calmly?"

“I want him to have knowledge so he can make his own decisions.”
“This is good information to know” might be a helpful thought.
“I trust him to make good choices.”
“I’m earning my good parenting sticker today”
“I want to be the kind of mom who can handle tough subjects.”

Once you are feeling calm and ready to give your child “Information, Consequence, Opinion, Choice”, you may need some additional resources.

Middle school is a great time to shift from being the person with all the answers, to learning things together with your child. Which is handy because a lot of us don’t know about the dangers of vaping, social media, or today’s potent marijuana options.

Marlene Mahurin from Nevada County’s Tobacco Use Prevention and Education program, recommended a great video to watch with your kids. I will post a few of my favorites but I encourage you to look through Google on your own. Find a few to watch that you think will resonate with your child’s personality. Just be mindful of who is publishing the video.

Recommended Resources

Common Sense Media has GREAT videos and is a resource you should know about from school shootings to sexting https://www.commonsensemedia.org/
The Nevada County TUPE video on vaping http://nevco.org/programs-services/tupe/

Sex Education (for 9-12 year olds) http://TimeforTheTalk.com

Marijuana https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvszaF4vcNYConsent https://youtu.be/pZwvrxVavnQ

Gender Fluidity https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udI-Go8KK2Q&feature=youtu.be

Sex Education (for parents and high schoolers) https://youtu.be/L0jQz6jqQS0

How to ADHD https://howtoadhd.com/videos/

 

Today’s Supermom Kryptonite - Your media diet.

Just like the food we eat impacts us, even if we don’t notice it immediately, the media we take in affects us, too.

If your media diet consists of Fox News, Criminal Minds and CSI, it’s no wonder you feel a lot of fear. If your media diet consists of Queer Eye, romance novels, this podcast and video chatting with friends, you probably feel a lot of peace. In order to stop worrying, try changing your media diet.

I remember going to bed one night and noticing I felt gross. It felt like I had just eaten a bunch of junk food but I hadn't. I realized the “junk food feeling” was because I just watched 20 minutes of “Housewives of Whatever County” before I went to bed.

This show might be just what you need at the end of the day to lift your spirits. That was what I thought, but it wasn’t healthy for me.

Especially before bed, I have to be very careful about what I take into my brain.

It's amazing how easy it is to keep up with current events without ever watching a single newscast. Thus, I limit my social media exposure and seek media that uplifts me. That way, I can maintain peaceful energy for my clients, and kids, to come home to.

 

Supermom Powerboost - Allowing your kid to experience negative emotion

• It is common in today’s perfectionistic parenting culture to believe that it’s our job to protect our children from having any negative emotion ever. We genuinely want our children to be happy and successful, every second of every day, forever. First, because this is what we think a good mom would want. Second because we don’t know what to do with ourselves when they have a negative emotion.
  When we understand that allowing children to “feel all the feels” is IMPORTANT and NECESSARY, then we focus on what we want to feel WHILE they are feeling sad, disappointed, angry or scared. You can:
• allow your child to feel a feeling without taking it on as your own.
• feel proud of yourself for letting your child have a negative experience.
• feel satisfied knowing that this negative experience is teaching him lessons he could never learn on his own.

Trying to ensure that your child only has positive experiences and emotions is exhausting. In contrast, allowing your child to experience negative emotions, (without making it mean anything has gone wrong), will free you and boost your energy.

 

Quote of the Day:

 "Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow, it only saps today of its joy." Leo Buscaglia

Clarify My Back-to-School Mom Goals

Question of the Day:

"Dear Torie,

School is starting soon and I am excited to get back to routine. I’m a stay-at-home mom of three and all of them will be in school full day. I’m finally going to have free time to do something for me, but I’m not sure how to spend this precious time! I want to exercise, socialize, read, watch movies, volunteer, but I’m also thinking some extra money would be nice so working part time is also an option. From previous experience, I know that if I’m not deliberate about it, I’ll just end up running errands and cleaning the house without kids. I just don’t want to waste my hard earned freedom by continuing to do things for the kids and not for me. Can you help me clarify my back to school 'mom goals'?”   Rebecca

 

 

Parent Education Answer:

Taking time to think about YOU and what you want is so important, not just for your own happiness, but so you can be refreshed and energized for your kids. 

It’s common in our perfectionistic parenting culture to place a higher importance on caring for our children than caring for ourselves. The belief that everything we do should benefit our kids is misguided. Over-parenting robs children of their own efficacy. YOU get to feel capable and responsible, but your child feels needy and dependent. Taking care of YOURSELF is one of the best things you can do FOR your kids! 

Do you know anyone whose mother does not take good care of herself? Have you ever had a friend whose Mom did not take care of her physical health, emotional health, or financial health? It is a HUGE drain on the child! 

Here are three things I have found that seem to benefit all Supermoms:

1. Clarity - Knowing who you are and what you want. 

Your question, Rebecca, is a perfect one to help you step out of the weeds of your everyday life and think about what you most want to accomplish. The beginning of the school year is a great time to evaluate which areas of your life need a refresher. 

Go to www.LifeCoachingforParents.com/back-to-school and sign up for my free webinar. I will send you a life balance wheel where you will rank, on a scale of 1-10, how fulfilled you currently feel in each category: health, family, social/community, spirituality, surroundings, contribution to society, fun and recreation, finances, romantic relationship, career. Your lowest category may be the one to devote more time to in order to feel balanced and fulfilled. Pick ONE area to focus on and make it your priority. 

2. Energy - Did you know you can CREATE energy?

I used to think it was something people either had or didn’t have. I believed my energy fluctuated based on outside circumstances: how much sleep I got, how my kids behaved, whether my house was messy or clean. Now I’ve learned that I can create more energy with my thoughts by processing emotions, making decisions, overcoming fears, closing loops. Some of my Supermom clients increase their energy by singing, playing the piano, reading, sitting in the sunshine, planning a vacation, not to mention exercise, sleep and healthy foods. If you want to accomplish a lot in your day AND feel peaceful and balanced, choose to spend your free time on an activity that boosts your energy. 

3. Accomplishment - Being a mom involves a lot of circular, repetitive tasks: laundry, cooking, cleaning. If you don’t get a sense of accomplishment from a job, you might get stuck in the mind-numbing trap of taking care of others without really feeling engaged in your activities. Focusing on what you want to accomplish every day can pull you out of the weeds and into a more productive, conscious mindset that focuses on your highest objective. Plus, accomplishing tasks gives you a feel-good dopamine hit so even by writing things down, then checking them off, you can get a sense of satisfaction.

Some of my ‘at-home’ mom clients have found a sense of accomplishment from refurbishing old furniture, decorating their homes, scrapbooking, trying new recipes, or creating a budget. There is no right or wrong way to feel accomplished, just focus on the feeling you are yearning for and go after it.

Life Coaching Answer: What gets in our way?

Believing we aren’t worthy of our own time, money and attention. 

Imagine you are looking through the nursery window in a hospital. You see bassinets in a line with little babies swaddled in their blankets. Some are sleeping, some are staring, some are fussing, all are adorable. You look at the fourth one down with the pink hat and you say, “That one there, she’s not good enough. She’s not as deserving as the others. She isn’t worthy of having as much success, relaxation, or joy as those other babies.”

Worthiness doesn’t work that way! There is no such thing as being “unworthy” or “not good enough”. It’s not a competition. You have worth because you have blood in your body. Is a baby who gets tossed in a dumpster by its parents, less worthy or deserving? NO. Is a baby born with birth defects or disabilities any less deserving of success, joy, or relaxation? NO. You are no better and no worse than anyone else. Your kids are not more deserving of love, attention and happiness than you are. You are teaching them how to treat you. As you prioritize yourself and your needs, they will learn that your needs are also important. 

 

Supermom Kryptonite: Giving from an empty cup. 

I LOVE taking care of others. Giving is a part of my nature and makes me feel alive and connected. 

Until it doesn’t. 

Sometimes giving feels like a sacrifice. Sometimes it feels like an obligation. 

I am not going to say you should stop taking care of your children, your spouse, your partner, your boss, your sister, your dogs (the list goes on doesn’t it?). 

I am going to say it’s time to stop giving from an empty cup. 

The cup represents your energy; your spirit. It needs to be full in order for you to feel happy, healthy, and well-balanced. When you have so much love and energy filling your cup that it overflows, that is when you give. Whatever spills onto the saucer is to give away. 

You might be thinking... “Torie, I have never had a full cup and I don’t know how to get one. I have to give from an empty cup because my children need me and it’s all I’ve got.” 

If that’s the case, then consider working with a life coach. Life coaches are trained to help you plug your invisible energy drains and help you fill up your cup on a regular basis so you can be the best version of you. 

