A manifesto is a list of principles to help guide you how you want to live each day. Maybe you’ve made one before and didn’t even realize it. Today I’m sharing my parenting manifesto and showing you how to create one of your own.
You’ll Learn:
I first went through the process of creating a manifesto in a business coaching program years ago. And I realized that, if raising my children is the most important thing in the world to me, I also wanted to have a list of principles to commit to as a parent.
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This manifesto is included in the Calm Mama Handbook that all of my clients get. You can also click here to download a printable PDF.
This particular manifesto is not our family’s. It is mine. This is what I wanted to commit to as my kids’ mom. It’s also represents what I help other moms do inside my programs.
Parenting is my opportunity for growth. I wanted to look at this experience of raising children as an opportunity to become a more whole and healed person. To invite learning in and not fight against the obstacles that come with parenting.
Demonstrate love without condition, no matter what they say or do. I didn't want to be a parent that only showed love, kindness or care to my kids when they were being good. I would not just love my kids. I would demonstrate that love, and I would never pull it away.
Listen with curiosity and compassion. I wanted to commit to listening to my children and being curious about their lives, their thoughts and their interests. I chose to think that they are really interesting people and to listen to them because I want to get to know them. I also wanted to listen with compassion to understand what is driving their behavior.
Model work, play and rest. I wanted to be a parent who showed them what hard work looked like. I also actively chose to be a playful parent and bring in strategies that teachers would use to connect and play with kids. And I let my children see me rest.
Provide. I always say that you can give your kids access and opportunity, but you can’t make them take the opportunity. My manifesto includes providing food, shelter, education, opportunity, support, advice, guidance, modeling and love.
Take care of myself so they don’t have to. My mom didn't always really take good care of herself, and she allowed her health to deteriorate, which created problems for me in adulthood. I decided I was going to be healthy and strong. I would eat well, move my body, manage my stress, have a good social life and have meaning and purpose in my life.
Be comfortable with my kid’s discomfort. No matter what is going on for them, no matter how overwhelmed or stressed or sad or mad or hurt or confused they are, I am going to be okay with the mess that they bring to me. I'm not going to let it rile me up or tip me over. I’ll be the anchor in a storm of their life.
Show up for them, not for me. I didn't want to make their life about myself. I wanted to parent for them; not because I got something out of it. They have a whole life and a whole set of choices that I actually don't control. I'm letting myself be okay with that.
Respect myself and my boundaries. I believe that what I want is valuable and important, and I am worthy of my boundary. I don't have to wait for my children to respect me in order to feel respected.
Be forgiving, and admit when I am wrong. I will forgive my kids when they make mistakes and not hold it against them. When I’ve done something wrong, I will admit it.
Speak kindly. I don't swear at my children. I don't insult them. I don't criticize them. I'm not mean. I wanted to speak kindly and patiently and lovingly as much as I possibly could.
Be 100% honest. I still let my kids believe in fantastical childhood things, but I wasn’t a sneaky mom. I decided to tell it like it is when tough things were going on in our lives. If they ask me a question, I give them an honest answer.
Radical love, radical grace, radical listening. I am willing to go above and beyond to show love where it doesn't even make sense anymore. I'm willing to give grace, the benefit of the doubt, forgiveness and mercy. I listen on a deep level to what my kids are saying (and not saying) without judgment.
Let them make mistakes. I actively chose to let my kids fail (and they have). I let them make mistakes and then let them fix those mistakes.
See them as they are and allow them to change. It’s hard for a lot of parents to parent the kid in front of you - not the one you wish you had or the one you’re afraid they’ll become. Meet them where they are. Observe the behavior rather than judging. Then, leave space for them to grow and change without pigeonholing them or assuming they’ll become a certain way.
If I wrote this manifesto today, I would also commit to holding my kids to a high standard. I thought this would happen inevitably because my husband and I both have really high standards for ourselves. But I think that in trying to be so gracious, loving and compassionate, I didn’t hold them to the same standards I hold myself to.
If we had a set of family values, it would also include things like being generous, kind, open and loving. We hold these values as a family, and I trust that my kids are going to catch those values. I trust that they’ll become whoever they’re meant to be.
