Awesome Role Models!

Thumbs up for Awesomeness!

We all need a dose of positivity...some days more than others!

Listening to the radio this morning I was reminded of an awesome role model who created a blog about finding something positive and awesome every day....I really like this guy Neil!

His site is 1000awesomethings.com and he has written 2 books.... The Book of Awesome and his second one was just released The Book of (even more) Awesome!

You can subscribe to his daily posts and be reminded ( especially on one of those days ) to find something to smile about, be happy with, grateful for or look forward to.

It isn't just parents, teachers, leaders, adults etc. who are role models, we all are and the younger the better as far as I'm concerned... way to go Neil!

Thumbs up!

Shall we dance?

Did you know that most kids think that the adults in their lives aren't happy? I don't know about you but I think we need to change that perception!

Now I know we all have stuff going on in our lives, but many of us may not be aware of how we wear it everyday like a fitted suit! We can just as easily change gears and pull a different suit out of our closet...one of happiness, and the fastest way I know how to get there is by dancing!!

I was watching Ellen DeGeneres yesterday as I do when have time because every time I watch her show I laugh...out loud! She is so funny and as many of you know, she loves to dance!

Well as I listened, she tongue and cheekily (a word?) was taking credit for the dance movement that seems to have taken over our television screens in the recent years because before her, shows like Dancing with the Stars and So you think you can dance didn't exist!

But it's true...true that there is a growing dance movement and I for one am on that train... just ask my kids, although they would probably prefer that I curtail my movement when they have their friends over!

Dancing is a great way to shake things up...literally and figuritively, as in our mood. Just try to be stressed while your doin' a little jig...can't happen!

So today why not give it a try...lighten up a bit and bring out your inner John Travolta or Tina Turner and dance like nobody's watching even though they are!

Let's show them we're not a bunch of wall flowers after all! Here's to being a happy role model! :o)

Creating a Positive Culture

(x) + (y) = z     I recently did a presentation for a group of high school teachers and I used this math equation as an example to build the awareness of how we can create a more positive culture...not only in our classrooms and schools but a home as well.

I know math wasn't everyone's favorite subject like it was for me, but I promise, it's not a hard concept to get! Z represents the culture we're creating and the (y) reflects kids/students  behaviors and attitudes.

So I plugged numbers into the equation (x) + (y) = z  on the white board giving these two examples:
(2) + (-5) = -3    and   (6) + (-3) = +3

It was pretty clear to see that the outcome of a positive or negative culture (z) was dependent on the X factor....no matter how negative the (y) factor was....a variable which we can't control!

I think you can figure out where I'm going with this...the (x) is us...the adults...role models and we're in control of only one thing...how positive we are.

Even without doing the math, we know that we can't create a positive culture if we are negative...the math example was just a little reminder which we can all use every now and again :o)

Are you getting the thumbs up?

We all do our best but some days, depending on which side of the bed we rolled out of, we could maybe use a little tweeking as we show up in our day as role models. The term role model in and of itself is neutral...the positive or negative slant depends on us!

It's not just parents like me, teachers, sports coaches or others who work with kids who should be mindful of what they're putting out there! We might not have our own kids...we might be aunts, uncles, grandparents, friends, neighbors or the grocery clerk at the check out that frequently has children around them.

Most of us probably don't know where we stand from their point of view, so what if you took a big breath and asked them if they would give you a thumbs up or down in whatever role you play in their lives...what do you think the answer would be?

Now don't beat yourself up or anything...sometimes it may be up and others down....but the way to getting more 'up' days on the calendar is to ask them why they voted the other way! (Actually keeping track on a calendar isn't a bad idea !)

Hope to connect soon on my new facebook page a great resource with information and inspiration to get a thumbs up everyday!

I hope today is a thumbs up day for you!! :o)

Being Happy

Do you ever wonder what your purpose in life is? It's a common conversation that takes place around dinner tables, water coolers, amongst friends and sometimes in our own heads!

Yesterday I was reminded, yet again, that we all share a common purpose and that is to be happy...joyful! For some it seems like a given and to others it may sit at the bottom of their list.

Years ago I had polled some seventh & eighth graders and asked them if they thought that the adults in their their life were happy and how they knew if they were or weren't. As I reviewed their answers it was very clear that the adults in their life were unhappy the majority of the time and in turn it made the kids feel sad and unhappy as well.

I guess this gives credence to the phrase, "If mom ain't happy no one is!"

Life ebbs and flows...that's just the way it is! Some days 'stuff ' happens and other days run smoothly, but how we respond to life's challenges and allow our happiness to erode in reaction to them teaches the kids around us to also be that way.

No matter what is going on in life, we can still choose to be happy and that's one of the best lessons we can teach our kids!

Hope you have many Water off a duck's back days!

Jo-Anne :0)

Banana Blunder

Being present...really present with who we're with or what we're doing in any given moment is something that many of us are striving for yet struggle with.

I'm still laughing at myself (a very healthy thing to do!) as I had one of those struggling moments this morning!

