Checking In

photo courtesy of Darren Hester

Time to Check in :))

Hello, to whoever happens to find me :) I don't promote the blog enough in kidsgoals newsletter so I need to make sure to do that in the next issue. Hopefully that will keep me more consistent with my blogging.

Wow! It has been ages since I have blogged so figured it was about time to check in. I have been pretty consistent with newsletter since January and have updated the website a bit, but I am sorely lacking in the blogging department. So without further ado...

Since this is an update I have to tell you that I am doing much better emotionally, but there are days when it is still too real and I need to just go with the myriad of emotions that come up. It is a process and still early days as far as grieving goes. I have been seeing a counsellor on a regular basis for a few months and he has really helped me to deal with my loss. He is more of a holistic counsellor so one of his suggestions was to try meditation, which has made a huge difference in my life - I highly recommend it.

Some of the benefits of meditation are reduced stress, better concentration, lowered blood pressure, helps depression etc. It will even help you with your parenting skills, because you will be so relaxed nothing your kids can do will upset you. So do yourself a favour and give it a go. According to a Psychology Today article all you need is ten minutes - who can't spare ten minutes if it will change all aspects of their lives for the better.

There are many great guided meditations you can purchase online or just try googling the word meditation and you will find everything you need to get started at no cost.

Happy parenting,

Monicka

Goals & Due Dates

Hello to readers of the kidsgoals blog:

It has been a few weeks since I have blogged and March is almost over so figured it was about time.:))

I finally got my act together and sent out the March newsletter. I was dragging my heels a bit because the article I chose for the newsletter while relevant, was sadly the last article Cassie wrote for kidsgoals. It all just seemed so final, and made it difficult to go forward. I decided to give myself a bit of a nudge and a deadline and made it a goal to get it out before the weekend. I was going to give myself two days, but once I got started I could not stop and finished it in a few hours. Funny how that works sometimes.

I have been really bad about procrastinating lately as much as that goes against the grain of what kidsgoals is all about. How can I tell my readers the importance of goal setting, when I can't seem to follow my own advice. Remember kids learn by example and I have not been setting a very good example!

I believe I am back on track now and for the April newsletter I am going to give myself a deadline with very little wiggle room. I find that once I write down a deadline I have a better chance of following through with the work involved in bringing the goal to fruition. Remember it isn't a goal until you give it a due date!

Happy Parenting,

Monicka

Newsletters

Hello All,

It has been awhile since I have blogged so I figured it was about time, so here goes...

Wow! Can you believe it is almost the middle of March and of course you know what that means. Yep, time for the next newsletter. I decided to clean up my readers list and give anyone a chance that didn't really want the newsletter in the first place, to opt out before I send out the next campaign. According to Mail Chimp, (the nice people who send my letter out for me) mail lists get stale very quickly. Some people even forget they signed up in the first place. So please if you really don't want it, don't send it to SPAM because it then becomes an abuse complaint and I am sent a compliance letter from Mail Chimp. So if you don't want it you know what to do, just click on the unsubscribe button and I will take you off the list. But on to other matters.

Spring is in the air, and maybe even thoughts of love for your tween or teen. The March issue is about kids crushes and what you as a parent can do to help your child if they develop a crush on that certain someone. We have all been there, but for your child this can be a very traumatic time and it is crucial that you do not treat the crush as a trivial matter, but rather offer lots of love and support - especially if the crush isn't reciprocated :( I think you will find the article very informative.



Anyway hope you have a great weekend!!

Happy Parenting,

Monicka