Is parenting from love effective?

I love this time of the year. I love the opportunity to ride the wave of excitement that is felt all over the world as many of us decide to declare our intentions for the new year. One of my intentions for 2010 is to have a more powerful and meaningful experience as a human being and as a mom.


I shared this particular intention with a good friend of mine who is also decided to have an amazing parenting experience this year. She asked me (as always) a very good question: How do you show your child your love and still parent appropriately?

I believe that being positive in your parenting style does not mean that you don't discipline your children. That's the difference between discipline and punishment. With discipline you still get to teach your kid a valuable lesson, lovingly. You let your child know that you only disapprove of the immediate action but not of him as a person. It allows you to come from love. Punishment on the other hand, only stops the behavior in the moment. Assuming the behavior we are talking about is not life-threating to anyone involved, at the end of the day, punishment doesn't really teach a child much.

I believe that as we focus on the amazing people our kids are (even when they are screaming bloody murder at the grocery store!) the easier it becomes to come from love at those tough times.

My invitation to you is to envision the family you want. What do you want your home to look like? What kind of future do you want? What do you want your relationship with your children to be like? The more you envision and work on designing the desired outcome, the more likely it is to happen.


What are your dreams and goals for this year? What would it take to get there? Let's join together in making this our best year in parenting yet!

Here's to a parenting year pack-full of loving, expanding, enriching experiences!

Sandra