{"id":2544,"date":"2013-08-31T11:01:25","date_gmt":"2013-08-31T15:01:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.katrinakenison.com\/?p=2544"},"modified":"2013-08-31T11:01:25","modified_gmt":"2013-08-31T15:01:25","slug":"happy-parents-happy-kids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/katrinakenison.com\/new\/happy-parents-happy-kids\/","title":{"rendered":"Happy parents, happy kids"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"S&J
\nC<\/span>
\nould I be happier? Could I have a happier child?<\/p>\n

Ever asked yourself these questions?<\/p>\n

I certainly have.\u00a0 Indeed, they\u2019re the very questions that first led me to reflect on what kind of mother I wanted to be and what kind of life I wanted our family to have.\u00a0 They are the questions that inspired me to slow down, to pay attention to the little things, to do less and to enjoy more.\u00a0 They helped me redefine what it means to have a good life \u2013 a life that is less about accomplishing and acquiring things and more about accepting and loving people.<\/p>\n

This summer, these questions led Beth Spicer to launch an extraordinary conversation about happiness, parenting, and the ongoing work of aligning our lives with our deepest values and desires.<\/p>\n

Beth is a successful life coach and a single mom.\u00a0 Working, raising a toddler, juggling her own hopes and dreams with the demands of her clients and her son, advising others about how to bring more meaning and fulfillment into their lives, Beth found herself coming back again and again to one word: happiness.<\/p>\n

Happiness is, of course, what we all long for — for ourselves, for our kids, for one another.\u00a0 And yet, what an elusive a goal it can be!\u00a0 Is there a secret?\u00a0 Does it have to do with staking out and protecting down time or, is it about simply taking a deep breath even in the midst of the day\u2019s chaos and giving thanks for life just as it is? (Maybe both?)\u00a0 Is happiness a matter of temperament or character? Discipline or practice? Choice or luck?\u00a0 Why are some families happier than others?\u00a0 How do we cultivate joy for ourselves? How do we bequeath it to our children?<\/p>\n

In search of answers and strategies, Beth reached out to a wide-ranging group of experts \u2013 teachers, therapists, and visionaries \u2013 and brought them together in one place, to participate in a unique virtual event: The Happy Parents and Kids TeleSummit.<\/p>\n

Although I\u2019m not an educator, a family therapist, or an expert, Beth invited me to be a part of this extraordinary panel of men and women.\u00a0 For a moment, I\u2019ll admit, I hesitated. \u00a0I\u2019m a mom, a memoir writer, a blogger, not a pro.\u00a0 I looked at the list of speakers and felt a bit intimidated.<\/p>\n

But then I realized that my own 23 years of mothering two sons from birth to young adulthood have indeed taught me a few things about happiness \u2013 my own and theirs.\u00a0 And, although I\u2019ve written much about this journey of the heart, beginning over thirteen years ago in the pages of Mitten Strings for God<\/strong><\/a>, I\u2019ve never actually spoken about it in this context before: parenthood as an ongoing education in the art of living joyfully.<\/p>\n

\"J&S<\/p>\n

M<\/span>any mornings over the last couple of weeks, I\u2019ve lingered over my coffee and tuned in to a conversation with one of my fellow panelists. (I\u2019ve especially loved hanging out with Bonnie Harris, Dan Millman, Sonia Choquette, Dan Siegal, and\u00a0 Cheryl Erwin.) \u00a0And that really is what it\u2019s been like: having a daily check-in with a support group of like-minded souls who\u2019ve spent a lot of time thinking about the very questions and issues I grapple with each day myself.<\/p>\n

What attitude do I bring to my life?\u00a0 What do my children need from me? How can I cultivate more harmony and peace in our relationships? What patterns and old habits are holding us back? What could I do differently today to make things easier for all of us tomorrow?<\/p>\n

By the time I finally sat down to talk with Beth myself, it felt as if we were already friends.\u00a0 Our chat was the kind I like most:\u00a0 unrehearsed, intimate, personal, with plenty of sharing on both sides.\u00a0 Forty-five minutes flew by, and what we both really wanted to do at the end was continue the conversation.<\/p>\n

And, in a way, we do:\u00a0 we get to share it with you.<\/p>\n

To listen, simply click on this link:\u00a0 http:\/\/happyparentsandkids.com<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Once you arrive at the Happy Parents And Kids<\/strong> website, you will be invited to register for the tele-summit (it\u2019s free).\u00a0 And then you will have access not only to my interview (here’s the link)<\/strong><\/a>, but to Beth\u2019s conversations with all of my colleagues as well.<\/p>\n

Happy Labor Day weekend, and happy listening!<\/p>\n

P.S.\u00a0 A word about these pictures.\u00a0 I took the first one at sunset at my parents\u2019 house in Maine, on a summer night just about fifteen years ago. To me it says, \u201cHappiness.\u201d\u00a0 (When I showed it to Steve the other day, it brought tears to his eyes. Jack was such a cuddler; now he\u2019s taller than his dad.) The other, also taken on vacation in Maine, I snapped with my iPhone just two weeks ago.\u00a0 So much has happened.\u00a0 We have grown old and our boys have grown up and we\u2019ve all had our share of struggles and challenges along the way.\u00a0 But here we are.\u00a0 And this photo of Steve and Jack says the same thing to me: \u201cHappiness.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

A few more days. . .<\/h3>\n

A huge and heartfelt thanks to all of you who have supported my upcoming Boston Marathon Jimmy Fund Walk<\/strong>. As I enter my final week of training to walk those 26.2 miles next Sunday, I’m buoyed by your encouragement and generosity. You are the wind in my sails! \u00a0May our combined efforts help to ensure that all women who follow in my friend’s footsteps will have a better prognosis than she did.<\/p>\n

If you missed my blog post about Diane and her journey with ovarian cancer, I hope you’ll take a few minutes to\u00a0read it here<\/strong><\/a>. \u00a0I am so<\/em><\/strong> close to achieving my goal for next Sunday, that I’ve decided to extend<\/strong> the opportunity to donate (and enter to win a copy of my collected blog posts).<\/p>\n

A\u00a0contribution to Team Diane<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0and a\u00a0comment<\/strong>\u00a0on my Aug. 15 post<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0will make you eligible to win one of the\u00a012 copies<\/strong>\u00a0I’m giving away of the book of my blog posts — my way of saying thank you<\/em>. \u00a0(Much as I would love to give every single one of you a bound copy of\u00a0The View from My Window,<\/strong>\u00a0I have only a dozen left on my shelf. Still, your odds are good! And please know that I am enormously grateful for every single donation.)<\/p>\n

Winners will be drawn on\u00a0Tues. Sept 3<\/strong>. Thank you, my friends, and good luck to all!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

C ould I be happier? Could I have a happier child? Ever asked yourself these questions? I certainly have.\u00a0 Indeed, they\u2019re the very questions that first led me to reflect on what kind of mother I wanted to be and what kind of life I wanted our family to have.\u00a0 They are the questions that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15183,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,34,8,9,10,14],"tags":[207,324],"class_list":{"0":"post-2544","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-family-life","8":"category-joy","9":"category-parenting","10":"category-parenting-boys-parenting","11":"category-parenting-teens","12":"category-soul-work","13":"tag-happiness-2","14":"tag-parenting-2","15":"entry"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/katrinakenison.com\/new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/600x600.png?fit=600%2C600","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/katrinakenison.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2544","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/katrinakenison.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/katrinakenison.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/katrinakenison.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/katrinakenison.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2544"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/katrinakenison.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2544\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/katrinakenison.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/katrinakenison.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2544"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/katrinakenison.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2544"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/katrinakenison.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}