How I Changed the Way I Parent…

You might’ve seen this quote: “The best parents aren’t parents yet”. And before I had kids I was probably one of these sorts of “non-parents”. I was never going to yell/ threaten/ cajole/ bribe/ scream/ cry/ ignore/ shush/ screech/ nag/ violently whisper/ badger/ time out/ count etc. etc. I was going to be a lovely calm Mama, dancing in the rainbows with all my children sitting happily at my feet.

Somehow, after almost 8 years (and 2 boys) of being a Mum, I occasionally slip into not-so calm Mama and I quite often resort to doing those things I swore I would never do. So it was around March I came across this article: “10 Things I Learnt when I Stopped Yelling at my Kids,”  in which a Mother, busted by the handyman for going nuts at her kids, decided not to yell and had made it 400 days .

400 days without yelling or screaming at your kids! 400 days of nice calm voices. I thought about this a lot and attempted a couple of times to do it. Mornings were my undoing. Then came a day when Mummy, Master 8 and Master 4 got into the car at 8.20am one morning every single one of us crying because of a stressful, loud, crazy, insane morning. All of us started our days in the worst possible way and I decided there had to be a better way.

So it was not long after I came across the “Peaceful Parenting” course. The course helps you to:

• become the cool and calm parent you always wanted to be
• household chaos settles into peace and quiet
• you are able to handle their outbursts without feeling personally attacked
• your relationship with your partner and children is deepened
• you have the skills to manage any crisis you or your child goes through
• You create young adults who are resilient, caring and respectful of others.

And something resonated with me so I signed up and after 6 weeks I am now a certified Peaceful Parent.

After the very first day of the course things changed overnight. And by that I mean the way I think and the way I deal with my kids. I realised that SO many things were not their problem, but mine. And that all the little things that bothered me, made me angry, or were just downright not working could be changed, fixed, altered or adjusted. Some things I basically let go.

But there is obviously way more to the course than this. I probably wasn’t quite prepared for how intense and full-on it is. Well, it would have to be to succeed in making a parent change the way they parent. Every Friday I would come home totally exhausted but also excited and happy that really positive changes were being made.

And the other thing I will say about the Peaceful Parenting course is that it not only changes and affects the way you deal with your kids, but also everyone else in your life from your partner to your parents to your friends. It teaches you how to really listen, how to let go of your own agenda. It isn’t an easy fix, magical solution that will stop working at the age of 10, 13, 15 or 20. You  are skills and insights that will help you change the way you think and deal with things for the rest of your life.

I can’t recommend this course enough, it has changed my family for the better. But like I said, it is intense – so be prepared!

Vanessa is taking expressions of interest to run the next course. She also does an online version but I would recommend doing it face-to-face if you can. Vanessa is a beautiful person, and she runs the course with lots of interesting examples, well written notes and is a genuine and happy person. I really looked forward to spending Fridays with her!

Find out more here: http://peacefulparenting.com.au/ or call Vanessa on 0410 448 884