Advice abounds about how to be a better parent. And the focus seems to be about creating happiness for your children. But is it possible for both parents and children to be happy (without mood-altering substances)?
Raising Happiness
Christine Carter, author of Raising Happiness, says it is. In an article featured on Yahoo, she explains that when she became a parent, her goal was to focus on creating happiness, rather than solving problems. Still, she realized that there were parts of her day as a parent that led to unhappiness both for her and for her children.
The Solution
What the solution she found that she now offers to us?
Eliminate the bad and amplify the good. Sounds way too simple, right? Let me explain…
The solution is to ask yourself two important questions and be prepared to make changes based on the answers.
The Questions
1) When are the times in your day or your week that you are happiest with your children?
There may be more than one answer to that question. Take note of the things you do together, the moments you share, that are guaranteed to make you smile.
2) Now, how about the most stressful times?
Identify the parts of your routine that are almost guaranteed to make you crazy. It could be because of the time crunch or because of the difficulty of the tasks you are involved in at those times.
Making Changes
Once you have answered those questions for yourself, you have some changes to make. But not all at once. Carter cautions that you should avoid the sweeping changes. Make small ones, one and then, another, that eventually lead to the lasting change you were aiming for from the beginning.
She gives an example from her own life about the crunch time that would occur as she tried to get her kids out the door to school at the same time. She said that she started with just one tiny change: she started having her kids put their shoes by the door at night before they went to bed.
The next thing to do is to increase those moments that you love. How can you have more of those? You may have to schedule them in, because hoping for time to appear within your established routine may not work. Make a small change that allows for more of the good.
So your mission, should you choose to accept it: start today to look for ways to increase the happiness moments and eliminate the less happy ones.
As you contemplate that process, consider healing the stress that has occurred already.
For a free grounding and healing meditation you can use with your kids and energy healing techniques you can use for healing stress and emotional wounds, go to Helping Your Family Heal [http://www.spiritualaromatherapy.com/how-to-heal-your-issues.html] and complete the form.
Jeanine Byers Hoag is a certified holistic healing practitioner and certified spiritual aromatherapist. Her website is [http://www.spiritualaromatherapy.com]
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jeanine_Byers_Hoag