 

Supermom Powerboost: Saying Yes to kid play

Want an energy boost? Try saying yes when your kids ask you to play. If you are like me, your first response to, “Mom, do you want to play?” is “absolutely not”. But 5 minutes of shooting hoops, jumping on a trampoline, or tossing a volleyball around really does boost my energy. Not only do I get my blood pumping, but I feel like a younger, cooler mom who can get out of her head for 5 minutes. 

If you’ve got younger kids, just lay on the floor and see what happens. A parent laying on the floor is like a magnet to little ones. They start crawling all over you like a jungle gym and playing and wrestling like little lion cubs. Five minutes of presence while playing will give you a boost of energy and keep you feeling young. 

 

Quote of the Day:

"Rest and self care are so important. When you take time to replenish your spirit, it allows you to serve others from the overflow. You cannot serve from an empty vessel." • Eleanor Brownn

Perfectionistic Teen

Question of the Day:

“Hi Torie, I recently started listening to your podcasts after finding Brooke Castillo from a friend.” 

(If you haven't heard Brooke Castillo’s podcast, I highly recommend it. She is one of my life coaching teachers and her podcast is called The Life Coach School Podcast. If you're looking for a new podcast to listen to check her out for sure.)

Jenny says, "I'm fairly new to this life coaching stuff, but I've seen huge changes in myself since listening and applying the principles you and Brooke teach. I find that I'm not sure how to help my children discover these amazing liberating principles. 

My oldest, who's 13, is a lot like me (or who I was). He's a total people-pleaser and major perfectionist. This sweet boy does everything he can to try and control everyone else's happiness to his own detriment. I think he thinks that, if he's perfect, I (or his teachers) will be happy.

When I try to give him suggestions or point this out he calls himself “dumb” and a “failure”. In fact, he is calling himself these things almost daily! Just today he said, “I'm so dumb why can't everyone else see that?!” This is a constant issue for him. He would rather get a worse grade or not perform to his full ability, than to talk to his teachers or coaches and admit he doesn't understand how to do something. How do I help this well intentioned but out of control boy? He is literally destroying and hindering himself to make everyone else happy.”

Parent Education Answer: 

Here are some parenting tips that you can implement to help your perfectionistic child no matter what age. 

1. Celebrate mistakes - It's a tricky one to do when you are a recovering perfectionist yourself, but it’s worth while. Go around the dinner table and ask everyone to share their biggest mistake. Whoever made the biggest faux pas gets the biggest dessert. Talk about your “failures” or embarrassing mistakes you made when you were his age. We can mess with his mind by viewing mistakes as a good thing. We make mistakes when we take a risk, push outside our comfort zone, and live life to the fullest and live as a human.

Right now, your son feels shame, when he even contemplates making a mistake. Shame can only live in the dark. When you bring it out into the light, laugh at it, own up to it, and celebrate it, it loses its power.

2. Two magic words - Incorporate these magical two words into your vocabulary. "Oh Well" Using these words on a daily basis is one of the greatest ways you can help your child learn to go with the flow. “We’re late again. Oh well!” “I didn't get my homework assignment in on time. Oh well!” “I was too scared to talk to the coach about getting more play time. Oh well!” "I'm trying to make everyone happy except for myself, Oh well." Try it and notice how your muscles relax and the tension melts away. 

3. Personality Puppet Show -  I like to tell kids that they have a personality puppet show going on in their brains. When your child is calm, grab a piece of paper, sit down with him, and draw pictures of your inner perfectionists. Together, create characters out of the voices in your heads that say, “You aren’t good enough.”

Does it sound like a male or female voice? Is it more of an animal or cartoon character? What kind of clothes does it wear? What kind of movements and facial expressions can you imagine? Really create a clear visual of this inner perfectionist. Draw a speech bubble over it's head with the things it likes to say: “I'm dumb” “I'm stupid” “Whatever I do is never enough.” 

Ask yourselves: “Would I want to be friends with somebody who spoke to me that way?”  "Would I ever talk to somebody else like that?” If not, thank your inner perfectionists for trying to keep you safe, tell her, "Your opinion is noted, but not welcome."  Feed her a snack and send her out for a walk. She or he will be back anytime you do something outside your comfort zone. Talking to authority figures sounds like a trigger for your son, so expect this inner perfectionist to show up every time he admits his imperfection. 

As you write and talk about your inner perfectionists, you will remove the shame of it. When you can separate out this character from the other parts of you, it creates breathing space. You realize, “I am not my inner perfectionist.” “I am the one who can observe it.” 

Encourage your son (when he's calm) to think of a time when he made a mistake and he didn’t beat himself up for it. I guarantee there was a time! Maybe he spilled some milk or forgot his jacket at a friend’s house. It can be very simple like he forgetting to put the toilet seat down. Have him notice the voice that didn’t make a big deal about it. What did it say? It was probably something very easy going like, “Oh well!” or "No big deal". Show him that he already has this voice in his head. Ask him which voice he would rather be friends with? Which voice does he respect more? 

Life Coaching Answer:

What gets in the way of being able to implement these strategies? Well I'm sure you realize that your own in her perfectionist is going to get into the way. 

When you have a situation like Jenny has here with her perfectionistic son, it's not unusual for a mom to type into the search bar “How to help perfectionistic kids”. What comes up, is a lot of articles that make you feel so bad about yourself that you are unable to help your son. 

You read an article with well-meaning advice like “It's crucial to teach this to your children.” Your children are watching how you react to every situation.”  “Make sure you are modeling good behavior.” “Children need to know blah blah blah so don't dismiss it because you need to demonstrate these skills….” 

It's easy for a perfectionistic mom, worried about doing everything right, will read this and think, "I suck. His anxiety is all my fault. I totally screwed him up and I'm doing it all wrong."

ARTICLES LIKE THIS IS WHY I STARTED THIS PODCAST

It’s true, that there are at least 20 different things that mom can do to help her son’s perfectionism. But listing 20 ways MOM needs to change, overnight, or else SHE is causing her son to be unhappy and stressed. Umm...NOT HELPFUL!

So what keeps us from helping our kids deal with their perfectionism? Our own perfectionism and a culture that feeds right into it. 

The best way for Jenny to help her son is to pay attention to her own emotions and keep doing what she’s doing, to tame her own inner perfectionist. Focusing on herself and her own growth, while staying away from media that make her feel like she isn't already perfect as she is.

Work on yourself, in front of your son, in these 3 ways:

1. Talk out loud about what your inner perfectionist saying. “I can hear my inner perfectionist getting mad about my being late. She is saying, ‘I should have left earlier.’ ‘I should have allowed more time.’ ‘I’m such an idiot.’ 'They are going to be mad at me.’ I would never talk that way to anyone else. It’s super mean! So, I’m going to send my inner perfectionist to Starbucks and just say, 'Oh well!'"
2. Talk out loud about your emotions. Because your son is 13, I would start by modeling this yourself. Say, “I’m feeling embarrassed because I didn’t do everything perfectly. My cheeks are hot and I feel like crawling into a ball and hiding.”  Or, “I’m mad at myself because I said something dumb. I wish I could take it back. I feel tension in my shoulders and my fists are clenched.”

If he was younger, I would ask him where in his body he feels the emotion, what color is it, what it feels like, etc. Perfectionism is a kind of anxiety and anxiety is an avoidance of emotions. When you can learn to process emotions, there is no need for anxiety. 

1. Love more, care less. This is something I work on in my Leading Your Teen Masterclass. 

Love the person your kid is today, with flaws and imperfections, and care less about how he shows up in the world. Care less about his grades, whether he talks to coaches or teachers, but love him more, as the perfectly imperfect 13 year old he is.

Care, unchecked, can feel controlling. Love is expansive, compassionate and is just what a stressed out perfectionistic teen needs. Take the pressure off by accepting him just as he is today. 

Supermom Kryptonite - Suppressing our inner perfectionist. 

When we first realize we’ve got this voice in our heads that is mean and not helpful, our first instinct is to kick it to the curb and get rid of it. When we hear our kids saying, “I’m dumb” we want to jump in and shut that awful voice down! We tell them that of course they aren’t dumb and as you’ve learned, that doesn’t work. He gets annoyed that you don’t agree with his mean and limiting beliefs! 

The same is true for us. When we deny or suppress our inner critic, it creates tension, resistance, and “exploding doormat syndrome” where we explode at minor problems.

Instead, try turning the volume up on this mean, critical voice. When we turn the volume up and, create a character and personality associated with this voice, there is no resistance. It allows us to see it separately and not believe that everything this voice says is true. It also teaches us that if we can turn a voice up, we may also be able to turn it down. 

