Do you love being a Mom but also wonder if there is more to life? Do you ever feel lost in your parental duties? Do you wonder how you can find a
way to answer your higher calling and simultaneously do your sacred work as a parent?

In this video I discuss the importance of having a creative outlet in order to feel fulfilled. Having a creative outlet has had an enormous impact on my life and overall happiness. I urge you not to ignore the voice inside that quietly but persistently whispers or longs for something more.

YouTube Video: http://youtu.be/V9kyv50oxrk

Thank you for watching, friends! I appreciate you.

Your voice matters and your experience helps others. Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

Are you a Mom that feels lost in the onslaught of parental duties? Have you ever struggled to feel fulfilled? What advice do you have for other Moms in the community?

With love & gratitude,
 Wendy Irene

I’ve learned a lot this week, and one of the biggest lessons of all was how much my children crave stability. In the last few weeks we moved into a new house in a neighboring town, my son started 1st grade in a new school, and my 3 ½ year-old daughter started pre-school. Besides the large amount of work that goes into moving and changing your address, my husband and I
have been really happy and excited. I love a good opportunity to re-organize and start fresh. We were previously renting because when we moved from Vancouver, BC to Idaho we wanted time to learn the area. Owning a home now feels like a blessing. I’m excited to really make the place our own instead of living what felt like half way, not wanting to hang our favorite pictures and fully move in.

My kids on the other hand are a completely different story. I do believe they love their new home. It was easier on them to move this time in that they still get to see the friends they made in the area, even though they are not attending the same school. But the difficulty of change is bubbling up to the surface in interesting ways and I can sense it in their demeanor.

Currently, my son is often feeling anxious and crying more than usual about things that may seem small to you or me. We have to remind ourselves to be very patient, compassionate, and not judge what it is that upsets him. His
new public school is very intimidating compared to the tiny private kindergarten he attended with a small classroom size and a lot of individual attention. Trying to figure out how to find his classroom, locker, make new friends, ride the bus, and especially the lunch system are very confusing for him. When he feels anxious he doesn’t function at his best, and things that may seem simple to an adult are difficult for a child.

I see in his eyes how hard change is on him, and how much he craves stability. While my husband and I adapt well to change, and often embrace and enjoy change because it feels like a new adventure, it is not the same with kids. I know for me I handle change now completely differently than I did as a child. It seems kids adapt because they have to, but they are not capable of handling the stress in the same way.

This move has really made me want to provide a long term stable home for my children, to consider the importance of stability in their overall happiness and put it as a much higher priority in our lives. I want our kids to consider their home a safe, secure, stable environment, and not fear us pulling the rug out from underneath them. It has been a real eye opener and even though I know I can’t predict the future, I do know stability for my children will be a much bigger consideration than it previously was.

How do you help your children with change? As a child, do you remember craving stability? Do you consider stability important in your family’s life?

I’d love to hear your thoughts!

With love & gratitude,
 Wendy Irene

When you speak to your children, what do they hear? Is it a tone of love or one of stress and frustration? The way we speak to our children impacts the inner voice that we are instilling in them. Our children learn from us how to handle the world, and how to react in a difficult situation.

In this video I talk about becoming aware of the inner voice we are instilling in our kids and how I am working to improve that with my own children. This video also addresses how to recognize the mirrors that reflect our personality, so that we can become the best version of ourselves. In the video you will begin to learn about the choices and power we all have to help create a positive inner voice in our children.

YouTube Video: http://youtu.be/2jmQ2Cj_HnU

Thank you for watching, friends!

Your insight is incredibly valuable.

Do you have any tips or advice on how to act out of love in difficult situations? Is there anything that helps keep you from talking in a negative tone to the people you love most when you are having a stressful day? Will you help me spread awareness of the impact we have as parents to nurture our children’s inner voice?

I’m looking forward to hearing your thoughts!

With love & gratitude,
 Wendy Irene

What do you do when you feel yourself about to react negatively? And that’s putting it lightly! You know the point when things are about to get UGG-LY. You feel like you have been pushed too far and you’re about to scream.
When butting heads with your kids doesn’t even come close to describing it? When your co-worker is being completely unreasonable? Your family is driving you MAD! It’s a hellish moment and you are on the verge of bursting into a Mommy monster.

The key to not reacting is to be the observer.

Observe the desire to react within yourself instead of being the reaction. Take a step back and look at the reaction about to be released within you. You are not that reaction! Have you ever noticed when you are reacting to
something you become totally swept away in your emotions? They completely become you. For me, it feels like my emotions overtaking my mind.

