• Home
  • About
  • Contact
    • Work With Me
  • My Shop
  • Start Here

A Mother Far from Home

  • Discipline
    • Character Training
    • Helpful Phrases for Kids
  • Emotions
  • Faith
    • Biblical Living
    • For the Kids
    • For the Parents
    • Finding the Time
    • Prayer
  • Home
    • Cleaning
    • Cooking / Eating
    • Essential Oils
    • Health + Wellness
    • Recommendations
    • Toss Downsize Organize
  • Motherhood
    • Books to Read
    • Encouragement
    • Far from Family and Home
    • How I Do It
    • Natural Childbirth
    • Pregnancy
    • Type A Wife and Mom
    • What I Learned
  • Routine
    • Kids Close in Age
    • Sample Schedules
    • Why a Routine?
  • Sleeping
Home » Practical Parenting Tips » Big Rocks of Parenting

Jun
22

Big Rocks of Parenting

125shares

My Rhythms, Routines, & Schedules book and printable routine cards are on sale for 50% off today. Grab yours now!

There is sand. There is gravel. And then there is rocks. Rocks take up the most space and weigh the most. This is a great illustration for how to fill your time, but I want to draw a parallel today with our parenting values.

The Big Rocks of Parenting Back to the Basics

I’m doing the two week Makeover Your Morning course (that I bought with my own money, not sponsored) and it has truly revolutionized how I think. That’s a big word, I know, but it came at just the right time. She uses this illustration for your day.

How does this relate to parenting? Glad you asked.

The big rocks of parenting must happen intentionally.

The big rocks must be put in first or they simply won’t fit later. We can’t just wander aimlessly from morning until evening for years and expect our children to exhibit self-discipline. We can’t neglect to read the Bible or have family devotions and assume our children will follow our faith.

We must be intentional about how we spend our time parenting our children. This doesn’t mean being frantic, stressed, and guilt ridden about every decision. In fact, it’s the opposite. If we know what our “parenting rocks” are then we can make them happen. And that will relieve the guilt.

back to the basics of parenting week

Determining your “big rocks.”

Prior to the Makeover Your Morning course I’d been in a bit of a funk. Feeling so busy and yet not having time to do the things I actually valued. Enter the guilt. Guilty because while the kids were well taken care of and happy, I was simply not doing the few things that mattered more than the things they were doing. If you get me.

Why? Because I hadn’t really sat down and determined my “parenting rocks.” Well, now I have. I’ve chosen my parenting rocks for this season, and just having labeled them means I feel more focused during the day. For my family, my parenting rocks are sharing my faith with my children, molding their character, and having my kids hearts (and giving them mine).

Here’s a free printable for you to download…

Parenting Priorities Printables

Building your day around your parenting rocks.

When you know what matters most to you, and these things will vary family to family, you can easily fit them into your day. And then, if that means other things go by the wayside, guess what? You won’t care! Why? Because you’ll feel accomplishment at having focused on the things that really matter to you.

We’ve just bought a family devotion for preschoolers and want to do it each evening before bed as a family. I’ve committed and to putting discipline and effort into helping shape my children’s characters all day. This is flipping exhausting, but it’s important to me. Also, I’m more intentional about just stopping and sitting and being with them. Listening, paying attention, and bonding. It doesn’t even have to be a huge thing, but it’s powerful.

Starting your day with your parenting rocks.

One way to set your day up for success is to start off by hitting a big parenting rock. If your goal is to do more activities with your kids, this might mean planning the night before and doing an activity immediately after breakfast. It gives you a sense of accomplishment, and then if nothing else happens throughout the day you’d still consider it a success.

If your rocks are more metaphorical, then why not write them down and hang them up somewhere like the refrigerator, the family command center, or in the playroom. By reading your priorities they’ll be in the forefront of your mind to help you make more intentional decisions throughout the day.

Tomorrow I’m talking about work + play so stay tuned!

So tell me… what are your parenting rocks?

Post Footer Praying Over Your Child

Want to learn your parenting style?

Each of us have our own personality, temperament, and giftings. And, the truth is, we parent best when we work with these instead of against them. Take this assessment so you can work to your strengths, and be the mom you want to be for yourself and your children.

Rachel

New to this community? Start here, friend.

Filed Under: Practical Parenting Tips2

« Time alone: selfish or smart?
Work + Play »

Recommended For You From Our Shop

Family Culture Planning Pack

Strong Families Don't Happen By Accident

Strong and happy families have carefully crafted Family Cultures.

They don't let guilt drive them, rather they spend their time and energy digging deep into a few key family areas that pay off in spades.

