You know, I’ve always had this beautiful vision of the kind of parent I would be.
Patient. Loving. Encouraging. Calm. In control. Well-informed. Knowledgeable.
Then I had my daughter.
It’s amazing how starkly in contrast reality was to that vision!
While I was some of the above from time to time (ahem…), more often than not, you would find me agitated, frustrated, confused, dazed, ill-informed and sometimes downright ignorant…
If you are a parent, you can probably relate to some of that, right?
It’s not entirely our fault though.
Here’s the thing.
Doctors spend years in medical schools to master their science. Artists spend years of effort to hone their craft.
And yet, somehow, we parents are expected to raise human beings with practically no training or practice! Why is it that everyone (including ourselves!) expects parenting to be easy and automatic?
Great parents are made, not born.
But… between changing diapers, soccer practice, piano lessons, cooking, cleaning and everything else, who has the time to train and practice?
Does that mean we have no hopes of ever becoming great parents?
Not quite.
We can master all the skills and habits a great parent needs, if we tackle it in small bite-sized chunks that fit into our busy schedules. The key is to stay consistent.
Which is exactly what we do on this site.
Every month, we take on ONE simple topic that can make us a better person, and a better parent, and we consume it on a weekly basis in small digestible bits.
The topic may be something as simple as screaming less at kids. Or more complex like figuring out the secret of happiness and finding ways to apply it in our our lives.
Each week, I will publish one comprehensive, well-researched article in the realm of this topic. The article will be both informational and actionable. How much action you want to take is entirely up to you. Obviously, the more seriously you take it, the more success you will see.
Rinse, repeat.
It shouldn’t take you more than 10 minutes of your time each week to scan through the articles (all of which are designed to be quickly skimmable by busy parents) and pick one or two things that you can focus on in the context of your family.
If you consciously make it a point to consistently improve yourself through small baby steps, how can you NOT be a great parent?!
Join us today! We’ll send a weekly email notification directly to your mailbox when the new article is published starting with our popular 6-part mini-course How to Be a Positive Parent free! Simply enter your email below –
In addition to the above that happen on this blog, about 3-5 times a week I post small motivational posters on our facebook page.
If you can use a bit of a nudge to stay on track as you get swamped by the nitty-gritty of everyday life, then like the AFP page on facebook to join 43,000+ other parents who have, and you should start seeing the little motivational tidbits in your news feed. (If you don’t see them, try clicking the follow button). Here is a sample of some of the little posters I’ve published so far.
 What baggage do you carry? What chips and cracks do you try to hide? How does it effect your parenting abilities? Every one of us has issues from the past. Forget about them and rejoice in the fact that you can still carry on! |
 One of the best gifts we can give our children is the gift of optimism. The only way to teach it however is by making them “experience” it over and over again. So, today, let’s commit to stay optimistic, no matter what life throws at us! |
 One evening, my daughter was saying something about what she did in school and I was nodding absent-mindedly still thinking about a work issue. Suddenly, I heard her say in a small voice “You are not happy at me, mama”. Our responses shape our kids’ idea about themselves and the world around them. Be aware. Be present. |
So, Are you in? Join us, and I promise you, you won’t look back! Start with the latest habit/skill we are talking about this week or skim through our popular articles page to pick something from the archives.
And remember, you can ensure that you don’t miss a single skill/habit that we master by receiving a free notification directly in your mailbox — just register your email address below.
P.S.: If you are interested in how this blog came about and who I am, you can read about it here.