Parenting: Surviving AND Thriving
As parents we all want our children to thrive! However, do you ever feel like you are just trying to survive through the moments of parenting? Things are piling up, social events, house tasks, work and much more, and then add on a toddler meltdown and we just do what we can to get through. But, what if we can use these moments that we are just trying to survive in as opportunities to help our children thrive? Dan Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson give us some great ideas in how to achieve this goal! https://drdansiegel.com/whole-brain-child-handouts/
Survive moments can be used to implement the important and meaningful work of parenting. This is what is great about using the survive-and-thrive approach, we do not have to carve out extra moments in our busy lives to help our children. Instead, we use all the interactions we have as opportunities. This means we can use stressful, angry, miraculous and adorable moments all as opportunities! What is great about this approach is that we do not need to use every moment as a learning opportunity. If things are too hard, or too busy, we get to skip that moment, because we know we will be presented with many more opportunities throughout the day that we can use!
So how can we survive and thrive at the same moment? Think about a fight your children are having amongst each other… yet again… instead of breaking the fight up and sending everyone apart to have some cool down time alone, what if we use this moment as a teaching opportunity? This helps us to survive the fight while allowing our children to thrive by teaching so many different skills. We can practice reflective listening skills by hearing the other sibling’s point of view. We can work on communication skills by trying to demonstrate one’s point of view respectfully. We can also work on deeper skills like negotiation, compromise, forgiveness, co-regulation, self-regulation and advocation.
Check back in to learn how to break down these ideas and gain more strategies!
Siegel, D. J., & Payne Bryson T. (2012). The Whole-Brain Child: 12 proven strategies to nurture your child’s developing mind. Robinson.