Families don't need to do more and more things, they just need to focus their attention on a few key areas that make for strong families, then repeat those over and over.

Click to Learn More

I'm Rachel, mother of 5 young kids living in the Florida panhandle with my Australian husband. I write about family culture, family rhythms and routines, and boundaries in motherhood and life. You can see snippets of my daily life here and visit my shop for baby sleep, organizing, and routine help.

“Inside my brain”

Geeezzz, it was like you were inside my brain today!  (and most days recently)  I needed this badly.

Thank you!!!
Andrea P.

“Nothing was working…”

I just wanted to say thank you for your easy peasy routine for 2 year olds! I day-weaned my 2 year old a month ago and have been trying everything to get him to go down for a nap without the nursing. Nothing was working and I was starting to think he would never have a nap again.

Anyways I started following your routine and we just sat in bed and had what I told him was “quiet time.” We sat and read and made a fort and had warm milk. Then today I told him it was quiet time again and he tried to escape the bed a couple times, but in the end he snuggled up after the warm bottle and fell asleep for 3 hours! I was almost in tears I was so excited! So thank you!

Meghan

“Thanks for your bundle!”

Thanks for for doing this Everyday Mom Super Bundle sale. I’m four months into my parenthood journey with a sweet and spirited boy.

I was feeling overwhelmed and frustrated just yesterday, thinking if only I had the right resources and “trail guides” I could figure this all out. Your sale is serendipitous. I can’t wait to dig into my download materials and start learning from your tips.

Thanks for sharing your knowledge!

Lauren N.

“It’s a breath of fresh air”

I just wanted to let you know that your blog and emails have been a tremendous help to me. Your practical, honest, and humble writing is a breath of fresh air!

With help and encouragement drawn from your writing, I have made some incredible changes in the order (and sanity) of our home, in just the past few weeks. My kids are doing chores daily, and I also have clearer expectations of myself.

My husband is in awe!

Which helps reinforce what you said- the problem wasn’t me; it was my systems. Our home is in much better order, and so is my mind. So, thank you!!!! You have made a difference for me and my family.

Ann S.

“We are slowly getting back to normal…”

I stumbled upon your blog one morning after praying night after night for God to fix my home! I had just had a baby this May 1st and also have a 2 and 4 year old and my home broke out in complete chaos!

Even my marriage seemed like it was on the brink of extinction and this had happened in 2 weeks! I read numerous amounts of your entries and applied them to my home life and I am happy to say we are slowly getting back to normal. Thank you Rachel! 

Madison S.

“You’ve been a life saver!”

I’m a first time mom to a 15 day old baby girl. I had no idea what I was doing and couldn’t get her to sleep in her crib until I found your blog.

You’ve been a life saver!

Candace R.

“Within a week or two our little girl changed!”

I tumbled into post partum depression/anxiety and didn’t know what to do anymore. I was a mess, baby girl was a mess and I don’t even know how my husband was dealing with it all… 

I googled everything I could think about but there was never really something that felt right, that felt genuine instead of just telling do’s and don’ts. 

And then I found your website and read your pieces about sleeping and eating. I carefully read through your schedules and decided to try it.

IT WORKED!! 

And within a week or two our little girl changed from a frustrated baby into this happy dappy smiling ray of sunshine, that is able to settle herself down by sucking on her fists, even in the middle of the night. At 12 weeks baby girl slept through the night and now at 20 weeks old she sleeps a good 10 to 12 hours every night. 

I just wanted to thank you for sharing your experience online. The way you wrote your experiences made it understandable, seeing it from the babys side but also the moms side. Maybe we were lucky that your way fitted our baby, but it worked and I tell it to everyone that wants to know!

Stephanie P.

“Had tremendous success from Day One!”

I just wanted to thank you for your sample routine.  I’ve been using it for a week with my 13 month old and had tremendous success from day 2! Wind down time is so important and so is consistency.  Thank you so much!!!

Sam M.

“In a few short days…”

I am grateful to have found your blog, as I do a great deal of searching on Pinterest when I am up against a parenting moment that I do not feel qualified to handle.

I will say though that since reading your blog I am really focusing on remembering that every moment is a learning \ experience for my son and I try to take a breath and count to ten. In the few short days that I have been exercising this method I truly have noticed a change for the better in his response to me.

Tami K.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Hey y'all, I'm Rachel Norman, BA, MS, Language of Listening® parenting coach, cancer survivor, and mother to 5 babies in 5 years on 3 continents, no multiples. I love Birth Order, am passionate about parenting and motherhood, and family culture Join me in parenting without losing your mind. Read More >>

Search

Copyright © 2019 All Rights Reserved | A Mother Far From Home | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy

125shares