Parenting Manifesto of Joy: Introduction
Tomorrow marks the first day of December. And for me, although the holiday season is festive and fun, it also marks the beginning of The Three Long Months [December, January and February]. Long dark evenings, {wet} chill, fog, potential illness, loneliness, boredom...I will just stop there.
I'm not describing a half-full cup am I? There are definitely other ways to look at it. Early bedtimes mean more alone time or couple time. Cool weather means I'm not sweating like a pig while running. Time slows down enough to get priorities realigned and reconnect with what matters most. The Three Long Months can have a lot to offer.
This blog post does have a point.
Here it is: What a great time of year to introduce something I have recently discovered called the Parenting Manifesto of Joy.
Perfect.
They shall no longer be called The Three Long Months. Henceforth they shall be called The Three Months of Joy.
Why not make something wonderful out of something bleak?
So, my plan is to focus on one bullet point each week, posting it throughout the house, blogging about how we put it into practice, weaving it into our day like a good habit.
And there will be joy among us.
December is the perfect time to start.
Please visit www.aholyexperience.com and find a PDF file to download.
Thank you Ann Voskamp for this inspirational piece of work.
-------------------
A Parenting Manifesto Of Joy
------------
1. Today, I will make our home a house of prayer. I will pray at set times. And I will invite our children to come move into an interior space that lives with God.
2. Today, I will transfigure all things into beauty, and I will refuse to see anything else.
3. Today, I will not have any emergencies. There are no emergencies! Only amateurs hurry.
4. Today, when stress mounts, I pray to dismount it with gratitude. My stress management plan with be intervention with verbal thanks. I can only feel one feeling at a time, and I choose to give thanks at all times. Fight feeling with feeling.
5. Today, I will pray to speak words that are only strong words. words that make these children feel strong. Grace words. Grace is the only non-toxic air. All other words I breathe are death words.
6. Today, I will pray to be consistently consistent. I will create safe rhythms that our children can find security in. I will create daily ceremonies because everyday we are celebrating the gift of now!
7. Today, the moment when I am most repelled by a child's behavior, that is my sign to draw the very closest to that child.
8. Today, I will hug each of my children as many times as I serve them meals -- because children's hearts feed on touch. I'll look for as many opportunities to touch my children today as possible -- the taller they are, the more so.
9. Today, my priorities will be all Things Unseen.
10. Today, I will laugh! And I will let the little children laugh! I will create a culture of JOY!
-------------------
Want to join the fun?? I made a button! =) Just copy and paste the code below to share.
