How to Create more Peace and Fun at Home
You close your eyes and all you hear is noise. Noise from the TV, the iPads, cell phone notifications, music, kids arguing, crying, clanging of dishes or dogs barking and, in that moment, you realize…I am in desperate need of peace and quiet. You long to feel more joy and fun when you are at home instead of the suffocation of the sounds around you. Society has pushed this narrative that has moms we have to just endure or make the most of the chaos, dysfunction, or lack of family unity.
This is a lie.
As moms we have the power to set the tone and expectation of how we’d like our homes and lives to feel and operate. This includes fun and peace. Peace and fun can be ours if we desire it and are willing to stand up for it. Yes, even against the cranky toddler or the mouthy tween or teen.
Friend you do not have to have a home or day filled with all chaos and no fun. Yes, there are some days that may be more challenging than others, however, the tips below will help you add more peace and fun into your home and life. If we are not intentional about having fun with our family and cultivating an environment of peace, then it's almost inevitable that we will feel depleted and exhausted from all it takes to be a mom and do life. Review the tips below and give them a try. A step no matter how small is still movement and that’s the right direction.
3 Ways to add More Peace and Fun at Home:
1. Set the Intentions
2. Get Laughing
3. Choose Connection over Control
SET THE INTENTIONS
Intention: an aim or plan
Here are a few ways you can set the intention in your mind and in your home.
“Let's use laughter and open communication to bring our family together”
Focus on Peace over Everything
What do we want? Peace! When do we want it? Now! We have heard it said yet we often forget so here’s your friendly reminder, to pick your battles wisely. Learn to respond and not only react to life. If our mind is made up that we will shake off, roll with the punches, or simply not let things get to us; we’re choosing to focus on the good. We’re not blind to the challenges we may face, we are choosing to enjoy family and life despite them.
Remember Family is a Team
It’s easy to get caught up in doing everything for everyone in our household. Especially, if our kids are very young. It’s like our mama hearts are just overwhelmed with the thought, “they need me”. While this is true, they will still need us in the future. Let’s try to keep a healthy perspective in that each family member is a part of our family team. This means that we can take a coach role and empower our family members by giving them personal responsibilities that support the family team. Give them tasks that show they are a needed and valuable part of the family. We all do better when we feel valued and helpful. As each member learns to do their part just like a team us mama are encouraging family comradery. Mamas, lets lesson our loads and enable our families.
GET LAUGHING
We have heard it said that laughter is the best medicine, and, in our home, it has really been a gift. Laughing has many benefits and there are many us mamas really want to embrace. Such as decreasing stress by releasing endorphins which is the feel-good hormone and many more listed below. We can teach our kids a lot by laughing at ourselves, so do it often. Then our kids will know they can laugh at themselves with no shame. Plus, we could all benefit from feeling good with extra endorphins.
Benefits of Laughter:
Release body tension and burn calories
Increase feelings of bonding
Brings down barriers in communication
Decrease relational tension
Promotes playfulness and creativity
Ways to get Laughing:
Share jokes and funny stories
Watch funny videos or stand-up comedy
Friendly age-appropriate pranks
Share memes or quotes
Imaginative play
Follow social media accounts that make you laugh
Take a fun break, like a movement break or snack break (except this is solely for laughter)
CHOOSE CONNECTION OVER CONTROL
As mamas it's often said that we can be controlling. Yet what I have learned in over a decade of parenting is that when emotions are high, choose to connect through listening and set control to the side. Doing this helps to boost connection and conversation, which helps to build bonds.
Connecting with others helps us feel seen, heard, valued, and cared for. When we approach our parenting from this standpoint, we can be confident that we are building our child's confidence, esteem, and lasting connections.
As mamas we can get on a power trip like any other person who misuses authority. If we constantly lead with control, we’re not allowing children the safe space to grow emotionally, or we hinder their ability to grow in trusting us.
Parenting whether one child or 5 children can be tiresome and depending on the age and stage your child is in; it can be even more exhausting. Yet, if we remember the goal of our parenting we can lead with love in parenting. Yes, even difficult things can be said in love. Even correcting challenging behaviors can be done with love. If we think back on our own childhood, I am confident many of us would say we felt most cared for when we could be open and honest without judgement or harsh words with the adults in our lives. Mamas keep this in mind as you practice choosing connection over control.
How to practice choosing connection over control:
Remember the Goal - I want to lay the foundation to build a lasting bond with open communication and trust with my family members
Lead with Love - God does not yell at us or scold us repeatedly when we don’t get it right. He leans in with love and truth. So, let's take this tip from the one who blessed us to be mamas. Lead with love.
Now imagine closing your eyes again and hearing all those same sounds except this time you have made up your mind not to let them get on your nerves. Instead, you go about redirecting and bringing laughter into what seems like chaos. You encourage open communication and listen to hear not to control. We may not be able to stop all the noise at once, yet we can redirect our focus and empower our family members to be part of the solution.
Life has a way of using misfortune to bring us together. However, if we are proactive, we can use laughter and open communication to bring our family together creating the peace and fun we desire.
Allow another family member to take the lead and yes this includes the kids to plan family fun or family meals. Enjoy seeing the personalities of your kids shine through has they learn to lead with love and communicate more openly. At the end of the day us mamas want to enjoy doing life with our loved ones, so let’s use the tips below to support that goal.
1. Set Intentions
2. Get Laughing
3. Choose Connection over Control
Share below or on Instagram which tip you like best. If you find you’re not ready to try these tips because you’re too stressed or to busy check out this post to help you defeat stress and gain control.
Live Inspired,
Achieve it Mama
