Daily Rituals

We are a pretty go with the flow kind of family, but it has become apparent that in order for me to survive these times with my sanity we are going to need some conscious daily flow to keep everyone centered.

The challenges:

Koala is two and a half. He’s having a hard time with this transition. He’s still very much mama’s baby and seems caught between worlds. On one end he has his older brother constantly telling him he can’t play with his legos, leap frog or whatever other cool big kid toy he’s hoarding that day and on the other end he has a red faced baby sister who is constantly taking up mama’s lap, arms and attention. Every time someone visits (which is often) he begins the visit by enthusiastically showing off his little sister and ends the visit by screaming at guests and throwing things at them. eh. For his best interest I am looking to create a rhythm he can count on in a world that may feel a little shaky right now. I also want to make sure he’s getting plenty of sleep because mixing over tiredness with the current state of affairs could be disastrous.

Solshine is five and a half. He’s actually doing really well right now. The first few days after Ninu (nee-nu) was born he had a few emotional outbursts, but since then he’s been amazing. The challenge here is that too much undirected time leads to Koala bugging him and and then he reacts and a full out brother war erupts. sigh. The good news is that when the day does flow and we help them move in and out of simple activities they do really well with side by side play. I’m looking to create more of that.

Mom and Dad need to run a business. Running a small family business doesn’t exactly allow for maternity leave, but it does give us flexibility. Creating regular time to stay on top of things means more effective business practices and less stress. I’ll take some of that.

Oh and Mom and Dad have personal interests, passions and needs too. How dare we. (wink.) We don’t want to stay stagnant and have a ton of inspired greatness up our individual and collective sleeves. We know making time for passions means being more satisfied with out lives in general which in turn makes us better parents. Sign me up for more of that!

For all these reasons and more we are working daily mindful rituals into our lives. We are starting around key melt down points like meal times and the evening hours before bed. We know that it takes 21 days to create a new habit so we’re in it for the long haul. I just pulled out my copy of Steady Days for some ideas and inspiration from a real professional. I’m feeling ready to take one giant mama step forward. Yes, I’m a little tired, but hopeful. And happy. And well supported.

Tagged as: baby, children, consciousness, family, Koala, life, parenting, Solshine, the plan, work