Skip to main content

Share

The Artist's Way for Parents: Interview with Julia Cameron, artist & creative coach

Submitted by Rita Brhel on 21 February 2023

Q: What are the benefits of parents tapping into their own creativity when it comes to their relationships with their children?

A: When you pay attention to the creativity of your child, you are connecting to a part of your child that is timeless. When you try to connect to your child's creativity and sense of wonder, you reawaken your own creativity and your own sense of wonder. If you focus on making it a safe and benevolent environment for your child to have self-expression, you then find yourself with a desire to have a safe, protected environment for yourself. The home becomes a sort of sanctuary, not only for your child's creativity but for your own.

Falling in Love with Our Children is Scary: 3 Tips to Make It Easier

Submitted by Rita Brhel on 14 February 2023

Falling in love with our kids is a daring thing to do. Love opens us up, wide open: no armor, no defenses. We're naked and vulnerable when we're in love. Love is powerful. It's not just cupids and chocolates and diamonds. Love is raw, open, vulnerable, crazy, courageous, light that shines on every dark corner, every unmet need, and everything we don't want to look at.

When can you practice bravely allowing yourself to fully love your child?

How to Squeeze One-on-One Time Into Your Day: 5 Ideas to Make It Work for You and Your Child

Submitted by Rita Brhel on 31 January 2023

One-on-one time is a great way to share pleasant time together, and scheduling daily one-on-one time (even if only a few minutes) is a great way to shape our days to ensure a routine of regular connection. It may not seem like it, but these few minutes a day goes a long way toward working together and solving problems when my child is in need of guidance.

What time during the day works best for you to spend a few focused minutes with your child?

The First Building Block of HOPE: Relationships

Submitted by Rita Brhel on 23 February 2023

Research has shown that positive childhood experiences help children grow into healthy, resilient adults. These positive experiences can be categorized into what we call the four building blocks of HOPE. Let's take a deeper look at the first building block of HOPE: Relationships. 

But first, what is HOPE?

Love Not Always Floodlights & Fireworks, But Sometimes It Is

Submitted by Rita Brhel on 7 February 2023

Love is an amazing thing. It isn't always floodlights and fireworks. Sometimes love is blurry. You can't see a thing and have road rage, because you're stuck in the clogged congestion of life's freeway with people honking at you to hurry up. Sometimes, not all the time, just sometimes, love is pure magic. It stops you dead in your tracks.

When can you take a moment today to meditate on what you love most about your child?

6 Tips to Getting Our Kids to Listen Better

Submitted by Rita Brhel on 2 January 2023

Parents spend a significant amount of time talking to kids. We have a lifetime of information and lessons to share with them, and we're constantly searching for the most effective ways to talk to our kids so they will listen to all we have to say. In parent-child relationships, it's us listening well that begets our children listening well.

How do you communicate to your kids that you hear and accept them?

Add More Hygge to Your Child’s Holiday Season

Submitted by Rita Brhel on 19 December 2022

What an exciting time of the year! The wish lists are getting longer. My evening walks have been so pleasant as neighbors are putting up twinkling lights that add such cheer to an otherwise gloomy night.

I've been thinking a lot about what I want my children's experience to be this season. What do I want them to remember? What do I hope they are looking forward to?

Quick Ideas to Reconnect with Children This Holiday Season

Submitted by Rita Brhel on 13 December 2022

Making time to share time and interests with your child refills your love-tank and lets you bounce back after struggles. 

Small moments in every day, every week, keep us connected. Small moments mean the connections do not have to complicated to be powerful. What small, special traditions do you share with your (even grown) children?

The Family Table: Stay Connected Through Mealtimes

Submitted by Rita Brhel on 15 November 2022

Why regularly share the evening meal as a family? How does this routine activity serve us beyond nourishment? It has been said that the table is the heart of the home. At the table, we rejoin the pack in a timeless ritual. We are no longer separate and solitary; we regain our identities as part of a greater whole.

What does your family table look like?