Essential Rhythms to Calm the Wildest

I’ve written about it before, our fourth child has tested us beyond belief as parents & humans. And *fortunately* our fifth is following big brothers lead to make sure we’ve truly learned how to parent strong willed children. As we continue to be molded into better people through our strong willed children’s’ “childing” we’ve discovered three essential rhythms to calm our wildest children. 

essential rhythms to calm the wildest.

1. Eat all meals at a table. Seriously. Make your children sit (or stand on the chair;)) at the table with their toast and juice or, if you’re up for it, a fancy frittata. Bless the food. Or light a candle. And sit. Yes you too mama. Sit with your coffee or your smoothie. But sit on your bottom. Eating three meals at our table everyday has truly made all the difference in our house. Going out to eat is even more enjoyable too and I thought we lost that ability with 5 kids. If you need some tips on how to get started this NYT article is so helpful! Snack time COUNTS!!!

Snack time counts!!!

2. Require quiet time everyday. Naps had been my saving grace as an introverted mother and recently I only had one child truly napping any longer. I was struggling with the constant flow of “interruptions” from my non napping children allllllllll day. So when summer hit we went back to quiet time for everyone. I started with 30 minutes to give them a pat on the back of accomplishment. But now we are up to 60-90 minutes daily. Everyone goes to their room and plays with quiet toys (NO SCREENS) and it’s the most glorious time of day for everyone. My children even ask for quiet time now and tell me often “quiet time wakes up my creativity”, science even backs me up in this article.

quiet time wakes up my creativity.

3. Cut out processed foods and dyes. I didn’t believe the dye argument for out of control behavior in children until we witnessed it ourselves. We made homemade cotton candy one weekend out of classic jolly ranchers. The following week was a nightmare of out of control behavior for our strong wild children. And since then we’ve connected the dots to dyes, sugar, and most overly processed foods. So whenever we have certain foods now we know it’s the food talking and not our son or daughter. Knowledge is power. We try to avoid it but if it’s not possible we gather up some extra grace for the behavior we know is inevitable. 

Knowledge is power.

So, while you have some extra together time this summer try these essential rhythms to calm the wildest in your family. Also, check out Kim John Payne’s Simplicity Parenting Podcast for SHORT parenting tips. Let me know if they help @LivvyRoberts