Parenting Is Hard! Being a parent is the most important and challenging job you’ll ever do! Natural Strength Parenting™ can help you navigate the challenging times and enjoy your child more. What is Natural Strength Parenting™ Natural Strength Parenting™ is a unique approach to parenting that encourages you to be intentional and mindful in your parenting while focusing on your child’s innate strengths. Building on their strengths will increase their confidence, self-esteem, and resilience, all of which lead to positive well-being. Natural Strength Parenting™ combines intentionality, the 24 character strengths, and the positive psychology of mindfulness into an effective parenting model that can have a profound impact on your family. Start By Being Intentional To be intentional is to live a proactive, purposeful life instead of a reactive life on auto-pilot.Here are some simple steps to get started with intentionality. • Stop asking your children, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ ask them ‘Who do you want to be when you grow up? What type of adult?’• Take a moment to contemplate what you want your children to say about you in your eulogy.Bigger Steps:• Write down your values as a family. Here is a true story of one family.• Color a family crest together from the Natural Strength Parenting™ Starter Kit. Discover Your Family’s Strengths Did you know everyone has 24 character strengths inside of them? Natural energy comes from using our top 5 – but all are inside! Human’s reflex is to fix what’s wrong… but brain science has taught us by encouraging your children’s strengths builds the resilience and skills to resist the negative influences surrounding them. Here are some simple steps to get started with strengths. • Try replacing the phrase ‘good job’ with something more specific. ‘It was brave of you to sign-up for that activity without knowing anyone.’ ‘You really persevered working through that social studies project.’ You are strength-spotting! Bigger Steps: • Either take the complete VIA Character Strength survey at their website or try the shorter version in our ‘starter kit’ and then plot out your family in the table! Practice Mindfulness We can only see our child(ren)’s strengths if our minds are open to them and purposely noticing what she/he is doing. Likewise, we can only set a specific intention for the future if we are aware of our current situation. Start with these simple steps to implement mindfulness. • Take a breath.• Play and put down the smartphone – try the Forest app Bigger Steps: • Teach your kids, S.T.O.P. and encourage them to use it before MAP tests, their next game; music recitals… or when they are about to lose it with a sibling. Putting It All Together You set an intention to raise a strong, independent daughter. You can reinforce this intention by making subtle changes in everyday moments. You’re in a hurry to get home after basketball practice. Your default might be to snap “Get in thecar. We’re running late.” Instead, you could remember your intention and mindfully engage.You might recall that she was afraid to try out for the team. “You used your strength of bravery when you tried out for the team.” Ask a powerful question in the moment: “What new thing did you learn today that will help you be a better player? I want to hear about it on the way home, but we’ve got to gobecause we’re running late today.” See how a small change can make a big difference?
