Mindful Moments Blog

Ask Andrew: Finding Your People

Mindful Moments Blog

Ask Andrew: Finding Your People

by Andrew Patterson
Andrew answers today's question: My 14 year-old daughter with autism doesn’t get invited to things and gets mad at her 6 year-old sister because of jealousy, I think. What can I do to help her with this?
Dad and kids playing with ToolKit tools

Mindful Moments Blog

Parenting Toddlers, Tweens, and Teens Using Time-Ins

by Ashley Patek
Crystal is a mama with a household of toddlers, tweens, and teens where uncontrollable sobbing and outbursts were a daily occurrence, and not just from her three-year-old.
Parenting DUI's Affect A Child's Self-Worth

Mindful Moments Blog

Parenting DUI's Affect A Child's Self-Worth

by Ashley Patek
In all of our loving intent, we sometimes commit parenting DUI's, which can send our children into a protective response. Here are 3 ways to break the cycle, not only for your child but for your inner child, too.
Generation Mindful's Time-In-ToolKit

Mindful Moments Blog

Peaceful Parenting Tips: How To Do Time-Ins

by Ashley Patek
This video is for anyone who has ever struggled with parenting (all of us), for those who are working to respond to their children instead of reacting to their behaviors, and anyone who wants to raise emotionally healthy humans but isn't sure where to start.
6 Ways To Build Resilience In Your Child

Mindful Moments Blog

6 Ways To Build Resilience In Your Child

by Ashley Patek
Often, our parental instincts encourage us to rescue our kids from unpleasant emotions or hijack their experiences to keep them safe. And while we cannot protect them from experiencing stress and distress, we can lean into our love to help them develop skills to handle these challenging moments.
Thriving as a Working Mom

Mindful Moments Blog

Thriving as a Working Mom

by Rebecca Eanes
How do you thrive as a working mom? The answer may just be in pie (and we aren't talking chocolate silk or lemon meringue here). 
Virtual Calming Corner

Mindful Moments Blog

Virtual Calming Corner Teaches Kids About Emotions Playfully

by Ashley Patek
How do we teach social-emotional learning (SEL) to our children?
Santa's 'Naughty List' Has Been Canceled This Holiday Season

Mindful Moments Blog

Santa's 'Naughty List' Has Been Canceled This Holiday Season

by Ashley Patek
The holiday season is meant to be a magical time, but often it is used as leverage to control a child’s behavior. We have a real opportunity to rewrite the narrative. Here's how.
What Young Children Need You to Know About Separation Anxiety

Mindful Moments Blog

What Young Children Need You to Know About Separation Anxiety

by Rebecca Eanes
Children are born with a need for attachment and so it stands to reason that separation is a great fear for many children. This doesn’t mean we cannot ever be separated from them, but rather that we take time to understand the developmental aspect of this issue so that we can fulfill their need for attachment in our absence.
Portable Emotional ToolKit for Sensitive Kids

Mindful Moments Blog

Portable Emotional ToolKit for Sensitive Kids

by Guest Author
How do you discipline a highly sensitive child? Using time-ins help children understand and mange their deep emotional world, nurturing connection and emotional intelligence. Here are 8 tips to building a portable ToolKit for your child to help them regulate not only at home but on the go.
Thank You: A Father’s Day Poem

Mindful Moments Blog

Thank You: A Father’s Day Poem

by Guest Author
This mama writes a poem to her husband as she navigates her baby blues, teary eyes, breastfeeding, and raw limits.
Why Is My Child Behaving This Way?

Mindful Moments Blog

Why Is My Child Behaving This Way?

by Ashley Patek
Power struggles ... meltdowns ... defiance. Here's what's causing your child's behavior and tools for transforming it.   
4 Reasons Your Child Can't Regulate Alone

Mindful Moments Blog

4 Reasons Your Child Can't Regulate Alone

by Ashley Patek
While it is often a hot topic and a buzzword, it turns out there are many misconceptions about self-regulation. Here are four.
The Stories Kids Want To Tell About COVID

Mindful Moments Blog

The Stories Kids Want To Tell About COVID

by Rebecca Eanes
Our children grew up in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Their brains developed in quarantine. Their bodies changed in lockdown. They are emerging from this as different people, and the impact it had on them is yet to be told. Here are 4 things we can do to support our children’s social-emotional health this school year ...
3 Simple Tools To Gain Cooperation From Your Child (With Less Yelling From You!)

