Episode #19:

Wintering With Kids

For all the parents in the northern hemisphere, we are in the belly of winter right now. And this is a tricky time, especially if your kids are young.

Winter at its best gives us the opportunity to get quiet, still our bodies, rest and reflect.

At its most challenging, it makes us stir crazy, cranky, and frustrated by the limitations it imposes on our lives (whether it’s freezing temperatures, illness or just lack of energy to get stuff done).

These challenges are intensified when you’re parenting young kids.

They aren’t moving their bodies as much (which leads to more dysregulated behavior), outside time is not happening (nature is the best nervous system regulator!), and WE ARE ALL STUCK TOGETHER with less outside world contact – a perfect recipe for big tantrums, sibling squabbles and parent’s losing their sh*t.

So today I wanted to send a message to say it’s ok if you feel like you’re losing patience with your kids more right now. It’s ok if the behaviors you thought were “handled” start to resurface. It’s ok if you’re dreaming about a solo trip to the Caribbean and possibly not returning.

Think of this season more about what is essential for your family’s “survival” rather than “best living.” Do I need to make sure everybody gets outside for 5 minutes? Do I need to renew my subscription to Disney+ so that my kids have endless hours of content to watch because I can’t stand cleaning up another pillow fort? Do I need to phone a friend and ask for a kid swap so I can have 2 hours to myself?

On today’s “Good Enough Parenting” podcast, I share other insights on how to ride the waves of winter by focusing on your family’s most important “port of entry” – listen now to find out what that means!

I promise you it’s easier to surrender to this season rather than pretending you can keep the pace that felt good in the previous months. Spring will come again and you’ll re-emerge, re-energize, and remember that you don’t have to be perfect in every season – just good enough.