What you focus on is what you create. What you spend your time thinking about is what you end up doing. I encourage you to create a parenting manifesto of your own and put it somewhere you’ll see it often.
Of course, you are welcome to borrow my parenting manifesto. But it becomes even more powerful when you make it your own.
Remember, these are the guiding principles you want to follow, but none of us is perfect. If you make a mistake or don’t show up the way you want to, forgive yourself. Then revisit your manifesto and try again.
Grab a pen and paper, and let’s get to it!
Here are some prompts to get you started:
I still look at my manifesto quite frequently because it reminds me of my values as a parent.
I’d love to see what you come up with. Send me an email at hello@calmmamacoaching.com with your parenting manifesto.
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Welcome back to become a calm mama. I'm your host. I'm Darlene
Speaker:Childress, and I am a life and parenting coach. And on today's
Speaker:episode, I'm actually gonna combine the two parts of
Speaker:my brain and my skill set from the life coach part and the parent
Speaker:coach part, sort of put them together because could it today, we're gonna
Speaker:be talking about what I call a parenting manifesto.
Speaker:And in my program, in the commama club and in my 1 on
Speaker:1 programs, when you work with me, you get the commama handbook, which is like
Speaker:a 100 pages of all my thoughts about parenting
Speaker:all put together in one place. And the first
Speaker:page of it has what I call the Come Momma manifesto. And
Speaker:I've kinda designed this, manifesto, so it
Speaker:looks kinda cool and kinda, interesting with different
Speaker:bolded words. And so it's like the word cloud looking thing.
Speaker:And I've always thought, oh, it'd be so cool to get these printed and, like,
Speaker:you could put it up in your house somewhere or in your desk or
Speaker:whatever. So if you're a member of my newsletter
Speaker:or on my Instagram, you'll see we posted the Calm Mama
Speaker:manifesto on our social media, on my social media, as
Speaker:well as sent it as a document that you could download
Speaker:in the newsletter in the email. But, essentially,
Speaker:a manifesto, what is that? Okay. So a
Speaker:manifesto is a list of principles to help guide
Speaker:you how you wanna live each day. This came to me originally
Speaker:Well, I realized I actually made a few manifestos in the past but didn't call
Speaker:them that. But how this came to me was I was in a business
Speaker:program, a program that teaches you how to run an online business
Speaker:because I'm a good coach, but I didn't know anything about business. So I needed
Speaker:to learn how to, like, do what I do in a way that helps
Speaker:people hire me. And so I took a bunch of different programs throughout
Speaker:the years. And one of the programs I took, one of the first programs I
Speaker:took, I got a paper, a poster that said the
Speaker:doers manifesto. And it was essentially a list, a
Speaker:guideline for people who were gonna
Speaker:create an online business and, you know, promote their business and what they were committed
Speaker:to. You know? And it said things like focus on the
Speaker:task, be willing to fail. I don't even remember what it all said, but
Speaker:kind of those ideas. And I was staring at this for a while and I
Speaker:was thinking, okay. If I have a business manifesto
Speaker:or a work ethic manifesto, why would I not
Speaker:have a parenting manifesto? Which is the thing that is
Speaker:the most important thing to me was raising my children. And I wanted
Speaker:to have a list of principles for how to I wanted to
Speaker:live my life, how I wanted to to, like, make sure I
Speaker:was committed to as a parent. So what I did was I just
Speaker:sat down with a piece of paper and I wrote down a list of
Speaker:20 things that I was committed to as a parent.
Speaker:And that's what I want to invite you to do in
Speaker:this episode. I want you to actually you can borrow mine for sure.
Speaker:Go, you know, go to Instagram or download it on the newsletter, whatever.
