There is a time of day that we moms rarely discuss.
The hours are between 4:00pm and dinner.
I have often heard this time frame referred to as, “The Witching Hours”.
Even the most angelic and at other times seemingly delightful kids become their alter egos and can wreak havoc on their mama’s patience.
It goes unspoken but if you call us during this time on the actual phone, moms really want to answer that call by saying…
“Do you know what time it is? This better be f&@king important.”
This time of day can represent the perfect storm…exhaustion from the day’s events that result in whining, complaining, sibling arguments, hunger and a constant power struggle over pantry diving into crappy foods.
All of this happens while the mama is prepping or figuring out a dinner plan where she knows that night after night the nutritious food she took the time to prepare will go uneaten due to the pantry diving.
This usually culminates in dinner time stress and later guilt by the mama for being pushed over the edge resulting in raised voices and not our proudest parenting moments.
Essentially, the witching hours bleed into the rest of the night and when experienced day after day can really affect the climate of your household in a very negative way.
I have seen this go on for years within families and this leads to disconnected non-communicative relationships with the people we love the most.
The exact opposite of what we want.
This dynamic can be turned around in a matter of days…I kid you not.
Unfortunately, the way to shift the energy of your family during these typically stressful hours does not come naturally to most of us and therefore, must be learned and practiced.
It was not the way we were raised traditionally but we have more access to better strategies than our parents had.
It is very difficult to learn and practice these better strategies when we find ourselves in the heat of the moment.
This is what I call the Conscious Parenting Gap (CPG); moments exemplified during the witching hours when the sh!t is hitting the fan and we can’t recall the tools we need to calm ourselves and our people.
We end up reacting negatively rather than responding as our most brilliant and in control selves.
Later, we usually feel guilty and resort to blame, punishment and maybe even more yelling and disconnect.
To close the gap, it takes new tools and strategies that can be easily learned and incorporated into your behavior through practice and repetition.
The repetition is easy because as soon as you learn what to do and how to think differently, the positive effects are immediate.
For instant gratification junkies like myself, the immediacy of the stress reduction creates a noticeable difference in how you get along with your kids.
I made a video of effective conscious parenting strategies I have taught to others and used with my own kids for years.
I am sharing this 20-minute tutorial with parents that request it as another way to “share the delicious chocolate cake.”
If you would like a bite, please reach out to me and I will send it over. It’s not fancy – think video made in my laundry room while I was wrapping up some mom details from my day.
Because like you, I’m a mom in the trenches and I share real tips, teachings and tools that actually work.
Let me know if you would like me to send it over as my gift to you.
