Health & Fitness
It is important to take time for yourself and to be "present" when you are spending time with your children.
I am so happy to have fellow YOLO mom, Kristen, as a guest blogger sharing some of her parenting life lessons. Kristen has been temporarily relocated to North Carolina these last 4 months for a lung transplant. As she prepares to return home, she has been reflecting on this time she has spent away, separated from her daughter all this time and these are some of the lessons she has learned:
Take a time out every day. Our lives are so busy and we're always on the phone, computer, texting, etc. Spend 15 minutes every day and just pay attention to what the kids have to say. Sometimes conversation with a 7 year old can be like pulling teeth. We have been doing nightly phone calls and I ask her to tell me the best and worst part of her day. It opens the line of communication and gives me an idea of what makes her happy and what's going wrong in her life. They'll talk if they know you're really listening. (Thanks, Kristen. I really like this one. I have now started to incorporate this one in my life.)
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It's ok to take time for yourself. Four months is a bit extreme, but for me there was no other option. We toyed with the idea of bringing her down to North Carolina, but I would have never been able to focus the energy I needed on myself to heal - mentally or physically. I never left her for more than a night before this...she "needed me" too much. Going forward though I know it's ok to take time for myself - she'll be ok with grandma & grandpa and I'll be an even better parent for taking the time for myself. A girls only trip to the Bahamas is being planned for next year - I've been away enough this year! ( I really agree with this one also - YOLO (You Only Live Once!)
Kristen's parenting life lesson should remind us all about the valuable commodity of time. It reminds me of the following quote: " Yesterday is History, Tomorrow a Mystery, Today is a Gift, That’s why it's called the Present" - Take time for yourself today and make the most of it! The summer has officially begun! Enjoy!
