Continue reading]]> I don’t think I ever wrapped up month 3 before moving on to month 4.  So, in month 3 I have been working on giving my kids more hugs and reporting on the results each week.  The results have been incredible, I can’t even begin to say how helpful this challenge has been to me as a Mom and probably the most helpful of all things things I’ve done so far.  First of all, it takes only a few seconds to give a hug.  Second of all, it’s good for everyone involved.  And third, that physical affection makes everyone feel more loved, so its a win-win-win!

I started keeping track of how many hugs I was giving my kids.  I would give the youngest 10+ hugs per day, the middle one usually initiates hugs with me so I would give her 5+ per day.  But my oldest daughter used to never initiate hugs until I did this parenting plan.  I thought she was growing out of hugs, but I think she was just waiting for me to show I loved her.  After specifically being mindful of giving her lots of hugs, she has initiated hugs with me many many times. It’s made a huge huge difference to me and made me more patient and compassionate toward her struggles (and she hasn’t had as many struggles as usual).  I just wish every Mom out there would try this, it’s so incredible!

I just feel like each month with this parenting plan, I barely even have to try and I get amazing, powerful results that help me become better.  I’m always surprised by how much I’ve been blessed with and how important my family is to me.  I want to be a better Mom and the little things do make a big difference.

One last thing I noticed this month is that my kids were giving each other hugs and holding hands.  WOW!

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If you’ve forgotten, this month I’ve been working on giving my kids more hugs and then posting on what happens.  The last couple weeks have gone really well and we have been a lot closer as a family.  It really happened quickly and it was so easy.  Why didn’t I try this sooner?

This week, I’ve been noticing how the kids act with each other, and they seem to be giving each other hugs which I haven’t noticed them doing recently (since they’ve been older they give each other less hugs and as parents, we give less hugs).

Most of all, I feel closer to them and they come to me more often just to talk about things.  I don’t know if this is just because I have been consciously working on giving them more hugs.  I’m sure there are other factors involved.  But, I think it gives them security and helps them to know that they are loved, valued, and wanted.

Because of this month, my husband and I want to work on giving each other more hugs.  It can’t hurt, right?

Continue reading]]> If you haven’t been keeping up with my monthly goals, this month I have been working on giving my kids more hugs.  This is my second week with this goal, but generally I choose a different parenting goal each month and do baby steps to achieve it.  That’s just how I work best.

It hasn’t been a perfect week.  I guess it never is a perfect week.  It has been a great week until this morning when I woke up to my kids arguing and crying in the kitchen over a bag of granola.  It started off the day on the wrong foot and now I’m feeling worn out and in a bad mood.  I have to remind myself that sometimes there will be bad days, but I still need to keep trying.

I have still been working on giving my kids lots of hugs and it has been well received.  Even today when we were all a little upset with each other, I didn’t let the girls go off to school without a hug.  I came to sit down at my desk and saw this note at my monitor.  It softened my heart, and it’s a good thing it did that!

On to next week.  More hugs!

Continue reading]]> A friend of mine posted this article on facebook last week and it was something I wanted to try in my parenting plan series (well, the hugging part of it anyway).  I’m all about the baby steps.  It’s hard to take on monuments projects all at once, so I’m trying to be a better Mom one step at a time.  This month I will work on giving my kids more hugs.  I give my youngest lots of hugs every day, but I’ve noticed the older my kids get, the more they kind of shy away from getting hugs.  My 8 year old still likes them, but my 11 year old doesn’t really want anything to do with physical contact with me.

I decided this week, I would just observe a little about my kids patterns and decide what would be the best way to go forward.  I think physical affection can seem artificial if it is not done in the right way (or if it is forced or too much at once), so I just want to make sure I do a good job.  I started being aware that I wasn’t giving my 11 year old enough hugs and so I just started giving her 1 or 2 more per day than I usually do.  Already, she has come to me and given me hugs on her own, which she hasn’t done in years.  I was so happy that this change was taking place and that my friend posted this and brought it to my attention.

This week I plan to be more conscious of giving all my kids more hugs.  It will be good for everyone involved I think!

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