My son is such a bright and happy little boy. For those of you that have toddler or remember your children at this age, you know they mimic what they see.

Logan is a very independent boy and wants to do what mom and dad does…constantly. If he sees us throw a toy into the toy box while picking up, then he starts throwing toys. If he sees us toss the dog something from our plate, then he does the same. Hard to tell him “no”, when he learned it from us.

Which leads me to the question: What are we teaching our children without even trying?

Everything we do in our life is going to contribute to our children’s thoughts, feelings, and opinions. Children are more perceptive then sometimes we realize.

What is a mother that is constantly sacrificing her own needs for others, teaching her daughter? What about someone that is a workaholic, what lessons are being sent to that child about priorities? How about a woman that is not able to manage stress properly, what example is she passing on to her children?

As mothers we naturally sacrifice for our children, often putting ourselves last to give the child the best. But, is that what is really best?

I for one want to teach my son that is ok to do things for yourself, that taking care of yourself makes you a better person, a better parent, and better in business. But how will that be perceived if I never show him how to do it?…If I don’t lead by example?

Look at your life. Are you where you want to be? If not, why? How can you teach your child that nothing should stop you from what you want in your life, if you do not live the lessons that you want to teach.

Showing our children what we want for them through our own lives can be the best way to show them how to have a healthy and fulfilling life.

Now, that is a lesson worth teaching!

As parents we have hopes that our children don’t make the same mistakes that we did growing up. We want to protect them from learning lessons the hard way. What I think we fail to realize is that mistakes can be instrumental for learning.

Sometimes making mistakes are necessary in order to learn life lessons. Unless the mistake is life threatening, we need to allow them to make their own choices, which will undoubtedly lead to their own mistakes. Some of life’s lessons just have to be learned, you can’t tell teach them.

Think about when you where growing up and your parents issued a warning about a mistake that you were going to make, did you believe it or want to see for yourself?

It hasn’t changed, kids have to learn that falling off a bike is apart of learning to ride, getting hit by a ball is a part of sports, and that sometimes life is just not fair.

We as adults can learn from our children’s willingness to make their own mistakes in order to see for themselves. As adults, we fear making mistakes even little ones…why?

Aren’t we keeping ourselves from the same opportunity to learn? Aren’t we keeping ourselves from taking risks that might lead to an exciting new chapter of life?

Past experiences have helped shape the people we are, so why do we think that we are done learning everything there is to learn from life just because we reach a certain age?

What has your fear of mistakes topped you from learning?

Life is a learning experience, we evolve as people and mistakes are apart of personal growth. Use them as a chance to learn and discover something about yourself.

I was tagged by Teresa Morrow of Key Business Partners and she was tagged by Jenn Givler of J Givler Coaching as part of a new Group Writing Project Meme to create the Ultimate Guide to Productivity started by Ben Yoskovitz co-founder of Standout Jobs. Feel free to visit Instigator Blog to read about it!

My Productivity Tip:

I have found that writing to-do list has always helped me stay on task and plan my day.

By knowing what you have to get done for the day will help you plan ahead. Also, by being able to cross off items as you get them done, you feel accomplishment and it lessens feeling of being overwhelmed. A to-do list can also help you keep yourself accountable. When you write out your to-do list don’t forget to assign due dates, a
deadline will help you stay on task and can be figured into your daily schedule.

Now, I tag:

Wendy Cooper

Ginger Marks

With Empowering Regards,

Tonya

As I sit sipping my morning coffee, I watch as my son - the fountain of endless energy, running around chattering. He makes me smile as he brings me a crumpled up sticker. The sticker had seen better days, the sticky back filthy with dog hair and dirt, barely able to stick to anything. However, my son proudly presented it to me…to him it was a found treasure just for momma.

Even as I sit down in front of my computer to write, Logan not five feet from me playing with his fire truck imitating its sounds, I realize what a precious gift has been given to me. The times that I have with my son are valuable moments that I treasure with all my heart.

In five months, my little boy will be three years old. Yet, I can still remember the first time that I held him in my arms…it seems like just yesterday. I remember his first step, the first time he said mom-ma, the first time he ran in the park. Like, all mothers as I watch his growing independence; I have that fear of not being needed, of being left behind as he grows into the man that he will be. These fears quickly dissipate when he crawls up next to me on the couch and leans his little head against me with a sigh of contentment.

It is easy to look back to what once was and to look forward to the futures, but living in the moment is a bit harder. Maybe it is because life is so busy for most of us that we take the day to day for granted. We file those valuable moments away for a later reflection, instead of enjoying the joy of right now.

When you reflect at the end of the day and smile at the cute things your children did that day, ask yourself this:

Did I enjoy being in that moment or did I let the busyness of life, the mundane day-to-day chores overshadow it?

It is easy to go on with business as usual, but consider this…there will always be housework to do, bills to be paid, and work to get done, but you will only have that exact moment with our child once. Enjoy it, relish it and soak up that moment…letting everything go for that precious time with your child