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Making Time Through Rituals for Stories

As you connect during your rituals with your partner, child/ren and family, you have time to tell stories.  These stories help create your family narrative. Your Family Narrative shapes who you are and who your children will be. We all have a narrative. In Dr. Steve Silvestro's article on Family Narratives,  he describes it as the "story we use to describe ourselves, both to other people and in our own heads."  This is important because narratives "create the framework for what you see and experience."  This is true, for us, parents, with our own narrative, and for our children, with the narrative we pass on to them. Generational family narrative builds a strong 'intergenerational self', according to Emory professor, Marshall Duke.  Children will understand they belong to something bigger than themselves.  This in turn, builds self-confidence, security and resilience in our children.  You can read about it and the research in the article.

The Stories That Bind Us

This Week's Relationship Skills Challenge
One: Think about what the 'oscillating' family narrative you want to pass on to your children.
Two: Create a ritual with your partner where you can begin sharing these stories with each other.  If you can't think of any stories, look at the "Do You Know" Questions, and start from there. 

BOOK DISCUSSION
This week of March 2, we will discuss Part 3/Chapter 3: Raising A Child Who Can Manage Himself: Emotion Coaching from Peaceful Parents, Happy Kids by Laura Markham. We will be using this discussion guide (first link on top) to guide our discussion.  Please use this as a worksheet as you read.  Next week, the week of March 9, we will discuss Chapter 4: Raising a Child Who Wants to Behave: Dare Not to Discipline.

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