Mom's Day Part 2

The theme was No Perfect Moms.  A celebration of being who you are and doing the best you can.

A reminder to stop comparing yourself to others and stop comparing others to yourself.

What if you gave people the freedom to fail or make mistakes? 

What if you had realistic expectations of yourself and others?

Don't lower your expectations, just change them.

We spend too much time comparing our insides to other people's outsides.

It's time to turn your mess into your message.

Session 1:  Real ways to connect with your kids

This session talked about how to understand the personality of your children to be able to connect with them.  We answered a quiz that revealed to us our child's personality style and then she gave suggestions about how to treat them.  Whether it be allowing them to do something or buying them a gift.  We also talked about how we should spend more time telling others what we love about them and how they have affected us.  We definitely don't do that enough.

It was pretty cool how her little 20 question personality test was spot on!  I could relate it to my girls, myself, Brian....pretty much anyone.  

Here are the four personality types she talked about:

Expressive

• Natural salesmen or story-tellers
• Warm and enthusiastic
• Good motivators, communicators
• Can be competitive
• Can tend to exaggerate, leave out facts and details
• Sometimes would rather talk about things than do them

Driver

• Objective-focused
• Know what they want and how to get there
• Communicates quickly, gets to the point
• Sometimes tactless and brusque
• Can be an “ends justify the means” type of person
• Hardworking, high energy Does not shy away from conflict

Amiable

• Kind-hearted people who avoid conflict
• Can blend into any situation well
• Can appear wishy-washy
• Has difficulty with firm decisions
• Often loves art, music and poetry Highly sensitive
• Can be quiet and soft-spoken

Analytic

• Highly detail oriented people
• Can have a difficult time making decisions without ALL the facts
• Make great accountants and engineers
• Tend to be highly critical people
• Can tend to be pessimistic in nature

You can take the quiz here:  Personality Quiz

Session 2:  Get Yourself Organized

If you are always busy, you have too much to do.

Get out of the door the night before (plan outfits, pack bags, lunches)

Eight rules of getting organized

Rule #1:  Work backwards.  Plan your time better.

Rule #2: Apply pressure where needed.  If you only have a little time to get things done, work on the things that impact you the most.  Typically your kitchen and bedroom.

Rule #3: Wait for a path to appear.  Don't put stuff where you want it, wait to see where it naturally gets put and then create a solution around that.

Rule #4:  Never organize alone. 

Rule #5:  Treat your home like a grownup kindergarten room, label when necessary

Rule #6: 3 boxes, 2 bags.  Boxes:  giveaway, put back, belongs in other room  Bags:  Garbage, Recycling.  Set a timer and do not leave the room.

Rule #7:  Make a decision, even if it's wrong

Rule #8:  Your house- You make the rules.  Do not do things out of guilt or shame.

Session 3:  Living with Less so your Family has More

Jill talked about how living with less stress, less activities and less money can actually bring your more peace, patience, availability, joy, better health, more energy, more time.

Session 4:  Filling up to Pour Out

This session wasn't what I was expecting.  I was expecting some ideas on how to manage your personal stress so that you can be there more for others or work.  It was not at all like that.

She did talk about how to assure that you are carrying stress for items that you can actually affect or influence and letting go of things that are out of your control.  

Overall the conference was good.  Today after the sessions there was another group speaker- Candace Cameron Bure- YEP!  DJ Tanner!

 It was fun listening to her story and seeing her as a grown woman.