10 Points of Joyful Parenting- Ann Voskamp
10Point Manifesto for Joyful Parenting
(any text in turquoise links to posts for more explanation & encouragement)::
1. Today, I will make our home a house of prayer. I will pray at set times. And I will invite our children to come move into an interior space that lives with God.
3. Today, I will not have any emergencies. There are no emergencies! Only amateurs hurry.
4. Today, when stress mounts, I pray to dismount it with gratitude. My stress management plan will be intervention with verbal thanks. I can only feel one feeling at a time, and I choose to give thanks at all times. Fight feeling with feeling!
5. Today, I will pray to speak words that are only STRONG words, words that make these children feel strong. Grace words. Grace is the only non-toxic air. All other words I breathe are death words.
6. Today, I will pray to be consistently consistent. I will create safe rhythms that our children can find security in. I willcreate daily ceremonies because everyday we are CELEBRATING the gift of now!
7. Today, the moment when I am most repelled by a child’s behavior, that is my sign to draw the very closest to that child.
8. Today, I will hug each of my children as many times as I serve them meals — because children’s hearts feed on touch. I’ll look for as many opportunities to touch my children today as possible — the taller they are, the more so.
You can read this list, and Ann Voskamp's blog here.
She also has this book "One Thousnd Gifts":