Speaker:Message the team if you need can't get a copy, we'll give you one. You
Speaker:know, so you can copy mine. It's pretty good. You know? And I'm gonna read
Speaker:it to you. But you can also spend some time looking at your
Speaker:own life and thinking about what it is it that you're committed to
Speaker:as a parent. So this isn't really a family manifesto. It's
Speaker:not like I was saying as the Childress', we
Speaker:are committed to taking care of
Speaker:our items or something like that. Right? It
Speaker:wasn't anything like we're gonna serve as a family, or we're gonna
Speaker:commit to being kind to each other. This was
Speaker:more for myself, what I was committed to as my kids'
Speaker:moms. Of course, if I made a mistake, if I didn't show up the way
Speaker:I wanted to, I would forgive myself. Absolutely. And then remember,
Speaker:wait. No. I have principles. I have values. I have things that are
Speaker:guiding me each day. And so I wrote it up. I made my
Speaker:own manifesto, and I called it my parenting manifesto.
Speaker:And now this is really the call mama manifesto in the program.
Speaker:So I wanna read to you a couple of them just to get your brain
Speaker:going and start thinking about maybe what are your
Speaker:values. And then I'm gonna talk a little bit about what now that I've kind
Speaker:of raised my kids, what I noticed was missing here. And then because it
Speaker:wasn't what I focused on, it actually didn't happen.
Speaker:Because what you focus on is what you create.
Speaker:What you spend your time thinking about is is what you end up
Speaker:doing. And so I just think that's kind of interesting. I'm not beating myself
Speaker:up about it. I just thought, well, what was missing from this list? And then
Speaker:I realized a couple of things. And then I'm gonna give you some prompts of
Speaker:help you to ask yourself some of these questions. That way you can make your
Speaker:own manifesto. I could have called this the Darlene manifesto or
Speaker:whatever. But really it was about me being a mom, not a person. Well, I
Speaker:mean, I am a person and a mom, but I wanted to focus on my
Speaker:parenting. K. So the first thing that I committed
Speaker:to is that parenting is my opportunity for
Speaker:growth. I wanted to look at this
Speaker:experience of raising children as an opportunity
Speaker:to become a more whole and healed
Speaker:person, to let the learning
Speaker:that I was going to have with my kids, to
Speaker:invite that learning in and not fight against parenting, but
Speaker:realize all these obstacles. They're just opportunities for me to grow and
Speaker:heal. That actually came to me that concept came to
Speaker:me around the time that Lincoln was 4 when I started to explore all
Speaker:these parenting conversations and get parent education.
Speaker:And I was struggling so much as a mom. I was becoming a reach for
Speaker:mom, mad mama. I was like, I think I was
Speaker:fighting against the, uncertainty and constant work of
Speaker:parenting. I was just frustrated by it. So when I sunk in
Speaker:and realized, you know, this is gonna be challenging, and this is gonna be
Speaker:good. All the things that I'm gonna experience while being a parent,
Speaker:they're my opportunity for growth. So that is the top of my
Speaker:manifesto, just kind of framing the entire parenting
Speaker:experience as this way that I can
Speaker:become more whole and more healed. Some of
Speaker:the other commitments I made to my kids was that I would demonstrate
Speaker:love without condition, no matter what they say or
Speaker:do. So this was really important to me because I didn't
Speaker:wanna be a parent that only showed love
Speaker:or showed kindness or showed care to my
Speaker:kids only when they were being good. Right?
Speaker:I chose to not just ignore their
Speaker:misbehavior and instead see, of course, that feeling strive behavior.
Speaker:And that I would I would love I would not just love them, but I
Speaker:would demonstrate love. I would take action without
Speaker:condition, no matter how what they said or did. I
Speaker:would never pull my love away. That's a commitment I've
Speaker:made. That's a foundational principle of how I approach parenting.
Speaker:That's the second one. Okay. Another one is I would listen
Speaker:with curiosity and compassion. So I wanted to
Speaker:commit to listening to my children,
Speaker:either being curious about their life, their thoughts, being
Speaker:interested in them, finding them fascinating, choosing
Speaker:to think they were interesting so that I could stay curious. Do you
Speaker:hear I am saying choosing to think they're interesting?
