Happy Spring! As we watch the earth awaken, bud and bloom in the Northern hemisphere, we can align ourselves with this spring energy.

What do you want to awaken in your family?

Which habits do you want to shift and create?

How can you create a fertile environment and plant seeds for the qualities you want to grow in our children and teens?

Photo by Francesco Gallaroti on Unsplash

Parents have come to me in the past few months with many similar desires and questions. Here are some of the common themes. Do you relate?

• We fell into bad habits during the pandemic and winter that I want to shift. Our kids are staying up late, watching too much TV and resisting getting off their devices. How do we reset and teach them to help out and cooperate?
• I want my kids to enjoy being outside now that the weather is improving. How do I get them off the couch and outside? 
• My kids are anxious, which makes me anxious, and we need to create some new patterns and get everyone in a better place, but I don’t know how to begin. What do we do? 

The first step to making changes in ourselves and our families is to pause to look within and step back to observe what’s around us. Notice both your feelings and the facts of what you see, hear, and experience. Below I’ve shared a series of questions to guide you towards awareness and alignment with the season. Learn how powerful it is to set clear intentions for yourself and your family.

Align with your intention: Make an appointment with yourself

If you connect with some or all of these sentiments, I invite you to spend some time reflecting and consider scheduling a Clarity Call with me. Put yourself on your schedule by adding an appointment, calling a babysitter or friend, or taking turns with your partner.

Find a journal, a piece of paper, or a device and give yourself the gift of an hour to just sit and draw or write about the following questions. You will feel renewed energy from the clarity and connection time with yourself.

Reflection helps you align with your inner wisdom and the natural rhythms of the season.

Photo by Lilartsy on Unsplash

Observe your “garden” – outside and inside

After I take a walk or come home, I like to walk around my garden for a few minutes, looking at what is coming up, especially at this time of year. I learn all sorts of things – which parts are getting the most sun, what plants are most delicious to rabbits, and how each plant has its own way of growing and opening. If you live in an apartment, you can still check out what’s happening in plants in your home, or you can get a new plant to start observing as you care for it.

As you observe the earth changing and plants growing, consider how they are like your own family. What is budding in your family? How are you offering sunlight and warmth to your children?

Photo by Valentin Salja on Unsplash

Journal Questions: Without judgment, just observation, take stock of what you are noticing…

What do I see, hear, and feel in my family right now?

How has growth happened over the fall and winter?

In what ways are new things emerging? Interests? Habits? Schedule changes? 

How am I feeling? What’s going on inside of me? 

In what ways can my family align with the spring season?

Prepare Your Garden

After I look over my garden, I start making plans for what needs to happen. Where I live, many fall leaves have gathered in the corners in windswept heaps, some protecting tulip shoots from bunnies, and others decaying and insulating the soil. I need to carefully clear the leaves of last year away, protecting what is growing, and giving those new shoots air and space to breathe. With my inside plants, I can remove dead leaves, trim gangly plants, and turn them so that they get even amounts of sunshine.

We can use this same approach with our family systems and habits…

What do you want to clear out?

Which habits have served their time and need a redesign?

Journal Questions: Look over your observations and identify one, two, or three things that need some attention…

What have I been holding onto this winter that I am ready to let go of?

Which habits, mindsets, or hangups do I want to clear away?

In what ways have some of my habits or hangups been trying to protect me in some way? Which ones am I ready to clear out to allow for more space and flow in my life?

What parts of my life do I need to align more effectively? 

Add new plants to your garden

Even though I already have many fall bulbs and perennials in my garden, I always like to add some new plants in the spring that will grow through the summer. Dahlias are my personal favorite because they last until the first frost and offer glorious blooms of all colors. Pansies are fun to add, too, because their colorful flowers are able to handle cold nights of early spring. It’s fun to experiment from year to year. This is a great season to start some new things in your family and personal life, too! 

Journal Questions: What new things do you want to plant and nurture? How can you align with spring energy? 

What is one new mindset or phrase you want to embrace this spring? Some of my favorites to share with my parent coaching clients are:

• “What you focus on grows.” (Or “Energy flows where attention goes.”)
• “Move from judgment to curiosity.”
• “Align your schedule to work with your children’s needs.”
• “When things get tough, turn to wonder and gratitude.”
• “Offer an idea or question and then step back.”

Which parts of my life need more attention and beauty? (Maybe family dinners need some flowers and candlelight, or a messy desk needs organizing, or a playroom bin needs refreshing…)

How can I nurture the relationships in my life with some time, love, and fun? (Maybe you need to go out on a date with your partner or a child, see some friends, or connect with family…)

Put your ideas on the calendar or find support to make them happen.

All of us can slip back into old habits and familiar ways of being without adequate support. I recommend looking over your reflections and scheduling some of the ideas you identified. This could look like finding a day to take your kids to an outdoor experience, scheduling a date with your teen to do something fun, or finding a babysitter so that you can go out on your own or with a partner or friend. You can also put a reminder in your phone with a mindset or new habit that pops up daily or weekly to keep it in your mind. Whatever you choose, let it be easy and feel promising. My clients have had great success with this approach.

If you need some help to get clear and align the structure of your family’s daily life, schedule a Clarity Call with me. Sometimes it helps to talk things through with someone outside of your circle of people to get a fresh perspective. Have fun taking stock of all the good things in your life and planning for some new energy and growth in your family!

Want to hear some stories of how others feel when they get clear through working with me? Check out the stories on my Testimonials page.

Who I serve: I coach parents from coast to coast in the US and internationally.  Thanks to Zoom, I am currently coaching parents from Boston to Seattle, Connecticut to California, as well as New York, Ohio, and Colorado. I’ve worked with parents in Bermuda, Japan, Portugal, and Canada as well. I’m grateful for these global and domestic connections!