"Dreaming Night" and L.A. Power of Moms Retreat

I always come back from Power of Moms Retreats totally energized to take on the world and be an incredible mom.

But there's always a touch of "Post-Retreat Let-Down Syndrome" that sets in, and it takes me a few days to get back into the swing of things.  (One of my children was up six times the night I returned with a really bad headache, and then we found the hallway carpet covered with throw-up the next morning.)  Sorry, I know that's such a bad image, but I've got to think that every mom can relate to that!

The kindergarten pick-up is in 26 minutes, and I still haven't showered (since I joined the kids at the school's 100-mile club this morning and then recorded a special call with Richard and Linda Eyre--that will post next week--and put the finishing touches on our new Power of Moms Radio Show episode you can listen to right now), so I thought I'd just link you to two wonderful blog posts that have beautifully recapped the events of the past week:

Saren did an amazing review of our "Dreaming Night" from last Wednesday.  Visit Saren's blog to read the whole thing.  (And that radio show episode I linked to above was recorded by me, Saren, and Linda the morning after the event.  It'll give you a little glimpse of what we talked about there.)

And Emily Barton posted some wonderful pictures and lots of details about our L.A. Retreat on her blog, Emmy Mom.

That was SUCH a fantastic weekend, and I need to add my photos and a whole write-up as soon as I can.  Love these ladies and feel so privileged to be a part of this organization.

More later!

Love,
April

National Entitlement Awareness Day

Today is National Entitlement Awareness Day, and the Eyres are sponsoring a HUGE Giveaway.  Click HERE to learn more . . . and read on to hear how this book has already changed my family life.

A few months ago, one of my children had the chance to attend a professional baseball game with my husband, and that particular child was really excited about getting cotton candy.  My husband wanted to make the day extra special, so he bought a nice pink fluff of sugar from the vendor, and our child was all smiles–until the blue cotton candy cart came by.


“DAD!  I wanted blue!”

I don’t blame my child for wanting blue cotton candy.  I don’t blame children at all for wanting the fun, beautiful, exciting things they see other people enjoying.  However, too many parents today (including me, sometimes) aren’t taking the time to sit down and teach their children that they simply can’t have everything they want.  Children need to learn to work.  They need to feel a sense of ownership for their lives and motivation to do their best.

 

I've been working with Richard and Linda Eyre these past few months in preparation for the launch of their new book, The Entitlement Trap, and I must say that the principles they teach in their book WORK.

Because I've been studying ways to help my children not feel entitled, I'm more quick to notice "the creep" of the entitlement mentality.  Here are some of the changes we've made:

• My children did "Summer Goals" and had to work hard each day--learning to type, cleaning, reading, writing, helping their brother, practicing their musical instrument, developing new skills, etc.  It's amazing to see how they don't gravitate to a screen as much now that they're excited about other hobbies and activities.
• We gave each child a small school shopping budget, but everything else they wanted had to come out of their own pockets.  There was absolutely ZERO whining while we were clothes/school shopping (and each child was so grateful for the things they got to buy--even though they didn't get everything they would have typically wanted).
• My three-year-old does jobs around the house now in order to earn little check marks on our dry erase board.  Ten checks equals a pack of gum, and he is excited to work.  The other day, I was taking out the trash, and he said, "Mom, could I help you do that?"  A THREE-YEAR-OLD.  I was all smiles.

I'm promoting The Entitlement Trap because this is something I truly believe in. There are more problems in the world than I am able to solve, but this is one cause that can help our children, our nation, and our world.  It's already helping mine.