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Last weekend I was heading outside to sit in the sun. I went to the bookshelf and grabbed something to read. I have quite a few personal and business development books & I’ve read most of them cover to cover at least once. I have a few favorites that I go back to time and time again. This one, A New Earth, by Eckhart Tolle, I stopped reading about 1/2 way through because I just didn’t *get it*. It was completely foreign to me and I couldn’t get through it.
That was at a different time in my life. My inscription has 2008 on it, so it’s safe to assume that is when I started reading it. I was in a very different place back then. Very.
Anyway, I went outside and simply opened the book. This is one of my favorite ways to read a personal development book that I’ve already read. Especially if I only intend on reading for short period of time. Like sitting outside with my kid while she wades in her kiddy pool, or, in the bathroom…
The part I opened to was about the Pain-Body in Children. Not a coincidence. My daughter will be 5 in two months and has been a bit more defiant as of late. It’s gotten to the point where it’s at least once per day she goes into a 10 minute moody-dance. No. No. Nooo. ugh.
Little Miss Ella
Sometimes I simply ignore her. Sometimes I’ll try to reason with her (yeah, that doesn’t work often), or I smile and then she can’t contain her own smile. Many times, I’ve grabbed a few oils, rubbed them on both her and I and I just sit on the floor Indian style and wait. Eventually she stops carrying on and she sits on my lap. And we move passed it.
But then there are some moments where she gets to me. And I get mad. I do my best to remember she’s a child and she doesn’t always know how to express herself. She hasn’t learned that sometimes when someone doesn’t do what you want – like giving her an ice pop at 9am – that you don’t have to be mad for 30 minutes about it.
The book is still a bit “out there”, and remember, I only read this one section in the last 12 years. But it resonated with me in regards to my daughter in that I need to be more aware of how I speak and act around her, not just to her. How I react to things will have a direct relation to how she reacts to things. I certainly don’t throw a conniption if I don’t get my way, but I have noticed that lately I’ve been a bit short with her. Not because of something she’s done, but because of something I’m doing. More accurately, feeling.
Our kids will mimic us. They pay attention more than we think. Yesterday my daughter asked if we could stop by my office for a bit. When I asked her why she said “cause I need to relax in the salt room. It’s been a long day”.
Love her.