When our children get sick, so many of us jump immediately to worry, especially in these covid times. So when my daughter woke up last night at 3am, crying from a soar throat and stuffy nose, I was ready for a long night and possibly all sorts of logistical testing headaches. But that's not what happened. In fact, she woke up pretty much as good as new!
I'd like to think that what I did (+ a LOT of sleep sleep) had something to do with it...
Can you guess what happened?
Here's what I did NOT happen:
no medicine
no stress
no sleepless night
I didn't even end up having to call the doctor
And I'll give you a sneak peak: we ended up having a lovely time together and then going peacefully back to sleep, and then enjoying a happy, sunny morning where everyone felt good as new.
🎭 Enjoy the following play, entitled "SO HOW DID WE DO IT??" for your next middle of night taking care of sick children special:
Setting the scene: At the beginning (remember it was 3AM) Ella was crying, very uncomfortable, refusing to let me do anything... no tea, no swedish bitter (an amazing natural remedy for soar throats and cold prevention), no lullaby, no compress, you get the picture. Everything was no, no, no! I was tired and groggy. Arnon had come to help and then went back to bed. Ella was very moody and uncomfortable.
Enter scene: my natural (a bit desperate) urge to just get her back to sleep
🐛 Enter the antagonist: "I'm not tired, I can't sleep!"
🐛 And a villain: my mom worry and impatience
That is when I flipped the storyline with a mindset shift.
Here's what it looked like in this scenario:
🐛 (STILL IN CATERPILLAR MODE) I began to reconnect with myself and took a few deep breathes
🐛 I truly LOOKED at her for the first time without being guided by worry I asked, "what do you need right now?" and waited patiently for the answer
🐛 🦋 (STARTING TO SHIFT) We scanned her body and I asked what hurt. Then I started getting funny. After establishing the stuffy nose and scratchy throat, I asked, "And does your chin hurt? What about your bellybutton? And your eyeball?" (The answer was yes about the eyeball! )
🐛 🦋 I leaned in and told her a secret, "Your body is AMAZING! It can heal you with only a bit of help from you and your choices, like drinking lots of water, some herbal medicine (in this case the swedish bitter) and the special magic: sleep!"
🐛 🦋 And then I gave her a plan (we preview lots of plans in this house): "How about I make you some crunchy toast with butter to scratch your itchy throat, then we get brave and drink some bitters, and then I'll cover you up so you're all cozy, and sing you a lullaby. How does that sound?"
🦋 At this point, Ella was completely relaxed, felt seen and heard, was in control and even laughing a bit. She answered, "Good plan, but you forgot to add you go back to your bed at the end!"
🦋 And so that's what we did: I told her more about her amazing body while we cuddled and she ate her "special midnight snack in bed" toast w/butter (and the fennel she also requested, my silly bunny!) and I also started a gratitude practice of scanning over all of the parts of her body that were bothering her and thanking them for their hard work. EX, "Thank you, stuffy nose, for putting mucus in Ella's nostrils so that no more tiny germs will come inside!"
She happily drank the swedish bitter I knew would help her most and let me comfort her in other ways.
We flipped both of our mindsets, perspectives and attitudes so that by the end of our time together (at 4:30AM) we were peaceful, cozy, happy and settled.
I truly enjoyed my special time with my sweet daughter and it felt SO good to nurture and care for her in this silly, connected, balanced way.
Now imagine this type of mindset and approach seeping into every nook and cranny of your parenthood life! Can you see the amount of peace, calm, connection and confidence you would have? You would simply be your children's (and partner's) hero. And you would be SO much more balanced and happy yourself! And THAT is what I mean when I talk about Joyous Parenting!
xoxo,
Sivanne
P.S. If you'd like to learn more about all the ways I support parents to be confident they are raising creative, resilient LIFE ready children through the art of play (and approaches like the anecdote above), schedule a FREE 30min Empower My Parenthood Sesh now!
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