The Desire to Parent a New Way

I’ve been keeping a little secret!🤫 

I‘ve been working hard behind the scenes in becoming certified as a Conscious Parenting Consultant. The reasons were many, but I share a few that may resonate.

Did you know that children who are raised with a gentle + responsive parenting approach statistically have higher academic performance, income, socioeconomic development, much lower rates of anxiety, depression and suicide rates. You can read more of this PubMed Study HERE.

1-Understanding How our Little Ones Brains Work

When I started falling asleep every night listening to courses, podcasts, audiobooks or whatever parenting resource I could find, I knew I had found something I was deeply passionate about and wanted to share with others. I live, breathe and eat this information up on a daily basis because I absolutely love it. I am so fascinated by understanding how our children's brains work + develop and their sense of wonder, playfulness and connection before they learn to filter that true authenticity as they age.

I was very intentional about the path I took as I wanted to ensure it was based around very evidence based strategies that aligned with my values and satisfied my desire to better understand the brain science of their development.

2-Desire to Parent Differently than How I was Raised

I had a strong desire to parent differently than how I was raised. Many of us were raised with the traditional ways of parenting where obedience was at the forefront of many homes. As research has evolved, studies now show the impact our parenting styles and parent-child relationship have on our children's brain development, success, emotional resiliency and overall wellbeing.

We wondered, “What if we could raise our daughter in a way that she doesn't have to “undo” a lot of the beliefs and stories that we grew up believing.”

The impact of learning how to raise our daughter in a new way has had such a beautiful impact in all areas of how lives, but most of all, seeing the change that it has made in how she sees herself and our relationship as a family has been transformational.

3-What I was Doing Wasn’t Working

There were 2 pivotal moments that I knew deep down inside that something needed to change. And if you’d rather listen than read, here’s a little video recap⬇️☺️

The first was the morning I was walking in from the car, hands full with a crying toddler waddling behind me crying “Up Mama, Up” with her hands up and reaching out for me. I was exhausted, annoyed and using every vessel within me to try to stay composed. I turned around after opening our back gate and accidentally knocked her over. Her head smashed off the concrete. Naturally, I dropped everything, swept her up in my arms as fast as possible and ran her inside the house to comfort her and make sure she was okay.  

I remember sitting there with her in my arms, both of us weeping. I sat there feeling completely helpless. It wasn’t that I had knocked her over, of course that hurt my heart but I know accidents happen and she was okay. I was flooded with guilt because I knew I couldn’t continue down this path but didn’t know how to change it.

My relationship and connection my daughter has always been at the core of everything I do.  I wanted to enjoy these “little years” more than what I was and through all the day to day challenges I was losing sight of what mattered most. 

What I was doing wasn’t working and something needed to change. 

As someone who consumes a lot of parenting resources, I thought I had most of the answers and assumed that this was just how this phase was supposed to be. 

I decided to join a free parenting webinar that left me completely mystified. I was overwhelmed with guilt yet inspired with hope. Everything I thought I knew about parenting and toddlers, I seemed to have backwards. Many of the strategies and theories I hadn’t heard before. It was like a pandora's box that I kept wanting more of. I eventually purchased a few courses that helped me better understand these new concepts and strategies.

Once I started applying what I was learning, we were all forever changed, had the sweetest little girl who listened to everything we said and lived the happiest life ever…. Okay, Okay, I’m kidding! Wouldn’t that be nice though LOL.

The truth is… it can feel hard as heck to unlearn and relearn a new way. We learn it in theory, we understand the concepts, then we try it and guess what…it can feel so awkward, clunky, painfully slow, frustrating and leave you wondering if this stuff actually works? And further more, defending why your old ways were more effective.

I would try to apply many of these new concepts and strategies I was learning and found that when they wouldn’t work, I would resort back to what I knew, how I was raised as a child and what seemed to work in the moment, until it didn't….. Until it led to one of the biggest, longest, most intense heart-breaking meltdowns I had ever seen with my little one. It absolutely broke me. It was in this moment that I went all in to learning everything I could about Conscious Parenting.  The more I learned, the more empowered I became.

And don’t get me wrong, we still have our hard days. We’re human, it won’t be all sunshine and rainbows everyday but I was able to take what I was learning to help us through these times in a way that felt right in my heart.

4-I want a Peaceful + Playful Home

Let’s be real, raising little ones can have it’s moments and if I could find small ways to create a little more peace and joy in the everyday tasks and routines…how we spend MOST of our time, I wanted that for our family.

If getting out the dang door is a life sucking, energy-draining full out battle each and every single morning… why would’t I invest a little time up front to learn a better way that pays us back tenfold in time and mental sanity!  Life is too beautiful to accept that it needs to be this way. 

Parenting + Motherhood can be hard enough and if there are strategies, systems + tools that we can put in place to make our lives just a little more peaceful, it’s an investment I’m willing to make, and not to mention the impact that it has on the brain development of our little ones truly is priceless.

5-And of course most importantly…Raising an Incredible Human

I will never underestimate the profound influence we hold in who our children grow up to be and the impact they will have on our future generations to follow. It is a privilege and a responsibility that I don’t take lightly.

Imagine the ripple effect we could have in their lives through building a strong foundation built on unconditional love, mutual respect and trust, a deep connection with one another and the world around them.

And Lastly,

I am so deeply inspired by all the parents out there making a difference in our world, Thank you! Your work makes an impact that lasts a lifetime and fuels our generations to follow.

I know first hand just how hard some days can be and the power of this work. I am committed to sharing as many free resources and value that I can in hopes of it landing in a mama’s hands on a day she needs it most, like it did for me.

Lots of Light + Love,

Michelle

XO