Mindful Moments Blog

3 Simple Tools To Gain Cooperation From Your Child (With Less Yelling From You!)

by Rebecca Eanes
When it comes to getting your child to listen, tricks and bribes only go so far. Eventually your kids will wise up to them, and because these tactics evoke a fight or flight response, they will rebel. Here are 3 tools to increase cooperation so that your kids want to work with you (instead of against you). 
Move Your Body, Move Your Emotions 

Mindful Moments Blog

Move Your Body, Move Your Emotions 

by Ashley Patek
Research has shown that dance has social-emotional benefits. When we communicate with our bodies, we are not expected to make sense of things. We just move, and this movement taps into deeper, more primal feelings. Read more. 
Raising Sons with Expansive, Tender Masculinity

Mindful Moments Blog

Raising Sons with Expansive, Tender Masculinity

by Catherine Simone Gray
How one family took a stance against societal norms and a gender bias culture of "sameness". “So are we really going to do this? Let him go to school in the Elsa costume?” Lloyd and I had just tucked our kids into bed, and in the morning was Storybook Character Day at school.  Our youngest son is four, freshly four this month. We gave him the costume on his birthday after he asked for it. We want him to know without a doubt that we love him and support him, whether Elsa or ninja (he’s wanted to be both this year).  This isn’t a new conversation. Our boys have picked out Paw Patrol nightgowns, metallic gold leggings, and purple tennis shoes. We want them to have space to grow into an expressive, expansive, confident, and creative masculinity—or whatever gender identity is home. But suddenly I got cold feet when it came down to him wearing the Elsa costume to *school*.  That was a new step. My protective instincts kicked in. I imagined the possibility of kids laughing at him, saying mean things. Should we send him out there alone in this frosted blue, glittery dress? Into the classroom, the hallway, the cafeteria? Where we can’t shield him, protect him, affirm him? After all, even a few loving family members had a reflexive chuckle when they asked him what he wanted to be for Halloween and he said, “From Frozen. Elsa.” I think I just needed to speak my fears aloud.  Then and there in the laundry room with my husband, it only took me about 60 seconds for me to find my way back to my own clear answer. Yes, we’ll support him. Of course, we will. Because kids can laugh at you for anything—we can’t protect him from that. What he needs to know from us, his parents, is that who he is, what he likes, and what he wants matters to us.  We love him exactly as he is. So no, we won’t redirect him toward the dragon costume because I won’t risk sending the message that there are parts of him that have to remain hidden. I won’t risk sending the message to him AND to his older brother that what needs to be preserved is a culture of sameness and that being different is not a thing to be valued and celebrated.  Then something else occurred to me: when I imagined our 4-year-old at school—this child who is bold and daring and brave, this child who has gotten accidentally smacked in the head with a piece of errant, flying firewood and bounced right back up like a champion wrestler—I truly believed he could rock this Elsa costume without a shred of help from us.  I imagined that if someone laughed, that laugh might just reflect off of his shine, never even touching his bright heart. Because he was having the time of his life. Because he was Elsa after all, powerful and regal, running with determination into the unknown.  The next morning, he wore the costume. He strode right out of the car without a beat of doubt in his step. In the afternoon, his teacher sent out photos of the kids in their costumes. And there was our son, beaming with his arms around a few buddies. Relief for my worried heart.  At the end of the day at the dinner table, our son mentioned offhand, “Michael said he didn’t like my costume.” “Really? What did you say to him?” I asked, matching his casual tone. “I said, ‘I like yours.’” He scooped a spoonful of corn into his mouth and smiled. My child. May your bright heart shine forever. Check Also
One Mama Realizes: My Child's Feelings Are About Her, Not Me

Mindful Moments Blog

One Mama Realizes: My Child's Feelings Are About Her, Not Me

by Ashley Patek
I had done everything right, and yet my nine-year-old daughter was having her version of a tantrum. And then I realized her emotion wasn't about me ... it was about her. Here is how I helped her process her emotions. 
Gift giving

Mindful Moments Blog

6 Meaningful Christmas Gifts

by Ashley Patek
Rather than storing unwanted toys in the closet, this year give the children on your list meaningful memories instead. Here are six connection-based gift ideas for ages two and up that we love for the holidays.