This week has been a bit crazy.
My oldest has been home sick for a couple days with a fever and bad cough.
The night times have been rough. I’m sure you can relate – no matter what age your kids are now. There are just some of those nights.
At the end of 2016, I made a list of all my “wins” and accomplishments.
One of them was that I got up every night and night-time parented my kids. WIN!
I got up and comforted, cuddled and reassured either of them or both of them. Sometimes at the same time (those times are super hard!).
But there were times that it was really, really hard. There were times that I was at the end of my rope. That I felt like I didn’t have it in me.
Sometimes I would cry. Sometimes I would leave the room, let them cry while I took a time out to regroup and go back in and try again. Sometimes I needed some late night texts with my sister to get me through.
Somehow, I always found more rope.
I know we’ve all been there. When you’re exhausted and feel all alone and briefly hopeless. When you’re at the end of your rope, what do you do to find more rope?
The ability to bounce back….that’s called resilience.
And how do we build resilience in our children??
The #1 way is for those children to have one (or more) consistently supportive adult in their lives. A person who is their cheerleader and will be there no matter what.
So, if you’ve found more rope…and you keep on finding more rope when you’re at the end of it…you’re being that person to your child and building resilience in them.
Keep it going. One step, one night, one moment at a time. Sometimes those nights can be hard…but the cuddles are worth it.
Talk soon,
Whitney
p.s. join me over at Guiltless Grace on Facebook with some other supportive moms as we get through this together with grace and poise but without the mommy guilt.
