Brought to you by Mimi Doe and SpiritualParenting.com
WHAT YOU SAY IS WHAT YOU GET
Welcome to the Spiritual Parenting community.
This newsletter is my gift to you in the hopes of creating a worldwide chain of people who are committed to empowering children and teens by honoring and nourishing their vast inner lives. There is time…It is possible…You can add more spirit to your family life. Start today by being attentive to the power of your words. Your words are your wand and can literally shift how you and your family experience life! Blessings and light from my heart to yours,
Mimi
"Change your thoughts, and you change your world." --Norman Vincent Peale |
| |
Subscribe to Spiritual Parenting
Thought For the Month.
|
|
We have a strict privacy policy and will never give out your name. |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
-
Weekly Tips
-
Your Teen and You: UP UNTIL NOW
-
Parent Check-In: THE POWER OF PERSONAL STORIES
-
You and Your Young Child: GIVE YOUR CHILD A BOOST
-
Parent Check-In: SPEAKING FROM THE HEART
-
What's New?
WEEKLY TIPS
APRIL 10-16:
Friendship is a sweet grace that can flow through our lives. You might add a few traditions to the friendships your family holds dear. For instance: "Every year I have Elena over to celebrate the last day of school and we eat ice cream, yell and scream, and usually soak each other with the hose." or "Ted sleeps over every year on the night before my birthday - even if it's a school night." Maria, mother of a newborn, came up with a unique way to spend time with her friends: "I crave my female friends, but don't have time to see then now that the baby is born, so I invite them to grocery shop with me, and we spill our secrets while squeezing pineapples." Honor your friends this week and watch the magical connections grow.
APRIL 17-23:
You're the parent and you get to construct your own way of doing things. Anything goes. You can set your own priorities. Serve raw carrot sticks and peanut butter on toast for dinner if you want to - it's three food groups. Pile laundered clothes on any available surface for the kids to put away - at least they are clean. There's no "right way" to run your household. A friend of mine just had her fourth daughter. Sorting through socks was the chore that sent her over the edge. So she bought 25 pairs of identical white socks. Her three older girls wear the same size, luckily, and they now grab their two socks, which always match, from the clean pile - problem solved! Get creative this week and come up with at least one unique new way to “get things done”—no guilt you’re the boss!
APRIL 24-30:
Consider adopting "just for today" as your mantra. "Just for today I'll speak only loving words to those I love." "Just for today, I will spend more time listening to my children." The truth is, that's enough. Take care of today, and the rest of your life will take care of itself.
MAY 1-7:
Make this “money week.” Clearly communicate your money values to your children ---how to save it, how to make it grow, how to spend it wisely, and how to share it with others. Many families aren’t comfortable talking about money so it goes underground. Schedule a time each this week when you and your partner can review your current financial situation. Create goals and strategies. Is saving for your child’s college tuition just a dream? Even if it’s an old coffee can for collecting change, just making the dream concrete opens the way for the flow of money.
"Love wholeheartedly, be surprised, give thanks and praise - then you will discover the fullness of your life." --Brother David Steindl-Rast
|
Your Teen and You: UP UNTIL NOW
I learned a very useful phrase several years ago. It helps create possibility instead of a future determined by past experiences.
Up until now.
These words fit into sentences that could sound like, "I've always been disappointed by my son's choices." "I'm easily frustrated by my kid's actions." "I work so hard, my life is a whirl; I don't give my daughter the time I should.”
|
 |
When the substitution is made, they turn into: "Up until now, my son has made some irresponsible choices." "Up until now, I've been an impatient parent." "Up until now, I haven't had time to do one-on-one activities with my daughter."
This is more than just semantics. By inserting these three words into how we speak and think, we acknowledge the truth that we can choose a new way of seeing and living at any time. The present moments marks the transition between what has been what can be.
This can also be an important practice for teens. The primary goal of adolescents is to develop a comfortable and fairly complete picture of who they are and how they fit into the world. Their experiences create an important mirror in which they see themselves.