Speaker:Choosing it. I had to choose to think these are really interesting
Speaker:people. And when I was thinking that, then I was like, oh, my gosh. What
Speaker:are they saying? What are they thinking? What's going on in their lives? And I
Speaker:became genuinely curious. And I would listen to
Speaker:them because I want to get to know them. So it's listen with curiosity
Speaker:and compassion, really being committed to listening
Speaker:to them from that compassionate place where I could see
Speaker:where are they coming from, what is going on, what lens are they
Speaker:looking at the world through, what is going on that's
Speaker:driving this behavior or whatever they're saying.
Speaker:So, listening with curiosity and compassion was another
Speaker:commitment. That was my third one. The 4th one was
Speaker:model, work, play and rest. So, I wanted to be a
Speaker:parent who showed up and showed them what hard work looked
Speaker:like. So I was willing to do hard work, and I modeled that. I
Speaker:also was willing to play. I want to be playful. I
Speaker:actively chose to be a playful parent. I read books
Speaker:called Playful Parenting and How to Bring More Play. I adopted
Speaker:kind of an idea, like, that like, I was a preschool teacher. I was an
Speaker:elementary school teacher. I was like a middle school teacher. I kind of brought in
Speaker:to my parenting some of the strategies that, you know, teachers
Speaker:and camp counselors would do just to connect
Speaker:and play. Of course, I love the outdoors. I love the wilderness,
Speaker:and I love being outside. I love being by the pool. As you guys
Speaker:know, I love being outside and doing all those things. And that's really play for
Speaker:me and rest for me. So I brought my kids into that world of
Speaker:mine. Whatever I did for play, I included them in a story when
Speaker:they were really little. And then I modeled rest. So
Speaker:I would let my children see me rest. Not as
Speaker:much as I think I could have because I was they were so rambunctious
Speaker:and wild. But they did see me like, I'm gonna, you know, I'm
Speaker:gonna lay down for a few minutes or I'm gonna take the week off of
Speaker:work and we're gonna just rest and recover. And we chilled
Speaker:out on the weekends a lot. We weren't busy all the time because I wanted
Speaker:to model all three of those things. So that shows my values. I value
Speaker:work, I value play, and I value rest. So I modeled those.
Speaker:That's the 4th one. The next one was what I was willing to
Speaker:provide. So I always say this that, like, my job as a
Speaker:parent and I know I'm going fast. You might need to pause this. But remember,
Speaker:you're gonna get this, manifesto. You can download it. So
Speaker:you can see it and study it on your own. I'm just kinda going over
Speaker:some of these things that I was committed to so you get the idea of
Speaker:what maybe what you're committed to. So what I wanted to do is I I
Speaker:would say you get you give your kids access and opportunity,
Speaker:but we can't make them take the opportunity. So I can give my
Speaker:kids access to piano lessons and the opportunity
Speaker:to learn the piano. I cannot actually make them
Speaker:play the piano. Cannot I mean, I could put my hands on top of
Speaker:theirs. But I'm just gonna expose my children. I'm gonna provide for
Speaker:them. So I am willing I'm committed to providing,
Speaker:obviously, food, shelter, education,
Speaker:opportunity, support, advice, guidance,
Speaker:modeling, and love. So I'm gonna provide these things. What am I
Speaker:gonna provide for my kids? Obviously food, obviously shelter. I could have put
Speaker:healthcare in there I guess. That one's missing. But, you know, whatever you
Speaker:wanna write. The next one that this was really important to me
Speaker:because of how I grew up that my mom
Speaker:was she didn't always really take good care of herself, and she
Speaker:allowed her health to deteriorate, you know, in in taking
Speaker:care of kids and stress and all that. And then that actually did create
Speaker:problems for me in adulthood because I had this parent who was
Speaker:unwell. And I don't I'm not blaming her, like, whatever.
Speaker:It's fine. But I just made a commitment to take care of myself, so my
Speaker:kids didn't have to. I just decided I was gonna be healthy. I
Speaker:was gonna be strong. I was gonna eat well. I was gonna move my body.
Speaker:I was gonna manage my stress, have a good social
Speaker:life, have meaning and purpose in my life that I was gonna
Speaker:take really good care of myself so that I didn't deteriorate as I aged. Now,
Speaker:you know, jury's still out. But, so far so good.