Supermom Power Boost - Queer Eye Netflix Show

If you are going to have a harsh inner critic, you’ll want to have a powerful inner cheerleader, too. We can be this for our children, but sometimes we need inspiration. I find the Fab 5 from the Queer Eye show on Netflix to be a great source of inspiration.

These 5 men help someone change without making them feel bad for being the way they are. The shows offers life makeovers, but also love, kindness, and compassion. Watch this feel good show for inspiration and ideas on how to support yourself and your kids, while being perfectly imperfect.

Whenever I’m feeling embarrassed or inadequate, I like to pretend the Fab 5 are talking to about me. “We love Torie, she’s gorgeous, look at her fabulous self, she’s so great”. It makes me smile every time. We all need our own cheerleading squad to help us cope with being imperfect in a perfectionistic world. 

Quote of the Day 

“If parents want to give their children a gift, the best thing they can do is to teach their children to love challenges, be intrigued by mistakes, enjoy effort, and keep on learning. That way, their children don’t have to be slaves of praise. They will have a lifelong way to build and repair their own confidence.” 

― Carol S. Dweck   www.mindsetonline.com 

 

How to get husband to help out

Question of the Day:

"How can I get my husband to help out more? I feel like all the responsibility is on me. I make more money than my husband, I do more of the parenting, food prep, house cleaning, arranging child care, carpools, you name it, I’m doing it. When I’m not feeling pissy and resentful, I can notice that my husband helps with some things. But most of the time, I’m frustrated that the majority of the parenting burden weighs on my shoulders. What do I need to do to get my husband to step up and take on more responsibility?"     Diana

Parent Educator Answer: 

If you want your husband to help out more, try these 3 things:

1. Be specific and straightforward. Make a list of what you’d like accomplished. Get rid of the idea that he should just know what to do. Set him up for success by asking him to do a specific task (like empty the dishwasher, as opposed to “help out more”).
2. Respect his differences. His version of clean may not be the same as yours. That’s ok. He doesn’t “see the mess” the way you do and that’s fine. You're different people. Allow him to do child care or chores his way, even if it isn’t up to your standards. Micromanaging will only make him resist helping. 
3. Show appreciation when he helps. I know it’s not fair, no one thanks you for cleaning the kitchen everyday. But if you want your partner to pitch in, tell him how it feels to walk in tothe laundry room and see all the clothes folded neatly into piles. Express your gratitude at being able to kick your heels up at the end of the day and watch a TV show. Men like to solve problems and rescue. Reward the behavior you want to see more of with words of appreciation and kindness.

 

Life Coaching Answer:

This is a classic scenario for a Supermom to find themselves in. 

Supermoms don’t tend to think of themselves as “super”, they just routinely and unconsciously put on their cape and take care of business. Supermoms do great in school: show them the hoops to jump through and they do it. They are responsible and reliable and they get rewarded with external praise: good grades, professional accolades, etc. Fulfilling obligations is easy and it seems like the right thing to do. 

When we see our partners do things differently, drop the ball, parent imperfectly, forget things or behave inconsistently and we think, "I need to pick up the slack.”  It comes so easily to us and we are so invested in doing motherhood right, that we just do it. Before long, we feel like we are holding the world on shoulders, responsible for the lives and well being of many people. 

One of the things that bothers me is when I tell people that I’m a life coach for moms who are exhausted, overwhelmed, and resentful and they say, “So, like, every mom.” 

NO!!!  These are not normal signs of motherhood!

These are signs of caregiver fatigue! Feeling guilty when you take time for yourself is not normal. It’s a sign you are out of balance!

I’m going to guess that you grew up in a culture that encouraged “fulfilling obligations” over “following your bliss”. Whether from parents, religion, schools or the media, you were raised with the idea that there is a ‘right way’ to do things. Doing things right, fulfilling obligations and taking responsibility was praised and rewarded. You may have had an innate personality that wanted to follow the rules and be of service, but when 90% of your life feels obligatory, it’s time to re-evaluate your habitual way of doing things. 

Deviating from culture is NOT EASY! We worry about what our parents will think, what co-workers and other moms will think, but mostly, we worry about what our own inner martyr will say when we kick up our heels to relax and start prioritizing our own "selfish" wants and desires. That inner martyr is mean, so we’d rather just keep working instead of listen to that mean inner voice. 

Deviating from an unhealthy culture is important. Slavery would still be legal if not for a few people who listened to their inner guidance. The culture, the laws, all said slavery was fine. This didn’t sit well with everybody. Some people felt uncomfortable and they listened to this discomfort. Listening to negative emotions helps improve our culture. Right now, anxiety and depression is at an all time high amongst adolescents. There are many signs that our culture is unhealthy. The way to change it is to listen to the internal compass, rather than blindly obey the culture.

If you are like most of my clients, when your husband loads the dishwasher or offers to help arrange the carpool, your critical mind jumps into gear: “He’s not doing it right”, “It’s easier just to do it myself than explain it”, “Why can’t he just do it the way I want”. Because your brain is thinking, “There’s a right way and a wrong way” or “I have to do all the work” we get stuck on proving ourselves right. 

Even when you go to your husband crying with exhaustion, and he steps up by grocery shopping or taking the kids out to dinner, it still doesn’t feel like enough.

The reason you want your husband to help out more is because of how you WANT to feel. This discomfort with the culture of “Supermom does all the work” isn’t sitting well with you. You want to feel free, valued, supported, and appreciated. 

Let’s imagine for a minute that you had a magic wand and you could make your husband do everything you wanted him to do. Can you picture that? He brings you coffee in bed, gets the kids dressed, fed and off to school, he cleans up the kitchen after feeding them a healthy breakfast. How do you imagine you would feel? 

Relaxed. Grateful. Appreciated. 

This is what you are really yearning for. You think you can only get it by having your husband help out with chores.But these feelings are coming from a thought in your head. What is the thought you would be thinking if you felt relaxed, grateful and appreciated?

This is so nice. I can do what I want. He really loves me. 

It’s these thoughts that will give you the feeling you are looking for, regardless of what your husband does or does not do. 

You release the burden of obligation by releasing the thoughts: “I have to do everything around here.” “It’s my responsibility” “I have to do it right” “I should do more, be more, etc.” 

Once you release these beliefs, you’ll be more fun to be around. Your husband can put on his SuperDAD cape, help out more, and have a wife who is grateful and appreciative of him. 

Supermom Kryptonite - Confirmation Bias

Confirmation Bias means we prove to ourselves what we already believe. When we believe we have to do all the work, we scan our environment looking for all the work that needs to be done, and all the things our husbands aren’t doing.

There are people who believe Trump is a good president and they can find evidence to prove their belief true. There are people who believe he is a terrible president, and they can find evidence to prove themselves correct. What we believe is SO IMPORTANT because it will determine what we experience.

Do you want to believe you do all the work? It might make you feel capable and responsible, but it won’t help your husband step up and contribute. Try believing “My husband likes to help.” This thought will make it easier for you to implement the strategies up above. “My husband appreciates everything I do” will help you feel supported and valued and give you the strength to keep going. 

 

Supermom Powerboost - Focus

Focus is very powerful. What we focus on, expands. 

If you focus on how much your husband isn’t doing around the house, you will feel mad and overburdened. 

Don’t let your culture choose what you focus on. The U.S. has a strong culture of fear. Every time you turn on the news, you collect evidence to prove we live in a scary place where lots of bad things happen, even though, we live in one of the safest countries, in the safest time in history.

Use your higher, more conscious brain to decide what you’d like more of and then choose to focus your attention on that.

Want to feel more loving? Focus on what you love about your husband.

Want more relaxation? Tell yourself there is nothing you HAVE to do right now and notice how it is always true.

Want to feel more appreciated? Write down a list of things you appreciate about yourself. Invite your family to add to the list. Imagine that your family is so grateful for everything you do and notice how it makes you feel better. 

Quote of the Day: “Always remember, your focus determines your reality.” George Lucas

Sunscreen Power Struggle

Question of the Day:

"My kids put up a huge stink when it comes to wearing sunscreen. I can get them to wear hats and sun shirts occasionally, but every time they step into the sun, I get so anxious. We live in a sunny place, near beaches, so this is a frequent problem. I think my oldest is genuinely sensitive to the texture of sunscreen, he used to freak out when we tried to wipe his face or if he clothes got wet. My second child just copies his brother and has turned sunscreen into a huge power struggle. I just want to relax and enjoy a day at the beach but I get so anxious it makes it difficult for me. I need to let it go but I can’t help think they are going to get skin cancer and die and it’s going to be my fault."  Louise  

Parent Education Answer:

The parenting rule of thumb with power struggles is to avoid them at all costs. There is no way for a parent to win a power struggle. Power struggles play out in two ways: 

1. Parents use coercion to manipulate children into doing what they want. We might use guilt, fear, threats, sarcasm, yelling, or any attempt to control or force our child to do something against their will. Sometimes this works and we get them to wear sunscreen or do what we want. The cost of this result is kids learn to ignore their own wisdom and depend on outside authority to make decisions for them. You might think this doesn’t sound so bad, deferring to external authority has it's perks, but when kids grow up not trusting their inner guidance they struggle to find happiness. Children who surrender their will to their parents learn to blame others for their mistakes, feel helpless to change and make others responsible for their happiness. 
2. If your child “wins” the power struggle they feel victorious. They get the benefit of depending on themselves for wisdom and happiness, but they can’t ever wear sunscreen or they feel like a loser! In order to prove they are independent minded kids, they cannot do what you want them to do. Wearing sunscreen would feel like giving you a victory rather than it being a choice they make from their own thoughtfulness. 

