At our first MOPS of the new year, Janet Leighton spoke about “getting out of your kids’ faces and into their hearts” – by being a mom who is, among other things, emotionally safe, relatively (!) stable, willing to have fun, and loyal to her family. Janet reminded us that our kids are not our parenting report card, and we should be careful not to compare ourselves to other moms or to the expectation we have of motherhood – but, instead, to focus on relationships with our kids (rather than just getting through the “functioning” of each day).

Take a minute to think about these questions:

– Do I have too many “non-negotiables”?

– That is – What do I say “no” to that I could let go of?

– Have I laughed with my children today?

– How can I simultaneously manage both the joy and the grief in my life?

– Have I hugged or in other ways positively touched my children today?