Speaker:Another one, I'm committed. I talk about this on the podcast. I will
Speaker:be comfortable with my kids' discomfort.
Speaker:That is a commitment I have made.
Speaker:So it's not just a thing I say all the time. I'd be comfortable with
Speaker:your kids' discomfort. This is a commitment that I've
Speaker:made that no matter what is going on for them and
Speaker:how overwhelmed or stressed or terrible they're
Speaker:behaving or sad or mad
Speaker:or hurt or confused. Like, I am just
Speaker:gonna be okay with the mess that they bring to
Speaker:me. That I'm gonna be comfortable. I'm not gonna let it rile me
Speaker:up or or tip me over. Just gonna
Speaker:stay like an anchor in a storm of their life.
Speaker:And that's what I think about as being comfortable with your discomfort. You
Speaker:could say be an anchor in your emotional storm of life, whatever you want.
Speaker:I also committed to showing up for them, not for me. So I
Speaker:didn't wanna make their life about myself. I didn't wanna live
Speaker:vicariously through them. I didn't wanna make, you know, your grades
Speaker:reflect on me, Your behavior, if you're not kind, that means I'm
Speaker:a bad parent. I just really didn't wanna create any of that,
Speaker:sort of, you should behave because it's good for me.
Speaker:I wanted to just show up for them, not for me. I wanted
Speaker:to parent for them, not because I got something out of it.
Speaker:Like, you know, that there was some sort of tether
Speaker:between how they acted or how they performed
Speaker:and what I would get from that. Now, I know that's really tricky. I could
Speaker:do a whole episode on how to do that. But just sort of unwinding
Speaker:as much as I could that they are an individual separate from me,
Speaker:and they have a whole life and a whole set of choices that I
Speaker:actually don't control. I'm letting myself be okay with that.
Speaker:I committed to encouraging their passions as they grew. I didn't
Speaker:even know what that meant. Now that it's all said and done, I'm not even
Speaker:sure what my kids were passionate about. Like, I don't know, Pokemon
Speaker:and Lego and stuff. Like, what were they like,
Speaker:passion for children. I don't know. But as they've gotten older and
Speaker:teenagers, you know, one loves the guitar and one loves fashion. And
Speaker:so I am I do encourage their passions as they
Speaker:grow. Here's another one that I think is really important, and
Speaker:it's respecting myself and my boundaries.
Speaker:So the more that I respect myself, that
Speaker:I believe that what I want is valuable, what I want is
Speaker:important, and that I am worthy
Speaker:of my boundary. The the more inner work I do on my self
Speaker:worth, the stronger my boundaries are, the stronger my self respect
Speaker:is. And then I don't have to wait for my children to
Speaker:respect me in order to feel respected. I bring the
Speaker:respect to the relationship and I hold my
Speaker:boundaries and I'm committed to those. So that was a
Speaker:commitment. I also am committed to being forgiving of them.
Speaker:So I will forgive them when they make mistakes. And I will also another one
Speaker:that says admit when I'm wrong. So I will admit when I
Speaker:have done something wrong, and I will let them admit it as well and
Speaker:forgive them and not hold it against them. I am
Speaker:committed to speaking kindly.
Speaker:I have actively chosen. I don't swear
Speaker:at my children. I don't really use I didn't really start swearing
Speaker:in front of them until they were, like, late teens. I
Speaker:don't insult them. I don't criticize them.
Speaker:I'm not mean. And I I just
Speaker:wanted to speak kindly and patiently and loving
Speaker:as much as I possibly could. It's been very rare that I have gone outside
Speaker:that boundary. And I think it's a lot because I just chose, like, I was
Speaker:gonna speak kindly to my children. I know you guys do too,
Speaker:but I'm just not everybody does. And then this is one
Speaker:that's very unique for me and I don't think this is true for every parent.
Speaker:But I chose to be 100% honest with my kids.
Speaker:Obviously, not about, like, fairy tales and things like that. I let them
Speaker:have a childhood and let them believe in fantastical things.