Both of these scenarios create separation and disconnection between parent and kid. Power struggles are lose-lose situations. 

Think of a power struggle like a game of tug of war. The harder you pull in one direction, the harder your kid needs to pull in the opposite direction. Tug of war creates a winner and a loser. Getting into this power struggle is like teaching him how to dig your heels in and not budge. 

The way to avoid a power struggle is to stand in your authentic power. You do have wisdom beyond your kids. Present the pros and cons, but let their action be their choice. 

In your calmest, most confident voice, offer them some options:

• You can either wear a hat and shirt, or you can wear sunscreen. 
• You can either wear sunscreen and play in the sun, or not and stay in the shade.
• If you want to play soccer at the beach, you’ll need to have sun protection.
• Would you prefer stick, cream or spray? You can apply it yourself or I can do it for you. 

Giving your children options will help them trust their own inner guidance to make decisions that are right for them. 

 

Life Coaching Answer:

What gets in the way for moms is our biology. Our brains are wired to look for potential hazards. Especially once we become moms, we scan our environment looking for things that can harm our precious ones: My child's fair skin is exposed to the sun. Sun causes cancer. Wearing sunscreen prevents harmful skin damage. It seems so easy and obvious to our brains, doesn't it? 

All the moms I know have an invisible instruction book called “How to be a good mom”. In this book, it says things like, “A good mom makes sure her children wear sunscreen at the beach.” “A good mom is always available to her kids.” “A good mom doesn’t allow her children to suffer negative emotions.” We have rules about everything: What kind of grades our kids should get, how they should treat their siblings, when it's ok to quit a sport you signed up for, you name it, we’ve got rules about it in our invisible instruction book. 

This invisible instruction book can cause us a lot of frustration! We get really annoyed when our children won’t let us be the mom we want to be! Our ego gets involved and we put our ability to feel like a responsible, caring mother into the hands of our strong willed children. We cling really tightly to being right and accomplishing whatever goal we think will make us feel like a good mom. This makes us parent from fear, instead of love. 

Throw a little anxiety into the mix with the thought, “My children are going to get cancer and die!” and you’ve got the recipe for a power struggle. When we get caught up in “catastrophizing” and “futurizing”, which this thought is doing, our brains react as though there is an immediate problem to solve. Blood rushes to our extremities, our hearts start pounding, our eyes focus on that beautiful pale skin and we leap for the sunscreen like it’s a life raft. We are in fear, our kids sense it, and don’t want anything to do with it. 

We think, “If they would just put sunscreen on, then I could relax.” But chances are, this anxious brain will just find something else to focus on, worry about and catastrophize. 

In order to relax and parent from love instead of fear, we need to question the anxious brain. We start by recognizing that there is no IMMEDIATE threat. Even though your brain perceives one, your kid won’t allow you to take the one productive action step you want. So instead, take a deep breath and realize in this moment, you and your children are safe. 

Once you have calmed your brain down, you can take a logical look at the belief that is triggering this fight or flight response. “My children will get skin cancer & die.” Is that true? Maybe. If they are fair skinned, if it runs in the family and your kid spends lots of time outdoors without protection. They probably won’t get skin cancer this year, or in the next 20 years. Maybe they’ll just get the minor little squamous cells and use cream to remove them. Maybe they’ll get a melanoma and have it scooped out. Will they die of skin cancer? Possibly, but not likely. What is the statistical probability of that happening? Heart disease is still the number one killer for adults. They can visit doctors and have screenings. They can also change their minds and start wearing sunscreen at any point in the future. Maybe they'll start tomorrow or next year? In the grand scheme of their life, will a sunburn or two cause tremendous harm? Probably not. 

 

You just want to walk through all the other scenarios with your logical brain. Find someone you know who has been through treatment and ask yourself, “Does his skin cancer diagnosis mean he had a terrible mother?” 

 

Then ask yourself, “How can I still be a good mom, even if my child doesn’t wear sunscreen?” 

By offering my kids choices?

By letting him experience natural consequences and the pain that comes with a sun burn?

By letting go so that sunscreen can be his idea and not mine?

 

When we have love for ourselves, it makes it easier to have it for our kids. But it all starts with letting go of fear. 

 

Supermom Kryptonite: Right-Fighting

Are you always trying to “win” an argument? Do you get overly emotional when people don’t agree with you? Do you insist on having the last word? 

Everyone likes to be right, especially when you know you ARE! 

Is wearing sunscreen at the beach the right thing to do? Of course! You have wisdom to share and taking care of ones health is the right thing to do. 

But when raising kids, sometimes we need to enjoy our own validation, inside our own heads. Our kids want to be right sometimes, too. And they may fight you for it. But fighting to be right puts you at odds with your child. Instead of feeling connected, you feel adversarial. 

Let go of the rope, whenever you feel your child tugging on the other end of it. Ask yourself, “Would I rather be right or be happy?” or “Would I rather be right or have peace in my home?” 

 

Supermom Powerboost - Humor

When you catch yourself in anxiety brain, fighting to be right, or parenting out of fear, try to add a little humor.

Did you catch yourself chasing your son around with a sunscreen bottle? Turn yourself into a zombie and start repeating, “I want to eat pale skin”. Does your child take off her hat as soon as you put it on? Try putting it on her foot, or her stuffed animal, or the dog instead.

Slipping in the humor disarms a building power struggle. You may be surprised at how willing your child is to comply when you are acting as a Disney Princess or Darth Vader instead of mom. 

Quote of the Day:

"Once we release our fears as a parent, we can walk WITH our children as fellow students and travelers. That is the ultimate purpose of parenting." Dr. Shefali Tsabary

Fighting siblings

Today's Question:

"I understand that it’s summer and my kids are spending a lot of time together but the constant fighting is so annoying! Mostly arguing, stealing toys, tattling, but it can escalate to hitting, biting and total meltdowns. It bothers me to see my kids treat each other so poorly. I try to limit their screen time but it’s so tempting to give in just so I can have some peace! No matter what I do, the problem persists and I feel like I’m failing at teaching my kids how to love each other.”

 

Parent Educator Answer:

It is so common for moms to see behavior they don’t like and think, “This is a problem and I need to solve it.” So we go to work, breaking up fights, resolving conflict, separating kids or taking away toys or whatever the triggers are. If this works, great. If not, it might be you are trying to solve a problem that isn’t yours to solve. 

Imagine your daughter and son are fighting over whose turn it is. One yells, the other bites, then pushes, then tattles, you know the drill. I find it helpful to separate out who is responsible for what. 

Your daughter is responsible for the words she chooses to say to her brother and the way she chooses to say them. It’s her business whether she bites, hits, kicks, or whatever she does with her body. She also gets to choose how she wants to feel about her brother’s actions. If she wants to interpret his behavior as mean, unfair, or a competition to rise to, that is up to her. Write her name on a piece of paper with a circle and write down everything that is your daughter’s business. 

Then we move on to kid #2. Put his name on the paper with a circle and write down his words, his feelings, his actions. He gets to decide what he wants to think about his sister’s behavior, his mom’s behavior, and his own. If he wants to believe he is right and everyone else is wrong, that’s his choice. You can let that go. If he thinks the world is unfair and you love his sister more than him, that goes in his circle. That is his problem to solve, not yours. 

The 3rd circle is God’s business. Even if you aren’t a God person, anything YOU don’t have control over goes here. The fact that you have two children who share living quarters is God’s business. Your children’s innate personalities, we throw those in God’s circle, it’s just how they are wired. The fact that many siblings fight with each other as a way to learn social dynamics isn’t our business. Kids can be like puppies, fighting, wrestling and learning social boundaries.

Watch your children argue with each other. Could they leave the room at any time and are choosing not to? Is it possible they are ENJOYING fighting with each other? “Verbal jousting” is more entertaining than a lot of other things kids could be doing. If one kid is having fun by fighting, and the other one isn’t, God’s business.

