Rain after a drought

Wow! I am so bowled over by the kindness and love that came my way after I posted my last blog post yesterday. Thank you to everyone for all your care and support.

Another important lesson to not be afraid to share your struggles authentically and honestly, because people will not only understand, but really respond in a loving way.

As a quick update... the reset button seemed to work, at least in helping me to respond to the little guy more mindfully. Once I gave up on getting anything else done yesterday, I could be open and present to him, even when he started to get ramped up in the evening again. We tried a new bedtime routine, which we had discussed earlier in the day, when he was still feeling regretful about his behaviour the night before. So, when he started to bounce around and get irritable, I took a deep breath and gently reminded him of our discussion about how we could do things differently. So he reluctantly agreed to try it, and I managed to keep my rising panic at bay.

One of the things that we tried was a little bit of yoga before bath and bedtime. It was challenging since little guy is paradoxically both dismissive of yoga being "too easy" since it is not as active as his preferred sports, but also complains about how it is "impossible" because he can't easily do some of the poses. It is going to be challenging to teach him that yoga is a practice, and not an end-result that you get done, and move on - let's face it, most adults struggle with that concept, myself included. So I am asking for any suggestions about good yoga for kids routines that we can try that might help us to practice that together.

From http://www.yogajournal.com

We tried this bedtime yoga article last night, but I think it would be better if we could find a quick video instead, since he was not really listening to my instructions, and I am not good at keeping him on track calmly, and helping him to actually hold the poses. I have also thought about trying to talk to him about mindfulness and meditation, but I think the sitting still part would be really challenging for him. As it is, he wanted to do the yoga with a lacrosse stick in his hand last night...! I am open to thoughts and suggestions.

In the meantime... I need to get back to focusing on work again - I have the opportunity to talk to our new interns about clinical teaching at induction today - and helping our older boy celebrate the end of an incredibly successful academic year. He is hoping to be awarded his house tie at final assembly today, after racking up a slew of house points for inter-house sports this year. He also should be getting an academic award for another "alpha" for his schoolwork, just proving what a talented all-rounder he is.