6 Ways to Turn Parenting Challenges Into Opportunities!

Parenting can feel like a roller coaster ride that never ends. You make it through one twist and turn sequence and just like that there’s another one waiting for you around the corner.  Let’s face it, as this point there’s no getting off, so instead of death gripping the safety bar, closing your eyes and hoping you don’t hurl, here are 6 ways that you can use challenges to catalyze growth in yourself and our kids. When all is said and done roller coasters are supposed to be FUN, right?!

• Embrace a growth mindset: Use challenges as opportunities to break old habits that no longer serve you and to build new skills in yourself and your child.  
• Build your resilience: Remember that you can learn to bend without breaking. Instead of stiffening up, see if you can learn to sway like trees in a storm. Tap into your resilience to uncover strengths you didn’t know you had, and rewrite the narrative of the situation with courage and resolve. 
• Get Creative: Challenges force you to get creative to find new ways of engaging with old problems. It is where innovation and invention come to life.
• Find Community: There is power in community and support. Come together with those around you and seek out support. Knowing that you are not alone, helps you transcend challenges while building community and fostering connections.  Help is NOT a “four letter word”. 
• Cultivate Compassion: Old habits die hard so when you are forging new paths, be gentle on yourself.   It is a journey. One where you are breaking down what doesn’t serve you or your children anymore. It takes time to make transformational change and there will be missteps for everyone along the way.  A little empathy goes a long way to strengthening connection to yourself and your children.
• Look for the Good: Even when it feels like everything is going wrong there is always something that working even within the most difficult challenge.  Slow down and be intentional about looking for solutions that are already there for the taking. It may be just what you need to make the first steps towards change.