So what’s left? If what your children think, say, feel and do are not your problem to solve? What the heck is mom’s business? 

Your business, Momma, is what YOU choose to think, feel, and do. You get to decide what you want to believe about your fighting kiddos and the rules you set in your home. To do that, we’d better dive into the life coaching.

Life Coaching Answer:

When we think “This is a problem and I need to fix it.” We put on our Supermom cape and go to work. We get to the bottom of things. We make decisions. We yell and put kids on time out. We give consequences. If this works, great. The problem comes when this DOESN’T work. 

If the result is that our kids are still arguing and we are still thinking this a problem and I need to fix it. We start spiraling up (yelling more, getting more annoyed with them) or spiraling down (walk away, give up, stop caring). When we have the thought, “This is a problem and I need to fix it” and WE CAN’T, we feel like a failure. We start thinking things like, “I’m failing at teaching my kids how to love each other.” This thought makes us feel completely dejected, hopeless, and ashamed, which makes Supermom feel very, very tired. 

I know you want your children to get along, but that’s really up to them. They get to decide what kind of relationship they want to have with one another. You can suggest peaceful ways to interact, you can let them see you resolving conflict in peaceful ways with your friends and family. Learning to let go of things you have no control over will set you free. 

 

One thing that is your business are the rules you establish in your home. Kids like clear, consistent expectations for behavior. It makes them feel safe when they know what to expect, and that an authority figure will follow through with 100% predictability. 

I suggest my clients establish House Rules that everyone abides by. Rules that everyone in the house agrees will make for a peaceful place to live. For example:

1. No name calling.
2. No hitting or hurting.
3. Ask first before borrowing someone else’s belongings

Post these rules on the fridge or a public place where everyone can see. Make sure your kids know what the consequences are for breaking these rules then follow through. You may want to say things like “use nice words” but that may make a better consequence. Let’s say your daughter hurts her brothers feelings, her consequence may be that she find some nice words to uplift him. 

Siblings have been fighting since the dawn of time. To think, “I must not be doing it right if my kids are fighting” is not helpful. Just like a teacher isn’t responsible for your child’s grades, you aren’t responsible for your child’s relationship. You get to TEACH kids how to treat each other. Teach them your values, establish rules and expectations, teach them to apologize and make amends, but whatever they do with your amazing lessons is their business. 

Supermom Kryptonite - Being the hero

I remember when my son was scary sick. I was bouncing from doctor to doctor, trying to figure out who could help him. I was stressed and scared and nearly lost my mind when they sent his prescription to the wrong pharmacy, right before closing time. I felt like I was all alone in trying to solve his health problems.

So I pulled out my life coaching notebook and this amazing thought popped into my head, “I was made for days like this.” Suddenly I had a burst of energy. My Supermom cape was ON! I could totally handle this. I’m great in a crisis. This is my son, who better to come to the rescue than his mother? I am the perfect person for the job. I researched, I persisted. I found alternative practicioners who knew how to help. I was the hero and I felt great about all I did to help him. 

So why is it a kryptonite? 

Because then he turned 14 and I was fired. He wanted to be his own hero. He didn’t want my help anymore. He wanted to solve his own problems. 

This sounds great on paper, but it was an identity crisis for me. It’s not like he was perfect, the just wanted to be left alone with his own problems to solve. It was a rough transition and to be honest, it’s still hard to not be allowed to help. I loved being the hero. 

Some kids never become their own hero. I’m sure you know some adults who need mom and count on mom to come to their rescue. It is easy for kids to get stuck feeling helpless, unwell or incapable. Moms may inadvertantly keep their kids from “adulting” in order to hold on to their role as hero. 

I was lucky I had life coaching colleagues who warned me. "Be careful not to let your son identify as a sick person and you as his care giver." I didn't like hearing it, but another coach told me, "Your son doesn't have a problem because you have taken it from him."

Being a Supermom feels great, but don’t get stuck there. Make sure you hang up your cape frequently. Let your kids work out their own problems, allow them to struggle, so they can be the heroes of their own lives. 

 

Supermom Powerboost - Ear phones

When kids are going at it with each other, it can be really hard to ignore. You can think about the benefits of bickering and how your kids are learning about respecting boundaries and resolving conflict.

If that doesn’t work, pop on a noise cancelling headset. These babies are the best mom invention I know. Not those tiny airpods that your kids can’t see you wearing. Big, obvious earphones work great to demonstrate you are not listening, nor interested in hearing about, your children's conflict. No amount of “MOOMMM” is as compelling as your music, your podcast, or, let’s be honest, the beautiful sound of silence.

Putting big earphones on is a non-verbal way to say to your kids, “I trust you to work it out”. When kids see you disengaged, they realize this relationship is theirs to figure out and you are giving them permission to solve their own problems. Only if they break a house rule do you need to get involved. Let them be their own hero.

Quote of the Day:  “My Mom taught me a lot. A lot about minding my own business and leaving other people’s business alone. And let them think what they want.” Ray Charles.

Attention seeking behavior

Hello Torie,

I recently found your podcast; thank you for providing such great information. I want to pick your brain about parenting a child who shows more attention seeking behavior than her siblings.

My middle child (a 9 year old) is constantly pointing out how life is unfair for her and how everyone else has it better. I try my best to be as "fair" as possible to each child. I also point out how even though it seems like everyone has it better than her, she actually has a lot to be grateful for as well (which I know doesn't go over too well).  My other two kids are pretty laid back and compliant, so, in comparison, she seems more needy!

When she was younger, this would manifest as a lot of crying spells/meltdowns over seemingly insignificant things, which I know is normal, but her behavior was so unlike my other two.  She also tends to be the instigator when it comes to any sibling fights.

 

She will still say things like, "You don't love me," or "You don't care about me," and I tell her firmly that's not the case (obviously!!). One common situation is that my youngest is very attached to me and will reach for my hand when we're walking, so naturally, I oblige. But then my 9 year old will complain that I'm holding her sister's hand instead of hers.

 

In the past, I've given her more attention and tried to make her feel special, but once I take away this attention, she melts down and seems to demand even more. She responds well to time together and one-on-one attention, but even then, it has to be on her terms (I have tried to initiate on my own, and she will be indifferent at times).

How do I balance the attention she needs versus the attention that she wants?

-Grace

 

Parent Educator Answer:

This is a great question to talk about defining and accepting your child's TEMPERAMENT.  Temperament refers to the different aspects of a personality.

Grace is calling this "attention seeking behavior" but sometimes when she gives her attention, it doesn't work. What I'm hearing in this behavior is a temperament that is sensitive, dramatic, persistent, and intense.

 

The great thing about kids is that often they tell you exactly what they are thinking. Grace's daughter genuinely believes that life is unfair. She thinks, at times, she isn't loved or cared for as much as her siblings. She truly believes she is getting the short end of the stick.

 

There is nothing her mom can do about what her daughter chooses to believe. We cannot make people think differently (clearly she's tried already to convince that she is loved and treated fairly). There is no amount of attention mom can give her to make her think differently. She could spend 48 hours straight one on one time, come home, hold little sister's hand, and she'd be right back to thinking, she doesn't get enough love. So trying to get her to think differently, through words or actions, isn't going to change her.

 

When a child is intense and dramatic, we tend to see them as powerful. They seem so strong and capable, we get annoyed that they don't act differently. We tend to match their intense energy, yelling, and putting in time out. This is why I'd like to add the word "sensitive" to describe Grace's daughter's temperament.

 

She's been having meltdowns since she was little. She struggles to feel safe and loved. Her brain easily goes to a fear response. Nobody acts their best when scared. We don't know why she was made this way, it's no one's fault, the world needs all kinds of people.

 

Thinking about having a sensitive child helps us slow down, quiet our voice, lower our posture, speak softly and kindly. When her emotions overwhelm her, her brain goes into fight or flight. Our goal as parents to help her shift out of fear so she can access the logical, calmer parts of her brain. She cannot get there on her own. We don't have to agree with what she is saying to calmly validate what she is feeling. "I understand you feel like nobody loves you. You feel jealous of the attention I'm giving your sister. It's hard for you to believe that you get as much as your siblings."

 

Think about if you truly believed you weren't loved by your mom. How would you feel?  It would be so scary to be a 9 year old kid thinking your mom doesn't love you or she cares more about your siblings than you. Even though we know it's not true, she thinks, in that moment, that it is. She's terrified. So she screams, yells, and fights for love and attention.

If you were to come to her, get down on her level, touch her, use a calm voice, repeat what you hear her saying, it would calm her down. It would also make it hard for her to believe you don't love her when you are clearly making her feel seen, heard, and felt.

We cannot make our kids think differently but we can help them feel seen, heard, and felt. In a nutshell, that's all we really want.

