So you say you're feeling overwhelmed by this whole parenting thing? Your child is intense, strong-willed, has big emotions, and you are just hanging on? Or maybe they are slow to warm up and getting them to do anything new feels like a struggle... Wherever you are, it can feel isolating when everyone around you seems to have it so easy. And they're so full of advice, but it just doesn't work for your child. Welcome, friend. The Lifeline is my weekly-ish email for parents just like you. You are not alone, and you don't have to grit your teeth and just get through it. You can change the dynamic within your family. You can reclaim your life. One day at a time. One email at a time. I can't wait for you to join us.
A Season of Savoring
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🎵🎵Mmm hmmm I want to linger
Mm hmmm a little longer
Mm hmm a little longer here with you... 🎵🎵
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Reader
The years are going by, and I am leaning hard into savoring.
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These moments.
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The relationships I've made on this journey.
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All of it.
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I see so many more posts from parent coaches these days than I did when I started.
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And with that, so much playing to the machine that is social media.
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There is a push for any creator to keep creating, more, more, more.
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I've felt it. I've given in to it. I am not immune.
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But lately I crave slow mornings with a hot cup of coffee. I crave laughter and friendship - for me and my child.
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I take my morning walk and savor the feel of crystalized snow crying beneath my boots.
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Every day I'm realizing more that in this quick fix world, I am a slow fix kind of girl.
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A lean in, listen, and grow kind of girl.
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My coaching practice is evolving. I have a core group of clients who I love working with, who are making real changes in themselves and, in turn, in their families.
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We till the earth, we sow the seeds, we keep the ground clear, and we observe.
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When those first green shoots emerge, we know how we fit into the picture. We can't take responsibility for their growth, but we can recognize and appreciate all the work we've done to clear the way.
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I am almost always accepting new clients - my practice has never exceeded my capacity. But as I grow, as we grow, that may change.
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If you want to cultivate a better relationship with your child and you want support doing it, let's look at what we could create together.
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Imagine what you could do in this world if you weren't on edge all the time, if you had even a fraction more space to think. Imagine what it would look like to live a little slower, to savor a little more.
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It's not magic, but it sure feels like it sometimes.
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We create it, one step at a time.
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To take that first step together, we need to set up a time to talk. Reply to this email and tell me a little bit about you and your situation and we'll go from there. Or jump straight onto my schedule here.
Your partner in parenting,
Julia McGarey
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PS
I'm thinking about offering quarterly mini-courses, starting with a course on responding to a "disrespectful" tween/teen. Any interest? What topics would be relevant to you and yours? Write back and fill me in!
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The Lifeline
So you say you're feeling overwhelmed by this whole parenting thing? Your child is intense, strong-willed, has big emotions, and you are just hanging on? Or maybe they are slow to warm up and getting them to do anything new feels like a struggle... Wherever you are, it can feel isolating when everyone around you seems to have it so easy. And they're so full of advice, but it just doesn't work for your child. Welcome, friend. The Lifeline is my weekly-ish email for parents just like you. You are not alone, and you don't have to grit your teeth and just get through it. You can change the dynamic within your family. You can reclaim your life. One day at a time. One email at a time. I can't wait for you to join us.
Hello Reader, So much I do as a parent goes against "the rules."You can find whole books written about the rules.You can find rules for every aspect of childhood and parenting.More important than following them, in my mind, is questioning them.Question the validity and the necessity.Question who wrote them and what their intention was.Do it even for the things you have always engraved as givens.Do it because you value your relationship with your child and their mental health over...
Hello Reader, I'm sending you this email from a new email address - partneredpathparenting@gmail.com. You might want to add it to your contacts to make sure you're it doesn't go to your junk folder. But that's just housekeeping. The real reason I'm writing today is to share something that happened with my daughter recently and how we worked through it. It's a fantastic example of coaching and being coachable, and it illustrates exactly why I love what I do. These principles work for kids and...
Hello Reader, I'm thinking about all of you raising siblings this morning. When you are raising siblings and one of them (or more!) brings intensity to the table, it is natural to think about how it impacts the others. They need more of your attention, so you worry about the others getting less. They disrupt the flow of family life, so you worry about the way it will impact the others. And the others tell you it's not fair. They question what you're doing. They want things to change. And you...