As I was preparing my breakfast I was cutting up some fruit and got a rather simple yet clear message that I was not being very present.

As I peeled my banana I started to slice it up and didn't notice that not only did I put the peel in the compost bin but I was slicing the banana into it as well!

Once I caught myself I just started to laugh...where was I that I didn't notice until the end of the banana that it wasn't going into my bowl?

I managed to salvage most of it as I rinsed the coffee grounds off some of the pieces :)

This may seem like a silly example but can you imagine, if we are this unconscious (I know I'm not alone here!) in these seemingly inconsequential moments in our day, what the impact would be if we did the same thing with our kids?

So here's to a very present day and have some fun with it by keeping track of how many times you catch yourself not being quite all there!

It's the most wonderful time of the year?

Only a few weeks left before our kids go back to school and I'm really puzzled at the message behind the commercial ad for school supplies that has played for several years over the air waves.

I was thinking this morning that there were only two more sleeps (yes I still count down in sleeps!) until my 18 year old daughter returns from her amazing humanitarian trip to Kenya! Of course I missed her and as she begins another new journey this fall I will cherish every day that she still lives with me...she won't forever!

My son is entering his last year of high school and I have enjoyed every minute of the summer with both my kids....more time together, amazing weather and a lot of fun!

So here's my quandary ....why would our kids going back to school be the most wonderful time of the year?

Are they implying that we want to get rid of our kids? That it's too hard having them around all the time? Sheesh...I sure hope not!!

But then again, maybe there are those out there who feel their kids are a bit of an inconvenience being around for the summer and they like life better once they're back at school? If you are one of them please contact me...please! :)

We only get one shot at this parenting thing, they'll be gone soon enough...and for good! There will be plenty of times where you will miss these years so enjoy every single one of them now...oh and your kids will like that you do too!!

Walking the Talk

For the past several months I have been vowing to change the dial on my radio from a morning show that I have listened to for decades and yesterday I finally did it!

The energy of the show had changed, or so I thought...maybe it was me who has changed :)

I had been increasingly getting tired of the incessant judging and poking fun at others...bordering on rude, and the playing of songs that although may have been popular, conveyed messages that were inconsistent with the tone I try to set for myself and my kids in my life and that I quite frankly didn't want to hear.

Don't get me wrong....I love to laugh just as much as the next guy(gal)...just not at someone's expense and even if a tune is catchy, something doesn't feel right dancing away to that negativity!

So I changed all the radios around the house as well as the one in my car to a new station that is more aligned with my values.

When I told my teenage son about this great thing I did, his response was, " Yeah Mom, You've been saying you were going to do that forever!" ...and he was right!

This may seem like a silly example, but it's so important to walk our talk in every capacity if we're going to be the role models our kids need and as you can see, they observe everything!

Conscious Kids

Yesterday I had a few tears in my eyes as I saw a picture of my daughter's beautiful face for the first time since she left for Kenya on an amazing adventure in association with Me to We and Free the Children with the primary purpose of building a school.

I receive regular e-mail updates on her group's activities and they shared how Craig Kielburger himself showed up on a surprise visit recently as they all celebrated the official opening of the the Clean Water Projects!

Coincidentally, later the same day I had read an article where the Kielburger brothers (co-founders of the Free the Children Foundation) spoke of the best way to inspire more socially aware kids was to be mirrors ourselves as parents and model the behavior...music to my ears!

I know this to be true from many experiences in my own life, but most importantly through my children.

It's like this being more conscious message was coming out of the woodwork for me yesterday as I spent time with my other teenager, my son, and we got chatting about how he chooses to respond instead of react in situations with his peers, especially in heated situations and can see how coming from this different perspective is very unique in today's society.

When people say to me that I must be so proud of my kids I of course say that I am, however, I know that the shifts I made and continue to make to be a more aware and conscious mom was and still is key in inspiring and sustaining the path they choose to follow in life.

So let's take the texting, video game playing and peer pressure off the hot seat...monkey see monkey do!!


 

You Gotta Laugh!

Okay I admit it...I love being a mom and doing mom things, so yes I still make my son's lunch even though he is 17, but the way I look at it is that I don't have many more years left to have this role so I'm going to make the most of it...especially because he's my youngest.

So of course being a good mom, I wanted him to have some protein to go along with his sour gushers and dry alphabits that I substituted for cookies as I hadn't been shopping, so I made him a tuna sandwich.

Sometime late morning, I received this text..but before that I just wanted to make a suggestion that parents learn how to text as this is probably the only way they'll be able to communicate with their teens...anyway the text read like this:      " Nice giant hair in my sandwich!"

I laughed so hard when I read it and even more so when he descriptively described, once he got home from school, how the whole thing went down in the cafeteria amongst his peers.

I had sent him a text back that said, "Extra protein never hurt anyone :)" He did end up eating the sandwich, after all we are family...but not the hair!

This morning I taped a note to his wrap that said, " No hairs in your lunch today!" which I know will make him smile.

The point of all this? We have to laugh more with our kids...have more fun with them and lighten up...it's so much easier when we do!