Speaker:But I didn't lie to them. So, like, I wasn't a sneaky
Speaker:mom. I didn't, sneak vegetables and brownies
Speaker:or tell them your friend isn't coming because
Speaker:their mom said no. I would just whatever was going on. I don't have good
Speaker:examples, but I would just say the truth. And that's
Speaker:because from my childhood, I was really wounded by people not
Speaker:being honest with me and telling me what was going on. And as a
Speaker:kid, I knew things were weird and not right,
Speaker:and nobody would talk about it. And so I just kinda chose as a
Speaker:family. We're gonna be honest. We're gonna put stuff out there. We're
Speaker:gonna say how it is. Like, Kevin and I were fighting at a certain point
Speaker:in our marriage. It wasn't going well. And I didn't put it on the kids.
Speaker:I just was, like, narrating. Yep. Your dad and I are in
Speaker:a stressful time. We're working on it. If they said, are you
Speaker:guys gonna get divorced? I'd say, I don't know. There's no plan
Speaker:to. There's there's no intention to do that. And I'm
Speaker:not making any promises. We are gonna work as hard as we can.
Speaker:So I just was, like, really straight up with them. They asked me a
Speaker:question, I would be honest. I don't know how else
Speaker:to talk about that. This is something I actually have
Speaker:as a value in my work and in my
Speaker:life and with my relationships. And it's it's radical
Speaker:love, radical grace, and radical listening.
Speaker:So I am willing to go above and beyond
Speaker:to show love where it doesn't even make sense
Speaker:anymore. I am I'm willing to go above and beyond,
Speaker:giving someone grace or the benefit of the doubt or forgiveness or mercy
Speaker:We even when it doesn't even make any sense, like, you
Speaker:like, they deserve differently. I just choose radical
Speaker:grace, radical love, and radical
Speaker:listening, deep, deep listening, listening on a deep
Speaker:level. What are they saying and then what are they not saying?
Speaker:This is how I do approach my work even with any of the moms who
Speaker:I work with. I listen to you so carefully, so
Speaker:so deeply with so much love and so much grace.
Speaker:There's no judgment in the listening. There's just that, like I said, curiosity
Speaker:and compassion. I've committed to let my kids make mistakes.
Speaker:Not everybody does this. I actively chose. I'm
Speaker:gonna let my kids fail. And boy did they
Speaker:do and have they done. They have failed and failed and failed.
Speaker:I mean, when they were littler, way less failing.
Speaker:But it prepared us possibly for some of the bigger doozies that
Speaker:we had in adolescence. And I just I just
Speaker:let them make mistakes and then let them fix their mistakes. So that's the
Speaker:second part of it. I have written here, I would commit to teaching
Speaker:you how to admit when you are wrong and letting you fix
Speaker:your mistakes. I wanted my kids
Speaker:to not just use blame as an excuse like, well, you didn't tell me
Speaker:or it's your fault or, you know, I did it because you didn't do that.
Speaker:I just was like, nope. That's on you. Where what part is
Speaker:yours? I'd own my part if there was any part of it. And then it's
Speaker:okay. So how are you gonna fix it? You made a mistake. No problem. Mistakes
Speaker:are normal. And I'd give them the opportunity to fix the
Speaker:mistake because I know that that feels really good. Okay,
Speaker:last one. I am committed to seeing you
Speaker:as you are. So that seeing you
Speaker:it's almost I think now if I would have write written this I would say
Speaker:accept you as you are.
Speaker:That's so important for a lot of the parents
Speaker:I work with. That's one of the things we work on is like parenting the
Speaker:kid in front of you. Right? Not the one you wish you had or
Speaker:the one you're afraid they'll become. Where's your kid right now? Let's meet
Speaker:them where they are. But the second part I have written here
Speaker:is see you as you are, allow you to change.
Speaker:I never wanted to pigeonhole, is that the word, my
Speaker:kids and saying, oh, you're an extrovert, or you're friendly,
Speaker:or you're grumpy, or you're selfish, or you're whatever
Speaker:behavior. Right? You're you're a stingy kid or something like that. I would
Speaker:say, well, looks like you don't want to share right now. Let's talk about that.