 

Life Coaching Answer:

I remember talking with my parenting coach and having this huge a-ha. I was embarrassed because I was supposed to be this "parenting expert" and yet I was pulling my hair out with trying to understand my strong willed four year old. But I sucked it up and hired a coach and I'm so glad I did! The lightbulb went on when I realized, "It's her TEMPERAMENT".  Arguing with her temperament was like arguing with God. This is how she was wired, who am I to think she should be different than she is? From that day on, once I accepted her rebellious, strong willed, non-people-pleasing personality, life got so much easier!

 

What gets in our way when we see a difficult personality trait in our kids, is the belief that we can change them. This will exhaust and frustrate us. It's not our job to change their personality, but to work with it and appreciate them FOR their personalities. I think Grace is doing this. She sees the value in her daughter's strong will, but she's arguing thinking she "shouldn't act this way" or "If I was a more attentive mom she wouldn't behave this way." This will just anger her and make her tired.

 

Trying to control something we have no control over will drive us crazy. Personality is something we cannot control. A good question to ask yourself is: "How can I be a great mom to a kid who is sensitive, intense, and scared?

 

Imagine there is another kid like yours out there in the world. Let's say she's having a meltdown at a park. She is saying, "You don't love me" to her mom. You are watching this scene and thinking, "Wow, that mom is a really great mom." You are totally impressed at how she is handling her daughter's meltdown. Imagine what she is doing? What is she saying? What energy or emotion is she rooted in?

 

The reason our children's personalities bug us is because of how WE FEEL AND ACT when they annoy us. We don't like that our kids can turn us into yelling, out of control, crazy people! If we got to be the PARENT we wanted to be, their behavior wouldn't bother us. We try to control their behavior so that we can act like a good parent. This doesn't work so well. Putting the focus on OUR feelings and behavior works much better. You get to decide how YOU feel and behave, regardless of how your child acts.

Focusing on controlling the one thing you have control over will feel much more empowering.

 

Supermom Kryptonite - Therapy

I believe one of the reasons we live in a culture of perfectionistic parenting is because of therapy. You've got a whole generation of women who went to therapists and learned all the things our parents did wrong. A common goal of therapy is to take you back to childhood situations where you didn't receive what you needed, and give you the compassion and empathy that you needed at that time. It works. It feels healing and healthy.

But the side effect of it is an entire generation of women who have learned that there is a right way and wrong way to parent. We learn that doing the wrong thing can have devastating consequences and cause pain to our children. If we are to be good parents, we need to always say and do the right things and prevent our kids from experiencing negative emotion. Therapists don't say this, it's just a side effect of the therapy model.

Children are going to experience negative emotion. Parents are going to yell, mess up and say the wrong thing. There is no way that any parent can do everything right. The reason I like life coaching so much, is you learn how much control you actually have. No parent, spouse, or child has the power to make you feel anything you don't want to feel. It gives you permission to be imperfect, but still strive to do your best. Accepting the things you have no control over, like your child's temperament, helps you relax and enjoy things as they are.

 

Supermom Powerboost - Therapy

There is a time and a place for therapy so since I just bagged on it, let me tell you where I see the value.

Therapy was based on the premis that a client is mentally and emotionally unwell, and it's a therapists job to bring them up to a state of wellness. Life Coaching works with the assumption that a client is already mentally and emotionally healthy and stable, they just want to feel better, change something up, go after a goal, settle into a new identity, etc.

People hire life coaches to help them with parenting, career, relationships, creative pursuits, athletic pursuits, entreprenurial pursuits, etc.

 

A client is better served by a therapist when they have experienced a trauma and they've never spoken about it. Whether this trauma was during childhood or adulthood, it's so helpful to tell your story to a compassionate witness. To revisit this traumatic story, once or twice, to someone without judgement. A therapist helps you identify the emotions you felt and interpret the trauma in a way that is empowering. It can be hard to move forward in life without this, so it really can serve an important and helpful role.

 

Once you have told the story of your trauma to a compassionate witness and processed the emotions of the event, repeating that story again can actually keep you stuck in the past. Life coaching is more present and future focused. I don't care so much about what happened in your past, but about how those events might be impacting your future and getting in the way of creating a life you want.

 

If you feel like it's time to "open this can of worms" and finally speak out loud about something that has haunted you for a long time, find a therapist in your area. You won't get a boost of energy right away, but overtime, cleaning up the past will help you feel more energized about your future.

If you don't have a trauma that needs verbalizing and you just want to feel better, try life coaching.  If you've already been to therapy and you want your life to continue to get better and more aligned with your higher self, go to www.LifeCoachingforParents.com/work-with-me

 

Quote of the Day is the Alcoholics Anonymous Serenity Prayer. I always thought this was a perfect fit for parenting.

 

"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference." 

 

I found a vape pen in his backpack

Today's Question:

"Dear Torie, I just found a vape pen in my son’s backpack. I confiscated it, but I haven’t said anything to him about it. I know I need to say something, but the only word that comes to my mind is idiotic. Can you help me figure out what to say to my fourteen year old smoker?" -Anonymous

I thought this was a great question and one which may be very timely for a lot of us who have teenagers or those who are approaching those teen years. So, who better to ask to help me answer this question than Marlene Mahurin, the TUPE (Tobacco Use and Prevention Education) project coordinator for Nevada county. She is a credential teacher and is passionate about supporting parents to take an active role in preparing their children for the teen years. Not only does she have the perfect resume for helping us answer this question, she also happens to be my childhood best friend, and were are still finding ways to work together and partner together today!

Marlene wanted to provide a bit of background knowledge about vaping because it is hard to know how to support our kids making safe, healthy choices since we didn’t have devices like this when we were teenagers. In fact, Marlene notes, the way this question is asked shows the difference between how parents and kids think of vaping. The parent ends her question wondering what to do with her fourteen year old smoker, whereas most kids don't consider what they are doing isn’t smoking. 

Well if vaping isn’t smoking, then what is it? Is it still something to be concerned about?

Marelene tells us that vaping is defined as “smoking on an electronic delivery system.” Every vape contains a liquid, a battery to heat the liquid, and an absorbent material to hold the heated liquid vapor. The user inhales on the mouthpiece and exhales a vapor or, more accurately an aerosol. Marketing companies wants teens to think it's vapor because inhaling aerosol sounds too dangerous. Unlike cigarettes, vape pens have no tar (The kind which turns your lungs black and shriveled after smoking for many years) but that does not mean they are safe. The biggest risk involved in vaping is the nicotine. Products will claim to not have nicotine in them and so kids will think they aren’t ingesting it, but, unfortunately, a majority do, and the amount of nicotine is usually very high.

According to Marlene, vape devices have come a long way from the original large designs that create huge clouds of vapor and are now much smaller and easier to hide, produce less visible vapor but still contain a higher nicotine content. The newer products like the Juul and the Soarin’ are smaller and easier for teens to use: so they do. Often. Very often. Sometimes daily or multiple times a day.

Marlene stresses that vaping is a very widespread problem and the reason it is spreading so fast is how highly addictive it is. One Juul pod holds the same amount of nicotine of a full pack of cigarettes, and kids are going through as many as three to four Juul cartridges in a day. 

Teenager's brains are still growing, so it is much easier to develop an addiction. Once one a substance is introduced, it can prime the brain and make the teen more likely to become addicted to other drugs.

There are a couple health risks specifically from vaping. Marlene warns of a few case's of teens getting pretty severe pneumonia from the liquid that pools in the lungs and there are some worries about the effects of inhaling from a heated plastic device. The long term effects of vaping and nicotine addiction, however, are still relatively unknown because these devices have not been around for very long and there is not a lot of data. 

Marlene recommends a great resource for parents who want to learn more or who want a video from a third party to show to their kids called Tobacco, Vaping & Marajuana: A Parent's Guide to a New Epidemic 

In terms of our anonomys mom's question, Marlene recommends first checking with her son to make sure that he is fully aware of what he is doing. If the child thinks he is using a product without nicotine, make sure you check. Make sure he understands the health risks. Also ask questions. Why did he try it? Is he stressed from school? How often is he using it? Why was he drawn to it? Does he feel like he’s already addicted? If it’s an issue, what can we help him stop? 

Unfortunately, your teen may not respond well to direct questiong so it can be helpful to “come in through the back door” and try to be on their side. Try asking questions like, “What have you heard about vaping?” “Do you really think vaping is as common as people say?” “What do you think about the risks?” Remember, the kids are seeing this every day, so they probably will know more than we do. These questions can be especially helpful if you want to open up the conversation in advance, and are unsure if your child is vaping or not. If they say that it’s no big deal and there’s nothing wrong, watch the video Marlene recommended with them and learn together.

