Favorite parenting mantras

[RunawayBunny]

Anyone care to share your favorite parenting quotes or sayings? Words you use as a mantra on rough days?

I'm recovering from PPD with my youngest and find yelling at my kids a lot. Not just yelling, but saying the same destructive things my parents said to me. So I am collecting words of wisdom to help redirect myself when I'm in need. I'll start:

"The way we talk to our children becomes their inner voice." Peggy O'Mara

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[teacherpippi]

As a reminder to be gentle and kind:
"It's not our job to toughen our children up to face a cruel and heartless world. It's our job to raise children who will make the world a little less cruel and heartless." -L.R. Knost

As a reminder to take time out of all the business to spend with them:
"I'm rocking my baby, and babies don't keep." -Ruth Hulbert Hamilton

ETA: Allow yourself grace too. Just because you yell once, doesn't mean you can't start over. Hugs to you.

[Southernbelle]

When multiple kids are clamoring all at once, I like to say, "One crisis at a time, please!"

[GEM Cloth]

Be in the moment.

When my girls were little I found myself wishing we'd hurry up and get out of this stage or that stage but by the time my son arrived (age 36 for me, 11 years married) I realized this was destructive thinking and that I needed to savor each moment. Be there. Experience it. Remember it. Be in this moment.

[abunchoflemons]

some I could think of off the top if my head


people always say the time goes fast treasure moments when they are little.

the song that says "you are gonna miss this..." song here:

[Jakesmama2002]

"I am enough."

I love this because it's true no matter where or how we are. Just know that you. are. enough. All the time.

It's so hard to battle PPD and feel the burden of guilt when we say things (or yell things) that we really don't want to say to our kids. I like what a pp said about grace. We are not perfect, we're human. You can only do what you can with what you have and try again tomorrow. It does get better.

Hugs to you!

[qsefthuko]

No mantra here. But I did hear once that when you feel like yelling because the kids aren't listening then you need to whisper. I tried this myself. You know what? My kids perked up to listen to what I had to say. It was amazing. Yelling didn't phase them. Whispering, much to my amazement, grabbed their attention.

[Newton]

I often tell myself, "independence is a lifeskill" to try to remind myself that nuturing her independent streak will serve her well in life

[neonalee]

I'm walking the PPD/depression path. Good for you for taking care of it!

My son is very challenging. My favorites are "it's just a phase" and "stubbornness will get him far; you didn't want a weak child".

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[tinymama]

PPD is ROUGH <<<Hugs>>>>I am a survivor of severe PPD. It changed my life in ways I would not have chosen for myself or for my family, but 7 years later, I have to say we are doing better. Sometimes okay, usually better than okay. Sometimes AWESOME! I have gained new perspectives on life through the whole experience I would not have had otherwise.

No mantras here. Just wanted to share the concept of "Self-Compassion". It goes something like this:

"This is a moment of suffering.
Suffering is part of life.
May I be kind to myself in this moment?
May I give myself the compassion I need?"

Basically you are acknowledging that the going is rough, that you're not the only one who's ever felt this way (banishing that desperate feeling of being alone in your struggle), and you're choosing to sit with it rather than suppress it or judge yourself for it.

Sometimes I say the self compassion phrases out loud with my children in earshot so they can witness the process, to validate my feelings, to avoid shutting down internally, and as a healthy outlet for my frustration (instead of anger towards myself and them). More on this here http://psychcentral.com/blog/archive...lf-compassion/