This week we watched the Thomas Jefferson docuseries on Netflix. What I found to be the most interesting was Thomas's Father. He was very prescriptive in his parenting. He held his children to a higher standard of excellence.
He assigned them reading material, they learned how to read music and play violin. Thomass father often pulled him into philosophical and political conversations.
Having someone believe in you, that you are capable of great things, sows seeds that surely grow overtime.
I became a coach because I've always been one. I think philosophically and often about the big picture. I can't turn it off.
I zoom out and wonder what habits make us who we are. I seek the truth in our patterns and always aim to discover what's really at the root of our circumstances.
My children have been fighting for an hour straight. It began as we loaded the car on our way home from the beach. These are developmentally appropriate challenges for siblings and if I aim to mend their fence for them a thousand times they will never learn to do it on their own.
The ability to repair a relationship is one of the greatest tools a person can learn. We are social primates and meant to live in tight communities that support each other.
It is my greatest dream that long after I am gone my legacy will be their brotherhood. I will consider myself an accomplished women if my children find friendship amongst each other. I hope one day when I'm old and grey they can count on each other.
Below are some of the pescriptions I've assigned to my children this summer to enhance their relationship to themselves and each other.
-20 minutes of reading various stories from Aesop's fables aloud together. After each one I ask them to identify the moral.
-At the end of our reading session they were asked to write their own fable with a moral based on their current struggles.
-Another time I asked them to each write a letter with 3 things they like about the other.
-Write a letter to each other about a favorite memory they've shared.
-Do one nice thing for the other person every day this week.
-Verbal gratitude list any time they get caught in a whirlwind of whining.
-An opportunity to turn their day around when they've acted on a character defect.
And most importantly I remind them they are good inside and that we never give up on each other because we are a family.
My father in law says it all the time, "it takes a long time to raise a good human." My work here is just beginning!!
Whats your legacy? What are you hoping to leave behind?
-Coach Katt
📸 Leo Hostetler