Speaker:I'm curious. Tell me more. What's going on? Or I'd make a guess. Makes
Speaker:sense you wouldn't want to share because you love your toys, and you
Speaker:probably worry that you're not gonna get them back. That makes sense. Of course, you're
Speaker:worried. You don't know. You want to try it? See what
Speaker:happens? So I would meet my children
Speaker:where they are and not judge their behavior.
Speaker:Just kind of observe it. Listen to
Speaker:what's going on with curiosity and compassion. But then the second
Speaker:part is allowing them to change, assuming you
Speaker:are going to become a person who is very
Speaker:generous. I hold these high values. If I
Speaker:had like a family value list, which I don't right
Speaker:now, maybe I'll do one. But if I had a family value set of
Speaker:values, it would definitely be generosity,
Speaker:Because that's something that's really important to my husband and I. We're very
Speaker:generous. We're very kind. We're very loving. We're very
Speaker:open. Right? So we have all these values and I just trust
Speaker:my children are going to catch those values. And
Speaker:that they're gonna be instilled in them. That even if it doesn't happen on
Speaker:my timeline, I allow them to change. I trust they're gonna
Speaker:become whoever they're meant to be. Okay. Isn't
Speaker:that cool? That's the Come Momma manifesto. I love
Speaker:this. I look I still look at it, to be honest with you, quite
Speaker:frequently because it's really important to me to remember what my
Speaker:values are as a parent. Now, one thing I noticed,
Speaker:I said I would tell you, like, you know, Easter egg, here it
Speaker:is, Of what was missing.
Speaker:And you know what I did not commit to was holding my kids to high
Speaker:standard. And I wish I would have. I wish I would
Speaker:have committed because I think I thought it was gonna happen
Speaker:inevitably because I have really high standards and my husband has really high standards.
Speaker:But I didn't really hold my kids to the same to the standards I hold
Speaker:myself to. And, probably because I was trying to be so
Speaker:gracious and so loving and so compassionate. But I didn't, like,
Speaker:expect the I don't even wanna say expect the best of them. But, like,
Speaker:anyway, hold you to a high standard is probably what I write would write today.
Speaker:And I didn't. And I don't think my kids are, like, standardless or anything.
Speaker:But I think I could have done better at holding them accountable and having a
Speaker:better work ethic, work habits. So that's, you
Speaker:know, revision is history. Revision is parenting.
Speaker:I'm not gonna do too much of that. But it's just something I noticed. I
Speaker:was like, oh, that's a gap in maybe my
Speaker:parenting over the years. And also, maybe it's a
Speaker:gap in my kids' lives, and they're learning it. They're figuring out their own standards.
Speaker:Anyway, that's interesting. The whole, like, reflecting back
Speaker:on parenting and maybe where I what I would have
Speaker:changed, that's a fascinating conversation. I don't know if you guys want me to talk
Speaker:about that on the podcast, but I don't even know if I can yet. I'm
Speaker:just still processing it for myself. But it's been very
Speaker:interesting. As the boys are gone and out of the house and I have more
Speaker:time to think about, like, where are we? What happened?
Speaker:How'd it go? You know, that kind of thing. Okay. I'm derailing. How do
Speaker:you do this for yourself? That's what I wanna give you is some tools
Speaker:of how to make your own manifesto. Like I
Speaker:said, you can download mine. You can copy it for sure. I made
Speaker:it on Canva. So if you're really interested, we can give
Speaker:you the Canva link so that you can make your own, you know, using
Speaker:my model and make make your own. Connect with me if you want that.
Speaker:Okay. Here's your prompts. Okay. Here's your action
Speaker:steps. The first thing you could try is just making a
Speaker:list of 10 things that you are committed to as a
Speaker:parent. Just like I'm committed to
Speaker:10, these 10 things. I think I have like, I have like 16. So
Speaker:anywhere between 10 to 20 things that you're committed to as a parent.
Speaker:Now, if you aren't sure what to write, here's some
Speaker:questions you can ask yourself and these will help get you to
Speaker:those commitments. One is
Speaker:what's important for me to model for my kids.
