I’m a mom of three kids, and I so don’t have my life in order. I haven’t remembered to sign a homework page in approximately 17 weeks and I have no idea what my kids pack in their lunches every day.
One of those children has ADHD and anxiety, and I strongly suspect another is a passenger on the anxiety train. My husband is a lucky carrier of ADHD, and my poor organizational skills are carrying us all. This means that things slip through the cracks on the regular. Lights don’t get turned off, permission slips don’t make it from backpack to parent’s hand, and every single night we’re shocked by how little time we actually have together.
It’s a beautiful time! (Really, it is.)
But it’s also a time of nagging, hollering at kids to hurry up, and never, ever, ever feeling like we have things under control.
As my husband and I hone our organizational skills, we find plenty of methods to move each child through their tasks and duties. But what we don’t find a lot of is time to just connect with our kids.
And that eats away at us.
We know that no matter what stage of life our kids are in, connection is critical so we can be alert to warning signs, so we can help when issues inevitably rise up, and so our children will trust us to problem solve with them -- together.
And we know that it’s up to us to make sure we’re making important connections -- NOW -- so that our kids have the best foundation possible for happiness and a successful life. We need to be making important connections -- NOW -- so that our kids don’t just hear us say we support them, they FEEL it. They TRUST it.
We need to be making important connections -- NOW -- because this is the only NOW we have!
One of the simplest ways I connect with my children is through quick notes and journal entries. They take 90 seconds to complete, and they make my kids feel like the most important thing in the world (and they are -- to me!).
That’s why I designed the Pause and Connect Journal. This has been such an important tool in my own parenting. (To read exactly how the back-and-forth journal helped me, click here.)
Each prompt in this back-and-forth journal is designed to draw you and your child closer in some way. Maybe it’s to help you think of a positive quality your child has, maybe it’s for your child to stop and think about the positive qualities you possess, maybe it’s to discuss back and forth about how to handle fears.
The journal is a download, so you'll be able to have it as soon as you purchase it -- and get to connecting with your child in deeper ways immediately.
It's easy: Just print the pages, and throw them in a binder, staple them together, or stick them in a clipboard, and voila! You’ve now got a simple activity that will bring you and your child closer together.
And don’t stress. It doesn’t have to be done every day. You’re busy and you have things to do! You don’t need ANOTHER task on your to-do list.
But the journal will be there for you as a tool whenever you or your child have a moment. Pick it up, think, write, share. Every time you write an entry, you will light up your child’s life. And every time you read your child’s entry, you’ll smile or fall even more head-over-heels in love with your perfect creation.
90 seconds to connect. You can do it.