Well here we are at week 10 of my “ways to connect with your child” series. Thank you for reading along each week. Thank you for sharing and connecting with me through your comments here on the blog, on Pinterest and of course on Facebook. It has been such an amazing journey to hear your stories and share your experiences. I’m so proud of the wonderful community we have built together. Before we get to this week’s intention, I want to share a couple of things with you. In just over a week, myself and a group of wonderful bloggers will be launching something very special, something I am very proud and excited to be a part of – I can’t wait to share it with you so stay tuned. I will also be writing a new series in the near future, focusing on motherhood, family, gratitude, finding joy in the simple moments and beauty in the seemingly mundane.I hope you will join me for that. So now, to this week’s intention.

WEEK 10 – Be a kind to yourself. You are enough.

This week’s intention is a little different. This week, let’s focus on ourselves. Let’s remember that what our children want, is us. Just us. Our time, our attention, our love. Not perfection. They just want to know they matter to us. Let’s stop putting so much pressure on ourselves to be perfect. Sure, the dishes are piled up, the carpet is overdue for a vacuum and there are toys all over the living room floor, and if the neighbors dropped over right now you’d rather pretend you’re not at home than open the door and let them see the mess, but….did you hug our kids today? Did you look them in the eyes and tell them you love them? Did you listen to them, were you their greatest champion, did you let them be themselves today? I have found time and again that whenever R and I are having a bad day, when the battles begin and we are anything but connected, I only have to look inwards. When I take a moment to think about what is bothering me, what has been causing me stress, I realise that the frustrations, the short tempers and the unresponsiveness can all be avoided if I just slow down and relax. That is my fast track to connectedness with my son. Just giving myself a break. It’s that simple. Allowing less than perfect to be enough. When I do that,  everything falls into place. So, be kind to yourself. Remember that you are enough. You are already perfect in your child’s eyes. Let them know that they are perfect in yours.

Here are some of my favorite posts from some amazing blogger about being enough. I hope you enjoy them. You will also find more inspirational posts on my Parenting Board on Pinterest.

Hands Free Mama – Take The Pressure Off
April Perry at The Power of Moms - Your Children Want You
Carrots Are Orange – Mom Bloggers Aren’t Perfect
Carrots Are Orange – Exactly Where I Should Be
Childhood101 – It was all so simple then
Childhood101 - A Reminder for a Generation
Boy Mama Teach Mama – One of Those Days
Triple T Mum – Are you enough? Yes you are!
Mummy Musings and Mayhem – Sometimes I wonder…
Toddler Approved – Super Mom Debunked
All Done Monkey - In an Alternate World
Royal Baloo - The Reality

If you are joining us for the first time ~ welcome! Below you will find the links for week 1 through 9. Each week for the last 10 weeks, I have share one simple idea that you can implement to foster a more connected relationship with your child. It is my hope that by the end of the ten weeks we have become more present for our children, and more mindful of the type of parent we want to be. With each idea being so simple, and with only one intention to focus on each week, I know we can do this. If this is the first time you are reading this series , you can still go back through all of the previous posts and read through them at your own pace. Please share your experiences in the comments. I would love to hear from you.

Here are the links for the earlier posts in the series
Week 1 – See them.
Week 2 – Listen.
Week 3 – Say yes.
Week 4 – Begin each day with play.
Week 5 – Come from a place of love.
Week 6 – Believe in them.
Week 7 – Let them be themselves.
Week 8 – Switch off, tune in.
Week 9 – Be a real person. Share yourself.

If this is your first time visiting One Perfect Day – welcome! If you like what you have found, please join us on our Facebook page. We are always sharing new ideas to play, learn, create and explore.