Light Heart Parenting: Strengthen & Grow Your Parent-Child Relationship Without Losing Your Mind!

In previous podcasts we've discussed recognizing, appreciating, and supporting our children's strengths - their wonderful qualities, their natural abilities, their interests and preferences, and the ways they are intelligent. Now the question is, can we really enjoy those strengths in our children? When you think about your children's strengths how do you feel? Happy, sad, delighted, concerned, hopeful, discouraged, confident? If you have some negative feelings about their strengths, what might help you move toward positive feelings? Learning to enjoy your children and their strengths, qualities, interests and preferences and acknowledging the ways in which they are intelligent can help them to grow in those qualities. This requires being fully present in the moment without the worry and concern about their future success. Their success will come when they feel excited and enthusiastic about who they are and what they can do. www.facebook.com/lightheartparenting, 805-648-1739 • Edie Lanphar - elanphar@gmail.com • Mariaemma Willis - m@learningsuccesscoach.com

Supporting children in growing their strengths requires encouragement without pressure, and a noticing of all that they do and are that makes them uniquely themselves. Children need opportunities to practice those qualities and strengths in a safe and nurturing environment with love and affection. Children need to have the experience of being able to name their strengths without the feeling of bragging or being conceited so they can know themselves fully and be able to articulate what is true about themselves, thus growing into confident adults who also respect others' strengths. www.facebook.com/lightheartparenting, 805-648-1739 • Edie Lanphar - elanphar@gmail.com • Mariaemma Willis - m@learningsuccesscoach.com

By allowing our children to notice and appreciate their own strengths we are helping to create the architecture in their brains that forms how they respond to themselves in times of challenges. Children do better when they feel better and they feel better when they feel seen and heard, participate in meaningful activities, and are unconditionally loved. That’s how they can move into adulthood as safe and secure adults. www.facebook.com/lightheartparenting, 805-648-1739 • Edie Lanphar - elanphar@gmail.com • Mariaemma Willis - m@learningsuccesscoach.com

In this episode Edie and Mariaemma discuss how to genuinely appreciate your children's strengths in ways that leave them feeling more positive and motivated. This includes speaking words of appreciation, refraining from using interests to punish or reward, and releasing any tendency to compare with other children. www.facebook.com/lightheartparenting, 805-648-1739 • Edie Lanphar - elanphar@gmail.com • Mariaemma Willis - m@learningsuccesscoach.com

In this episode Edie and Mariaemma discuss what it means to pay attention with intention to your children's talents, skills, preferences, and non-preferences - separating expectations of how we think they "should" be from who they really are. www.facebook.com/lightheartparenting, 805-648-1739 • Edie Lanphar - elanphar@gmail.com • Mariaemma Willis - m@learningsuccesscoach.com

Light Heart Parenting is all about moving from stress-filled to more light-hearted parenting experiences. Delighting in the unique individuals your children are by recognizing and supporting their strengths actually affects brain development, learning at all levels, and ability to form genuine relationships. We will discuss the importance of letting go of comparisons and expectations and really noticing each of YOUR children, as if they were little start-up companies - with their own sets of passions, talents, and uniqueness. The world needs everyone's unique strengths. Focusing on these creates safety for our children and elevates the parenting experience to include joy, laughter, and fun on a daily basis. www.facebook.com/lightheartparenting, 805-648-1739 • Edie Lanphar - elanphar@gmail.com • Mariaemma Willis - m@learningsuccesscoach.com