Life Coaching Answer:

These questions can be hard to ask your teen because of what we make it mean when we find a vape pen in our kid's backpack. Marlene makes it sound easy to be casual and curious but in order that have that relaxed energy, we've got to clean up our own thoughts. 

but it is really important to control what you make your child’s vaping mean about YOU. 

It is easy to slip into the “OMG! My kid is VAPING! I’m a TERRIBLE parent!” Or to make finding this vape pen mean that, “Now my kid’s going to be a DRUG ADDICT laying around on the couch at twenty-five with no job!”  What are you making it mean about YOU that is keeping you from taking productive action from calm-confident energy?

Marlene suggests recognizing that vaping is an EPIDEMIC. It is everywhere. You should almost expect your kids to try it or at least be surrounded by friends who are trying it. Even if you don’t think your child is the kind to try something like that, vaping is so common that it is hard for anyone to ignore. So even if your angel child has tried vaping, remember that it does not mean they are on an unstoppable ride straight to drug addiction and that you have failed as a parent once and for all. Now is the time to step in early and educate your teen about the risks.

Supermom Kryptonyte: Head-in-the-sand

What you don’t know CAN hurt you. Avoidance and pretending something isn't a problem that is, feels icky. Talking to your teen about something like vaping is tough, but it is important to catch it as early as possible due to the likelihood of addiction. It's easy for parents to come up with excuses to avoid the topic: "I'm too tired or I have to much other stuff to do" because these are almost always true. Confronting the topic and taking the weight off your shoulders will GIVE you some much needed energy.

Supermom Powerboost: Knowledge is Power

Seeking out information can go a long way to making you feel more confident and more able to handle a situation.  Once you overcome your fears and open up the conversation in a relaxed way, you will feel so proud of yourself!

In the case of vaping, as with many other things, it is important to check where your information is coming from. Companies like Juul put out their own information which can be misleading. Marlene recommends taking a look at TUPE and at the video for up-to-date information about vaping and health risks.

How can I protect my kid from a bully?

Today's Question:

"My 9 year old daughter was bullied all year by the same boy. I brought my concerns to the teacher multiple times and told the yard duty to keep an eye on her at recess. On the last day of school he purposely pushed her down while they were standing in line and knee got all banged up. When I came to pick her up, the teacher said she fell and banged her knee but that she was fine. She was NOT FINE! She needed support! And why was he even allowed to stand next to her in line? The teacher knew this punk ass kid had been picking on her all year. I am livid!

I talked to the principal and she was trying to defend him saying he has behavior issues and the counselor was working with him. Um, NO. The teacher knew what was going on and still made her stand next to him in line. I'm so upset. I'm at the school all the time volunteering. My daughter hides behind me whenever she sees him, she's terrified. I'm trying my best not to go crazy on them but this is not ok.

School is out for summer but I'm worried about this repeating next year. How can I ensure this student is not in her class? I want to help her feel safe but I don't trust the school to look out for her. How can I protect my daughter from this bully when the school won't?"    Allison

Parent Educator Answer:

I'm so sorry you've had to deal with this Allison. When I first started working as a parent educator (18 years ago?) no one talked about bullying. Slowly, people started talking, and boy did it spread like wildfire! Every American Idol contestant has been bullied in school. Educators made efforts to bully-proof their schools. Anti-bullying campaigns raised awareness. This problem is taken much more seriously now than in the past.

Because this term gets used so much, I think it would be helpful to define it. Bullying is the use of coercion and force to abuse and intimidate. In order to be considered bullying the behavior must include:

• repetition
• an intentional act to hurt or harm
• an imbalance of power

It sounds like your daughter has been exposed to some repetitive behaviors this year. We don't know if the boy's intention was to hurt your daughter. He could have been mad that she was walking too slow, or annoyed that she was in his way. It could be he was going to push whoever was nearby and your daughter was an easy target.

It seems like this shouldn't be important because the fact remains your daughter got hurt, she is scared of him, and the teacher hasn't been able to protect her. It is important because the word bullying is often misused. Sometimes, it's just mean behavior. For example, in the last podcast, Andria wrote in about how her daughter tells girls she's not their friend any more and gives them the cold shoulder. It would not be surprising, in this day and age, for this hurt girl to claim "bullying."

The third criteria, the imbalance of power, is important to take a look at. It sounds like your daughter and this boy are the same age. If your daughter is in a minority race, religion, sexual orientation, then there is an imbalance of social power. If there is a significant size difference or she is disabled in some way, there can be a physical imbalance of power.

If there is no external imbalance of power but just a perceived one, where he thinks he can pick on her because she's an easy target, then it may just be mean behavior.

Whether it's real bullying or just mean behavior, finding ways for the victim to feel powerful is the most important thing.

Here are some ways to support your daughter so that you and she feel powerful:

1. Talk to your daughter about things the teacher or yard duty could do to help her feel safe. We can't make him "be nice to her" and the teacher can't be expected to protect her from him all the time. Would she feel better if he switched seats or classrooms? Could she ask friends to stick by her side at recess? Encourage her to problem solve and ask for what she wants.
2. Teach her to use powerful words with authority figures to get the attention of adults. Words like harassment, abuse, bullying, hostile environment are attention-grabbing and powerful. When kids are scared they tend to shy away, like a turtle pulling into its shell, hoping no one notices them. This makes them appear like an easy target to those looking for one.
3. Document and share everything. The school's hands are tied in many ways, but you and your daughter can help get the result you want by focusing on facts, safety, and sharing your documentation.
4. Write an email to the principal stating how if this aggressive behavior continues next year, you will hold her out of school until they can provide a safe situation for your daughter. Be clear that you are holding the school accountable for her absence and they will need to make arrangements so it doesn't impact her academics negatively.

Parents really do have a lot more power to affect change in schools than they realize.

What's most important is for your daughter to feel heard, seen, felt, and protected. We are wired to experience bad things. This is not the issue. She can handle boys being mean, angry, and stupid. She can handle getting physically hurt and feeling scared. That's just part of being human who is alive on the planet. Our job is not to prevent bad things from happening to our kids.

Our job is to help her feel supported, understood, and powerful.

We want our children to be able to identify an injustice and believe they have the power to change it. In order to create system wide change, we need to have confidence, persistence, and understanding.

Life Coaching Answer:

I've been teaching various parenting topics for 18 years: friendship challenges, puberty, money, anxiety, raising a reader, toilet training, you name it, I taught a class on it.

But I will NEVER teach a class on bullying and here's why.

Right now, think the thought, "My daughter is being bullied." Notice how you feel when you think that thought. Defensive? Tense? Tight? Ready to leap into action? What kind of action do we want to take from this state? We want to fight. We clench our fists and brace ourselves. We want to punch that bully. Or his parents. Or the school. The THOUGHT "My child is being bullied" makes us want to bully right back!

It's a natural response. We are powerful momma lions wanting to protect our children, heck, ALL CHILDREN from these bullies. We think things like: "He needs to be taught a lesson." "He can't go around hurting people." "The schools can't allow kids to behave this way."

None of these thoughts are helpful.

We can teach this boy lessons in kindness but we can't make him learn. He does go around hurting people so clearly he CAN hurt people. The schools are obligated to educate all children, even ones with behavior issues. They can instruct and provide consequences, but there are protocols they have to follow before they can legally remove a child.

When we hear the word bullying, we jump into fight mode. This makes US feel powerful, but doesn't help our KID feel powerful. It also doesn't help us jump through the necessary hoops in order for productive action to be taken. The schools need us to write down the specifics, exactly what FACTS took place, but it's hard to do this when we have such a strong emotional response. Instead of helping schools take appropriate legal action, we get mad and stay mad.

If you really want to help your daughter, remove the word bullying from YOUR vocabulary, but encourage HER to use it. She feels empowered because she knows bullying is wrong and this isn't her fault. You can help her stay focused on taking productive action to make her school a better, safer place for everybody.

The best result to come from bullying is the victim learns her words have power, she feels supported, and believes that she has the ability to create social change.

Supermom Kryptonite - Complaining

In episode 16, I mention that getting together with girl friends and venting about frustrations can be very helpful. Venting your emotions into a journal or with a trusted friend, can release the pressure, helping you think more clearly and hear your own wisdom. Complaining is repeating the problem from a place of powerlessness. It implies that nothing is going to change and you are helpless. Every time we repeat the same negative story, we reinforce the synapse in our brain, making it stronger and feel truer. Be careful not repeat anything that you don't want to grow. Complaining not only makes us feel tired and helpless but negatively impacts the mood of those we are complaining with.

 

Supermom Power Boost - Let off steam

In order to access our calm, logical, and effective part of our brain, Momma Lion needs to let off some steam. We want to honor the anger, it's an important emotion to have. Anger signals injustice. Don't suppress it, instead:

• go to kick boxing class,
• scream your head off at your daughters swim meet
• rip up a magazine
• stomp on a cardboard box

Let your kid see mom process anger in a healthy way so they learn healthy ways to let it out.