While I am meditating my kids go upstairs for quiet time. Every afternoon around 3pm we take a break as a family, and have quiet time. I encourage my kids to go in their rooms with a few books to read or to look at the pictures. It doesn’t always go smoothly. Some days they play together. On this particular day they began to fight and cry. At this point in the day I am pretty tired and in need of a breather. Inside I felt like going up there and telling them to shut-it. Stop crying. Stop fighting. Just be quite for 10 minutes.

This is not how I want to act towards my children. I love them way more than the sometimes unpleasant emotions that I feel. The exact point when you feel yourself about to breakdown is also the very moment you have a
choice. You can choose to be the reactor or the observer. Pause in the moment when you’re on the edge and feel the window of choice open up.

If you focus on being the observer, that is where you can find your peaceful, calm, kind, loving  self.

Right now in my life I am working on being the observer. When I feel myself about to react, I try to pull myself back into observer mode. That is where I feel most connected to God, divine energy, or my higher self, whatever you choose to call it.

When I am the observer, I am my soul.

The capability to be the observer has always been there, I just didn’t know it.

Choose to be the observer, and not the reactor.

Choose to be your soul, and not your ego.

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Share your wisdom with me in the comments below – What do you do to keep yourself from reacting in stressful situations? How do you keep your cool?

Recently, I’ve been having little pep talks with myself about slowing down, immersing myself in the present moment, and enjoying more. Monday
morning we were running around getting ready to take my son to school. The clock was ticking away as it does. It came time to brush my daughter’s hair. I decided I was going to take this opportunity to be in the moment, focus solely on the simple task of brushing her hair.

The brush glided through her shimmering locks, and I consciously took a few deep breaths. I appreciated the beauty of her hair, and its silky feel. I fully appreciated the moment with her, the sensation of our loving exchange. This usual morning routine was completely transformed simply by being present in the moment at hand.

Instead of worrying about the future, and what’s next, and the oncoming tasks of getting everyone’s shoes on, getting in the car, driving to school, I was able to stay in the moment and therefor felt gratitude for our interaction instead of stress. It was a huge eye opener for me to see how beautiful even chaotic times during the day can be if we stay present.

Today during one normal activity in your daily routine, take a moment to breathe consciously and focus only on the task at hand. Let go of everything else. You’ll find that is where the joy in your life resides.

The present moment is where love and gratitude for life are found.

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Sorry to my lovely email subscribers. Tuesday’s video did not come through in the email. Here is the link to the video on YouTube: http://youtu.be/HhzsKoS1tHg

The other day I experienced a great opportunity to work on myself, and practice acting with love. My kids and I were outside. While sitting on the porch in the glorious sunlight my daughter was reading a book about bugs, and my son was blowing bubbles. After a few minutes my son decided he wanted his bug book back, and began to feel really upset when his sister wouldn’t hand it over.

Tears began to flow and my son’s anger increased. He threw down his sunglasses, trying to break them.  I could feel myself getting upset and about to react. I had just bought those new sunglasses yesterday because his old ones broke. After speaking with him and asking him to calm down, he threw his glasses smashing them hard onto the ground again. This is the point when I normally would have started yelling, but surprisingly by the grace of God a quote popped into my head.

“The reason that challenges arise is simple: to make you more aware of your inner purpose.”  ~ Deepak Chopra, Twitter #SpiritualSolutions

Instead of yelling I asked my son to go inside and take deep breaths until he was calm. For some reason even though he was angry he listened to me and went inside. Immediately I wondered if the act of staying conscious and remembering Deepak’s wise words, instead of engaging in the instinct to react, helped us both. Either way it was a moment to celebrate.

“Love is the ultimate truth at the heart of the universe and transcends all
boundaries.”  ~ Deepak Chopra


We are one in this journey.

I’m glad my stellar title got you here! All those online videos and I’m getting smarter. Now back to my great story…

WahWah <-- that’s the noise coming through the monitor. It’s 4:30am!

I think I’ll close my eyes and hope and pray it STOPS. 
 
29.9 minutes later – sweeeeeet, I’m just about to fall back asleep.

5:00am – more waaah waws. Feeling sleepy and GRUMPY.

Nope. I no longer have a new born. In fact, you might be surprised to know I’m sleep depriving myself ON PURPOSE!

My youngest is almost 3 1/2. She has been potty trained during the day for about 6 months or so. She’s my second child, therefor really, I can’t  remember. Night time potty training is a whoooole different challenge.