Speaker:Like, when your kids grow up, you want them to be like, what type of
Speaker:people? So what do you need to model to get them there?
Speaker:So taking care of myself, respecting myself,
Speaker:modeling work, play, and rest, listening, things like
Speaker:that. Those are sort of my values showing up in like, I
Speaker:wanna model these things for my kids. Here's the next question.
Speaker:What kind of parent did you need or want? Like,
Speaker:what are some gaps that you reflect on with your the way you
Speaker:were parented that you wish your parents would have done? That's a really
Speaker:good way for you to see, like, oh, that's what you're committed to. The things
Speaker:you want to do differently from your parents, those are your
Speaker:commitments. Flip side, things you love that your parents did.
Speaker:My mom, honestly, she 100%.
Speaker:For one, she thought I was amazing. So she just thought I was, like,
Speaker:the best thing ever. So that was super cool to
Speaker:have somebody who just thinks you're amazing. So I I just had that in
Speaker:me. That's a cool thing to give to your kids. And the other thing is
Speaker:that I felt her unconditional love. Like I feel like I,
Speaker:I felt like I could never ever do anything to lose
Speaker:that. So that was really beautiful. So that was my demonstrating love without
Speaker:condition. That's like an homage to my mom. And I only talk
Speaker:about my mom because I didn't have a relationship with my dad. He abandoned our
Speaker:family when I was 5, or 6. I don't know how old right now. I
Speaker:can't remember. And, I was I went into reunion with
Speaker:him at the age of 30. So I didn't speak to him for most of
Speaker:my childhood and young adult life. And then reconnected
Speaker:at the age of 30 after I had kids already. So totally different
Speaker:experience with him. You want to see what kind of parent did you need or
Speaker:want and or what kind of parent did your parents how'd your parents
Speaker:show up? Another question you could just ask be like, what kind of parent do
Speaker:I want to be? I want to be the type of person who I want
Speaker:to be the type of mom who I want to be the type of parent
Speaker:that Right? You just get to write out what do you
Speaker:want. Who do you wanna be? Write it out. Make a
Speaker:list. And then another prompt could
Speaker:be what kind of parent does my kid need me to be? So you
Speaker:could start with, like, my child needs me to be or
Speaker:to do or to say whatever that is, and
Speaker:then fill that out. And you can kind of build up your manifesto
Speaker:by using these prompts. Okay. I am glad I had
Speaker:a chance to do this episode because it's been on my mind for a long
Speaker:time. And I realized I've never done an
Speaker:episode where I lay out, like, the values
Speaker:that the commitments we have as moms. Right? Like, it's I think
Speaker:I kinda thought it was it didn't need to be said. But
Speaker:then, of course, I say it when I work in my programs. So I wanted
Speaker:to just have this episode where we talked about it and we talked about the
Speaker:Calm Mama manifesto. If you have any
Speaker:questions at all, please, of course, if you're on the newsletter, reply to the
Speaker:email. That goes right to my inbox, to be honest, and I just
Speaker:reply right away. If you need anything, like you can't get the download
Speaker:working or whatever. And also my team, it gets that in inbox too, so
Speaker:they'll reply and help you. And, or you can message me
Speaker:on Instagram, book a discovery call, a consultation.
Speaker:All that is available to you. So, yeah.
Speaker:I'd love to see your list if you're also like, you kinda wanna share them
Speaker:with me. I'd love to see them as well. I'm sharing mine and I don't
Speaker:know. Curious to see what yours is all about, what your commitments
Speaker:are. Okay. Great job. Heavy work, but
Speaker:I think it's worthwhile. Yeah. If you don't do it, that's fine too.
Speaker:Like, don't give it. Don't put this on your list if it's not something you
Speaker:need. You just start thinking about it, to be honest. Like, what am I committed
Speaker:to? Just let that go in your brain and it'll kinda worm its way
Speaker:into your heart and into your values, which is so cool. That's how
Speaker:mindset works. You know, just small shifts. Alright, mamas.
Speaker:I hope you have a great week, and I will talk to you next
Speaker:time.