Sometimes, though, teens perceive an inaccurate or unproductive image of themselves. "I'm not good at math." "I don't do well at sports." "I can't draw." "I don't have many friends."
One of the best tools we can offer them is the perspective that three simple words represent:
"Up until now, math has been challenging for you."
"Up until now, you haven't found your sport."
"Up until now, your drawing skills haven't been what you'd like them to be."
"Up until now, you haven't had as many friends as you'd like to."
As parents, we know the degree to which our experiences of ourselves and of life can change within the space of a few months or years. When we make a practice of replacing absolute statements with ones that include "up until now," we affirm the truth about life: that it is full of infinite possibilities. As we help our teens cut the ties between the past and the future, these possibilities become more available to them in every moment.
Parent Check-In: THE POWER OF PERSONAL STORIES
Share the power of personal stories with your children. When my oldest daughter was in her early teen years, I told her anecdotes about my own adolescent discomforts and feelings of loneliness, and I read to her a few entries from my 13-year-old's diary. As I matured, those feelings vanished - and they will for her, too.
Encourage your child to write or tell her stories. No matter how awkward the words, they reveal a vivid inner life. Stories can become a road map to the soul. Let your teen know that it's okay to "waste" tons and tons of paper when she is writing. It's also okay to make mistakes and to stare off into space and let the images and ideas float into her head. Don't judge your child's writing, but if she asks, help her discover new words and new ways of telling her tale. Sometimes stories are a way for kids to deliver the words they might otherwise leave unsaid. Often, deep spiritual themes expressed in unique and individual ways show up in children's stories.
Watch your thoughts, they become words.
Watch your words, they become actions.
Watch your actions, they become habits.
Watch your habits, they become character.
Watch your character, it becomes your destiny.
--Anonymous |
You and Your Young Child: GIVE YOUR CHILD A BOOST
Pay attention to the power words have on your children. It's always a boost for kids to know what you - almighty parent - are thinking about them. Assess your child's positive qualities, and then let him know what you think.
Why shouldn't your three-year-old know that she is beautiful with apple-red cheeks, or your 10-year-old hear that he is a quick learner?
Let kids "overhear" you use positive statements about them. Somehow it is much more powerful to hear, "Let me ask Lynn about decorating the living room; she is so good with color," than "Lynn, what color do you think we should paint the living room?" |
 |
|
The same goes when we pass along words of praise or compliments. Kids need to hear how great they are directly from you, but they also need the message indirectly, from other people, through you. It seems to stick better. When you relay a positive remark that someone else has made, it lodges in a child's mind and adds a glimmer to her heart. You might even write the positive words on index cards and keep them in a "compliment box." Your child can pull our nourishing words when he needs a boost.
Parent Check-In: SPEAKING FROM THE HEART
Ask Yourself: Do I choose my words with care, and speak from my heart? Do I empower my children with my words?
Affirmations for Parents: I pay attention to what I say, and send out positive light and positive intent with my words. As I speak my words with conviction and believe them in my heart, my prayer is heard and acted upon. As I change my words, I change my world. |
|
WHAT'S NEW? |
|
| |
|
Mimi's newest book, "Don't Worry, You'll Get In!" is now in bookstores. If you have teens that are entering that college application phase, this book is for you both! It provides tips and guidance on how to provide a more self-assured and less stressful process for you both in today's demanding and too-hectic college application process.
Check out the accompanying website: http://www.DontWorryGetIn.com
Mimi in Family Circle Magazine
The April 1 issue of Family Circle Magazine features Mimi's article, "19 Ways to Connect With Your Teen," in the Family Answer Book (page 33), a section of the magazine that focuses on parenthood. Some of the 19 ways explained in the article are:
-
Keep your child's confidence.
-
Listen without trying to fix things.
-
Respond without criticizing.
-
Answer without discrediting.
-
Recognize the importance of casual conversations.
-
Reward your teen's honesty.
Spiritual Cinema
If you're as tired of the commercial movies available as I am you'll be thrilled to hear of a new alternative: Spiritual Cinema Circle. Each month you will receive a DVD with 3-5 high quality spiritual film selections to keep. You can watch these films with your children or after they are safely tucked in bed. Spiritual Cinema examines who we are and why we are here, and illuminates the human condition through stories and images that inspire us to reach our best human potential. For more information and to sign up, click on the little pool of water above.