Two nights ago the last diaper we owned was used. For a long time now it has been 1 diaper per night, so that giant 8 million box from Costco has
lasted foreva (*it’s not really 8 million, just close). It was my crutch, my
excuse to not start night time training. I like to call it holding out for the ‘right time’. It is a decision you make just like that. It’s my way of forcing myself to train my daughter to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night when the urge arises.

There is going to be a lot of late night/early morning wake-up calls. I’m expecting at least one peed bed per night. It’s all good. Washing sheets is on my talent list. I put it on my resume.

Want in on the fun? I’m taking bets –

How long until you think my daughter is potty trained at night?

If there are a lot of incoherent blog posts to come in the next week or 2 you’ll know why. Consider this fair warning. All the pee will be going to my head making me unable to fully function… and I’m assuming it is only pee.
Let’s keep that positive thinking going.

My husband will be sound asleep like a log. I consider it my job to wake him up because this time it is not for breastfeeding.

Fair? What do you think?

Share your thoughts with me in the comments below.

When I struggle in my interaction with another person I try to repeat to myself:

They are a beautiful person, just as they are.

This helps me to accept them. Love flows through acceptance.

The most effective way I know how to bring out the best in others, is to place my focus on their best qualities. Focusing on someone’s best qualities is a choice, just like focusing on their worst is a choice. I’ve found it is often easier to focus on what I perceive as negative in others, what their faults are, or where I believe they are wrong. However, when I do this I believe I contribute to bringing out the worst in them. Our energy and focus matters.

When I catch myself getting frustrated with a person, I consciously try to avert my attention elsewhere instead of getting swallowed up in negativity of my own creation. Have you ever noticed when you expect the worst in someone, or focus on what you think are their shortcomings, they tend to give you more of it? What if your attention to the bad is actually helping to create more of it? And equally as powerful your attention to the good in others helps bring out the best in them.

I’m starting to notice a push and pull of energy with my children. It is so much easier to focus on what they are doing wrong, and not give nearly enough attention to what is great about them. As a parent I consider it my job to teach them. It is the most important job I have, and I’m really starting to evaluate what the best ways to teach are.

I would not want my kids’ teachers at school to be continuously focusing on my children’s weaknesses, and what they are doing wrong. Instead I would want their teachers to encourage their strengths, give them praise when
they do something good and add positivity to their life. If that is what I want
from their school teachers and sports coaches, I feel I should do the same, to act in alignment with my heart.

In my life it often seems like the things most worth doing require work, but when you put the effort in it is incredibly rewarding.

I want to shift my focus to the good in people; to give love.

Sometimes we unintentionally pass on our own fears to our children. I think it is important for me to try not to do that. I realize I am always setting the example, even when it is negative, and what I do has an impact on my kids. There are certain fears that my children have that I do not share, and I wonder how they develop?

My son, for example, is afraid of bees. Neither my husband, nor I share this fear, so it is unlikely he learned it from us. My son has never been stung by a bee so it is not a past painful memory. Now that spring is in full swing and we are spending more time outdoors, having meals outside and enjoying
the weather, I find myself having to reassure him many times that the bees will not hurt him if he just leaves them alone. 
 
In the garden surrounding our home we have beautiful lavender plants. I adore their splendor and scent, and so do the bees! I’m not really sure how to go about helping my son overcome his fear. His 3-year-old little sister has now started trying to console her big brother. Just the other day as we were having lunch on the porch in the glorious sunlight, I overheard her say to her brother,

“Him is a friendly bee. Him just don’t like to be touched. If you touch him you’ll hurt his feelings.”

It was really quite sweet and cute. However, despite her kind words, my son was still scared.

Baseball has started, and we plan on spending a lot of time outdoors. 

Do you have any advice for me on how to help my son overcome his fear of
bees?

As a Mother, setting an example is something I am consciously aware of. When you are not thinking about it, it usually comes knocking on the door in the form of a mirror. I’ve seen my own behavior in my children many times, therefor I know that what I do impacts my children and will affect how they act or react in situations in their own lives.

There is a peaceful place inside all of us. The waters remain calm there no
matter what is happening around us. I call that place our divinity. Think of it
like a warm underground spring. The trick is to access this spring of peace and love in moments that are challenging or test our patience.

There are many ways to find your inner peace, your divinity. Yoga and meditation are two of my favorite ways. Some find it through art or music. Practicing getting in touch with this inner serenity as a daily ritual strengthens your ability to access it more quickly in heated times.

The more I visit that place of peace within myself, the more able I am to drink from its fresh calming waters in times of thirst.