Today's Quote of the Day

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed; it's the only thing that ever has." Margaret Mead

When my daughter says she’s fat

Question of the Day: “What do I say when my daughter says she’s fat or talks negatively about her body?”

I've been asked this question many times over the years. Because I've been teaching sex education since the dawn of time, people assume I also know how to answer questions about body image, but it really isn't my area of expertise.

To help me answer this question, I've called in my colleague Susan Hyatt. 

Susan Hyatt is a master certified Life Coach who has helped thousands of women to transform their bodies and lives. She’s the creator of the Bare Process, the Bare Deck, the Bare Podcast, and an online community called Bare Daily. Susan has gained an international following of women who love her honesty, humor, and fearlessness. Susan has been featured in Cosmopolitan, Woman’s World, Seventeen, and O: The Oprah Magazine, and was a Finalist for the Athena Award, honoring her work in the field of women’s empowerment.

What should a mom say when her daughter criticizes her body and says "I'm fat"?

Susan: "When a young woman says 'I’m fat,' it’s usually an invitation for conversation because they are feeling less than confident. Some kids use 'fat' as an insult but others are starting to reclaim the word fat saying, “So what if I'm fat? Why is fat an insult?” When your daughter talks negatively about her body, ask her to tell you more."

"Don’t jump into fat being a terrible thing. So what if you are? Is that a big deal to you?"

"If you ask more questions they might elaborate, 'my thighs are getting big' or 'I over-ate.' You'll want to ask questions so your daughter can think deeper about what it means to live in the skin she is in. If she says, 'I weigh more than I did last month.' You can help her separate her thoughts from the facts. The fact is I gained 5 pounds. My thoughts about that are: "I should be skinnier then I am." She gets to choose what she wants to think, about the facts. 

Torie: "I think the natural response for many moms when their kid makes a negative statement about themselves (“I’m fat, I hate my body, I’m ugly") is to say “No you aren’t honey, you are beautiful just the way you are." This creates a resistance and doesn't seem to give us the result we want, which is our kids to think positively about themselves."

Susan: "Yes, When we immediately jump in and say, 'No you aren't fat. You are beautiful,' not only does it cause our kids to push back against us, but we reinforce that gaining weight is a horrible thing. Kids may think 'She has to say that, she’s my mom,' or they will argue and advocate for the thing they think is horrible: pinching their fat belly to PROVE that they are right and we are wrong."

"If you agree with them, and start to talk about exercise or weight loss, that’s not a good plan either. Parents should be neutral, get more info, and talk [to their kids] about confidence and taking care of themselves from place of love. We’ve been trained to think [being] fat is the worst thing you can be. There are a lot worse things you can be in this world than having a few extra pounds on your body.

"The culture of 'fat phobia' has done a lot of damage to the mindset of women. Clearly pushing back against being fat and seeing fat as an insult isn't working. The obesity epidemic in America has tripled since the 80’s."

"Many people think they can beat themselves into submission, trying to motivate themselves with negative self talk. It’s the opposite of what a human body needs."

Torie: "I can remember being a freshman in high school, and after lunch all the girls would gather in the vanity room before heading back to class. It was a room with mirrors on all four walls, and girls would fix their hair or put on makeup before heading to class. I remember one day, one of the girls looked at her reflection and said, 'I hate my nose' the girl to her left said, 'I hate my hair,' on it went, around the room. I hadn’t learned how to hate on my body yet (thanks, Mom!) but I wasn't going to be the ONLY one who says, 'I love my body' so I made something up about hating my eyebrows and on it went."

"Do you remember the first time you picked up on the idea that you were supposed to hate your body? What would you have loved to hear at that age?"

Susan: "We want this sense of belonging, we’ll do and say things that are terrible for ourselves just to belong. It takes a lot of courage, even as grown women, to be the one in the room saying I love my body as it is."

"I was 11, with my older sister, who is 6 years older than me, playing with a polaroid camera. I had  a box fan to blow my hair, while we took pictures and played.  She was holding the photo up to the light to develop when she gasped and said, 'Oh my god your thighs are big.' My first thought was, 'Oh my god, I’ve been walking around and somethings wrong and I didn’t even know it. She's my older sister so she must be right. I need to diet. I need to shrink myself.'"

"I would have loved to hear: You are more than your appearance."

"We are trained to believe our external appearance is our commodity in the world. Our power comes from how attractive we are to the male gaze."

"I would have loved to hear: you are fine as you are. You have a lot more to offer the world than thin thighs. It's important to compliment your daughters on things other than their personal appearance. 'I love how smart you are, how artistic; that was such a kind thing you did. I love your questions. You are so curious."

"We need to communicate to our daughters that their value in society is beyond how thin they can get." 

There is an entire industry built around keeping you believing something is wrong with you. Don’t believe it and don’t buy into it.

Torie: "Teenagers have this natural rebellious streak, so giving them something to push back against can be helpful. Saying the media messages are designed to keep you small, not using your voice, can evoke their inner rebel."

Susan: Tell your teen, "We want you to be a big, bold, brave version of yourself and the best way the diet industry can keep you from that is to keep you focused on your thighs. A diet teaches obedience.  Do you want to be obedient or do you want to shake stuff up? All that time spent counting, obsessing, weighing, ruminating is time that could be spent making an impact on the world.

The fastest way to grow any economy is to empower girls and women. We are 83% of dollars spent in consumer industry. The patriarchy wants you to be quiet and distracted, Why? Because an empowered woman in the patriarchy is a dangerous woman. If we have any hope of closing the pay gap before 2026, it’s going to be from disrupting the pattern of dieting.

Take a look at social media news feeds and make sure it feeds you, not depletes you. How do you feel while scrolling? Curate news feeds and beware of your mental diet. Make sure it's filled with all shapes and sizes.

Life Coaching Answer: What gets in your way from saying the right thing?

Susan: "Moms have been steeped in diet culture just as much as the kids. Most moms want something different for their daughter but they don’t believe it for themselves. Learn together."

"My sister was no villain; she was steeped in her own issues and diet culture. Be honest and say, 'When I was your age, (or last week), I was envious when I saw my friend on social media because I thought, That’s never going to happen for me or I wish I looked like that.' I’m learning to tell myself different things, let’s work together. I don’t want to waste my time pinching my fat in the shower, getting dressed a million times, then not going out because I don’t look skinny enough."

It can become a bonding thing.

Torie: "When you can humble yourself and admit you don’t know everything, it will create an easier relationship with your teen. Try saying, 'You’ve listened to me criticize my body for the last 12 years, but now that I hear it coming out of your mouth, it doesn’t feel good to me.' How about we figure this out together? Kids are in a major growth journey, why not join together? Ask your daughter, 'Am I still a good mom, even though I have extra weight on my body?'"

Susan: "When teens think you are trying to be the authority, they won’t listen. This isn’t about having the perfect conversation, just opening the channels of communication. If you lecture them about feeling positive about their bodies, they won't respond. Aim for a collaboration or invitation."

Torie: How do you balance the idea "I’m perfect as I am AND I want to change?"

Susan: "We’re all messy works of art. I can love my country and recognize we have work to do. I can love my body and decide to get ripped abs but from a place of love and peace, not oppression and obedience. How does it feel to have that goal? When you think about a weight loss or exercise goal, does it feel like a celebration? Is your motivation from a healthy place or a dangerous place. 

How you feel about your goal will determine the result you get.

Supermom Kryptonite - Being rooted and taking action from negative emotion.

Torie: "Taking action from negative emotion can drain your energy. You might do the same things as someone else like eat healthy and exercise, but if you do it from shame or self hatred, it's never going to give you the result you want."

Susan: "Exactly, if you go to the gym while rooted in fear and anxiety over what might happen if you don't, it's not going to work. If you are exhausted from self care, then your self care is rooted in fearful, graspy, needy energy. Others go to the gym because they love the feeling they get when they go. This gives them a positive self image, emotions and motivation to keep going. Be a woman who takes amazing care of herself from a place of love."

Supermom Powerboost - Move your body.

Want a quick boost of energy? Put on your favorite playlist and dance, by yourself, for 5 minutes. That is an instant mood booster. Check out Susan's "Summer of Yes" playlist. Or, copy Torie and sing and dance to your favorite broadway show tunes.

Quote of the day:

“It isn’t about the physical weight you have to lose, it’s about the mental weight that blocks you from loving yourself.” Susan Hyatt

www.Letsgetbare.com

Check out Susan's BARE book with the mother-daughter book club, BARE daily membership community. Listen to BARE podcast. Follow on Instagram.