CLICK HERE FOR A VIDEO PREVIEW OF THIS MONTH'S INSPIRING MOVIES FROM THE SPIRITUAL CINEMA CIRCLE: http://www.spiritualcinemacircle.com/public/preview/?af=17306
SpiritualTeens.com
Whitney Doe's website for teens, www.spiritualteens.com, is welcoming stories from teens everywhere. Says Whitney: "I know how tough it can be making it through the halls of high-school, especially when unlike many of your peers, you are trying to follow God. I know what a roller coaster ride it is attempting to be Christ-like under the pressures of balancing school, work and a social life. How frustrating it can be to defend what you believe, and how aggravating it is when you find yourself drifting away from the Lord. I have created SpiritualTeens.com as a resource for you. It is a place where you can ask questions and hopefully get answers from others going through similar situations. This is a place where you can find inspiration, encouragement, and virtual fellowship. A home that is a clear reminder, whenever you may need it, that you are not on this journey alone!"
Whitney would love to hear from other teens about how they foster their spiritual lives. She can be reached by email at Whitney@SpiritualTeens.com. She is planning on adding many more features to the site, and would love any input. |
VISIT OUR WEB SITE
SpiritualParenting.com to find:
SEND THIS NEWSLETTER TO A FRIEND Feel free to forward your copy of this newsletter to anyone you think might enjoy participating! We request that you send this newsletter in its entirety, including our contact and copyright information. Thank you!
IF YOU'VE RECEIVED THIS NEWSLETTER FROM A FRIEND And wish to join our community, simply email as at mimi@SpiritualParenting.com or visit our website - www.SpiritualParenting.com - and sign up for your own free subscription to this monthly newsletter.
You are welcome to reproduce this newsletter under the following conditions:
1. Include the following attribution: Mimi Doe is the founder of SpiritualParenting.com and the award winning author of, "Nurturing Your Teenager's Soul" and "Busy But Balanced." Mimi's free newsletter, Spiritual Parenting, has over 30,000 subscribers from around the world. Sign up on the website: www.spiritualparenting.com 2. Inform us of how, when, and where you are using the article. 3. Send a hard copy or a link to the site where it is being published if reproducing it electronically. 4. If reproducing the article electronically, include a link to our website: www.SpiritualParenting.com.
Spiritual Parenting Thought For the Month (sm) is written and produced by Mimi Doe and Karen Adolphson. If you have any stories to share, questions or comments please send them to: Editor@SpiritualParenting.com. We'd love to hear from you!
Any submission of tips, stories, and other content to Spiritual Parenting Thought for the Month and SpiritualParenting.com whether by email, mail, or posted to our website becomes the property of Spiritual Parenting. Please see our terms of use and privacy policy for more details at: http://www.SpiritualParenting.com
Mimi Doe, Author of:
"Nurturing Your Teenager's Soul" "Busy But Balanced" "10 Principles for Spiritual Parenting" "Drawing Angels Near" "Don't Worry You'll Get In!"
P.O. Box 157 Concord MA 01742 http://www.SpiritualParenting.com
Copyright 2005 Mimi Doe. All rights reserved.
|
|
Spiritual Parenting Thought for the Month (sm) is written and produced by Mimi Doe, author of "Busy but Balanced" and "10 Principles for Spiritual Parenting" (HarperCollins) -- available in bookstores or through Amazon.com. If you like the ideas in these weekly Thoughts you'll love the book. It's filled with action based ideas to nourish your child's soul.
Feel free to forward your copy to anyone you think might enjoy participating! Please keep the broadcast intact, including contact and copyright information.
Copyright 1998 - 2003 Mimi Doe. All rights reserved.
Spiritual Parenting Newsletter Samples
Top |
| |
Subscribe to Spiritual Parenting
Thought For the Month. |
| |
|
| |
| We have a strict privacy policy and will never give out your name. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
