Burning Man was amazing, and now I'm back to share more tips I know you'll love.
Ready?
1. "I'm in a pickle"
Several times per week I teach my clients the "I'm in a pickle" script. If you don't know the idiom, a "pickle" is a dilemma where you feel stuck between two bad options...a common problem in parenting. Being transparent about this with kids is a great way to bring them into a problem-solving conversation.
It works like this:
Let's say your child is begging for more screen time and you already said no twice. He'll have a meltdown and throw a chair at you if you say no again. You're in a no-win situation.
So you say:
"I'm in a pickle. If I say yes, you'll think it's okay to beg, tantrum, and threaten me, and you'll watch more screens than I think is safe. If I say no, you'll be really angry and maybe violent for the next hour. I'm really in a pickle here. Any thoughts?"
This script won't give you your answer, but it will:
Buy you time to think
Invite your child to see it from your point of view without convincing him that he's wrong and you're right.
Possibly open a great problem-solving conversation where you two figure out how to proceed together.
As a bonus tip, don't overuse the script or it will lose its value when it comes to kids' problem-solving skills.
If you try it, let me know how it goes here!
2. Kids in the Kitchen? Focus on Skills, Not Recipes
I mostly hate having my kids in the kitchen, but as a mom of 3 boys, I feel a big responsibility to teach them to cook (despite their resistance). I was procrastinating on this BIG TIME...until recently.
What changed?
I'll tell you. I read a game changing tip in Katie Kimball's "Kids Cook Real Food" newsletter, and it transformed my mindset.
Katie says that we need to stop trying to teach them to cook recipes and dishes and just focus on individual cooking skills. She recommends "we start with salt as skill number one, and then we keep moving."
With that in mind, I created a system where one day each week, one kid cooks a meal for the family. Of course I help them, and we focus on skills like:
Reading package directions
Sharpening a knife
Dressing a salad from scratch
Cleaning as we go,
And the hardest skill of all: Time Management - Planning to have everything ready at once.
I'm even teaching them how to delegate when their dad strolls into the kitchen.
If you want to join me on this mission, sign up for Katie's free gift, get on her newsletter, and check out her classes. CLICK HERE TO JOIN
❤️ Rachel
P.S. How's your back to school family reset going? Ours is going strong. It was so helpful for my mom who watched our kids during Burning Man. If you haven't done it yet, it's not too late! You can still pick up "How to do a Back to School Family Reset," for just $7 by clicking: RIGHT HERE. You'll see a photo diary of my family reset meeting from this year, the final routines, rules, chore list, breakfast plan, and lunch plan. Plus you'll learn several ways to leverage a good old white board to make a more functional (and fun!) family life.
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