Parenting, Heaven and Hell, #1

A Parenting Ramble
will be published each Wednesday here at slowsonoma.com.
Freud called Parenting the impossible job.
Moshe Feldenkrais said the real work is
to make the
"Impossible possible,
the possible easy,
and the easy elegant."
Let us begin.

So, the little kids,
the happy babies,
the giggling toddlers,
the inquisitive younguns,
the fiesty and creative youth,
the beautiful and blossoming teens,
the friendly, courageous and happy youth

and so on.

Life with children
can be wonderful.

And we can help
with this,
as parents,
or formerly active parents,
or bystanders who can stand
or even like
kids, children, youth, young adults.

How can we help?
First:
slow down.
Surprise, surprise,
that idea coming in
this blog, eh?

Slow down how you drive your car
in general,
to remember to breathe
and to see the world as it passes by,
and slow down
when children are in it
so you don't crash
and
so they can learn that life
doesn't have to be a rush
and so
you can listen to what they
want to tell you
and so
you can take a breath
before
you say something back to them.

In the car
you
could
have your eyes on the road
and some attention on your children
and some
on your breathing,
if you can do all that,
you are teaching them how to participate
fully in life
and you and giving yourself happiness instead
of an ulcer
and you are practicing
being now

being now
is the greatest gift
you can give
either
yourself
or your children.

So next time you are in the same
room
car
yard
place
with them

slow down,
follow your breathing
look at them
and
listen to them

and see what blossoms
from those moments


ciao,
Chris