7 Ways to Make Your Kids Proud Without Getting out of Bed
Take a minute and ponder on the last thing you did to make your kids proud, mama. You do so much day in and day out, making them happy, meeting their needs, and making memories that count. This is all wonderfully proactive to their development, but what are you doing to make them PROUD? I know sometimes we get so wrapped up in the daily hustle and bustle that we forget to look past the things that are right in front of us. For example, you may be super excited to get your kids out into the world to showcase their talents, but are you doing a good job at it?
I mean no ill will mama, but most often we find that were doing this thing on auto pilot. We're getting in the car, driving to point B, coming back to point A, offering our body to a common feeling of discomfort around the same time every night and lending our dreams to the fears of tomorrow. The entire time our true feelings are completely out of it. However, they say a good parent has a moral obligation to their offspring, and no matter how big or small, feelings should never get in the way of that. Not my words mama, those are the words of someone who has never walked a mile in your shoes. Better yet, they've never seen your shoe size or style available where they are because they could never measure up. No book, video, or Guru could prepare them for the battles you face as a GREAT parent.
I myself sometimes find myself feeling like an empty vessel as I prepare dinner. It's as if something in me gets "shut off" and I don't know if I'll be able to get through today. I'm an optimist, so I consider at least the fact that dinner is getting made fresh at home, I'm saving money, and my children are happy and fed. However the pessimist in me says, I could have gone to get fast food and they would still be happy and fed, "who cares". The pessimist would say "are you happy right now where you are? With these responsibilities you have? The ones that don't go away but get heavier with time"? These, sometimes, are the only true feelings we allow to come through. And all though we're smiling on the outside, those intrusive feelings will come out eventually in ways you couldn't imagine.
But what if, you could trump those feelings of not being good enough in the present and actually smile when you lay down at night, knowing you made your family proud. Well do I have news for you. Here are 7 ways to make your kids proud before getting out of bed. And spoiler alert, you're getting a two for one here because not only will you feel a difference, but just wait until your perception of yourself changes from their perspective. It's amazing stuff sweetheart. Here we go.
- Thank them often You must remember to thank your kids for more than just using their manners properly and picking up after themselves. Yes, the work has been put in to make them a well-rounded individual but don't put them in the mindset of being a people pleasing machines. While manners are good, they are essentially put in place, so people feel appreciated upon certain interactions with others. If someone holds a door for you, you are taught to say thank you, as to let that person know their efforts did not go unnoticed. So you want to thank her when she's doing a great work that she possibly came up with all on her own. She knows you like the color purple so she constantly brings you little lavender flowers from the garden. Don't thank her for the action, thank her for the thought she had of you before she used her little feet to get to work.
Do you remember that handshake you had with your best friend? This experience in childhood is such a fond memory of mine. I remember the exact sequence, starting with the smile we used to greet each other. I remember staying up really late on the phone, giggling away with her, and then closing out the convo with an agreement to meet by the lockers to say good morning and "shake it up". Are you smiling? I am. Good times right? Exactly! Apply the same logic to your child. They tell us to release that inner child as much as possible when we're lucky enough to be in a space to do so. That not only starts a great tradition for you both, but it's something they'll be excited to share with their very first friend. All because they remember the feeling that would come about when they did this ritual with mom, and they can't wait to bless another person with the same feeling of love. Cool right?
3. Treat them how you wish someone treated you
Now HOLD UP! I am talking to you. Yes you, with the perfect childhood that grew up in a two-parent household. Yes you, that got every shoe and bag on time every time before school started. Yes you, that was fortunate enough to compete in sports every year because your family trained you outside of school and they had time to make sure you showed up. We all have some part in our growing up, no matter how perfect, that we wish someone would have stepped in and worked a miracle. Maybe you wanted a pet as a child but house rules forbade it. Maybe you wanted to dye your hair that one year but you had concert hall coming up and, school rules forbade it. Whatever it was, now you can fix it. Now we don't mean sending them off to finger numbing piano lessons because you never got the chance, but quite the opposite. Let them say no, or yes, whichever. When they think back on why they are or aren't doing that thing, they'll think "mom's the coolest".
Yes, I said it. Keep tabs. But not in the general sense. What I mean is start implementing healthy cliffhangers in their routine. A cliffhanger is a something that keeps you hanging on. It makes you look forward to the next episode and they say life is a movie after all right? Why not put your little one in on the planning stages. You know they have school in the morning, they know they have school in the morning, but why not make it fun letting them wonder what special delight is for breakfast. Why not show them a bag of clothes and tell them you have a special outfit planned for tomorrow if they wake up on time. See? Now they're keeping tabs on you as well making sure you get up on time and have those promises ready to be fulfilled. And when you come through, like you do every time, they'll be so proud of you.
