Screamfree Parenting Session 1

Hello Screamfree Class!
Looking forward to seeing you all tomorrow, Tues March 15th @ 11am. I try to send out a descriptive outline of the topics to be taught and discussed prior to each parenting class. My goal is to get you engaged and your wheels turning about what you want to get from the session!

We will be watching DVD 1: Becoming the "Cool" Parent Your Kids Really Need. We will be covering the following principles in our first session:

PRINCIPLE 1
Parenting is Not About Kids, It's About Parents:
"The greatest thing we can do for our kids is learn to Focus on ourselves."
* As Hal says in the book, the focus is on you because you are the only one you can ultimately control. We are not responsible for our kids, we are responsible to them. You can share with your child what you are responsible for. For example, "I am responsible for balancing my work/family life, for loving your father, for my conduct, for my self-care."

PRINCIPLE 2
Growing Up is hard to Do, Especially for Parents:
"Part of being a grown-up is the willingness to endure discomfort now for sake of a payoff later."
* Please think about the hardest part of parenting and how our emotional reactivity plays into it. Hal describes the choices inherent in emotional reactivity as either giving in or flipping out. Rather than focusing on ourselves, we focus instead on our anxiety and cause the outcome that we most fear -- and that's the price of reactivity. *

PRINCIPLE 3
IF You're Not in Control, You Cannot Be in Charge:
"To be 'under control' means taking sole responsibility for our own emotions, responses, and decisions."
* Why should your children respect you? What have you done that is respectful? *
* Please think about examples of people who seem to retain control of their own remotes as calm and inspiring leaders. *


"Maturity is the ability to think, speak and act your feelings within the bounds of dignity. The measure of your maturity is how spiritual you become during the midst of your frustrations."
--Samuel Ullman


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