Episode 172
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You are listening to episode 172 of the Peaceful Mind Podcast.
Welcome to the Peaceful Mind Podcast, a place for creating the peace of mind. You need to be the best mom. You are created by God to be. If you wanna bring more balance, more joy, and more peace to your motherhood, this is the place for you. I'm your host, certified life coach at Catholic Mom Danielle Thienel
in the name of the father of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Let's get started.
Today we are talking about summer. Yay. My favorite time of year. I know that it's not everybody's favorite time who don't like the hot or depending on where you live. I know that overall. Moms do think about the summer sometimes with a little bit of anxiety because it's such a change, right? From the routines of our, of our, you know, school year or just being all inside with the winter.
And we really just do get into our routines. And summer is when schedules change. Kids are off school and there's this expectation for fun and vacations. All of it can be wonderful, right? But I know that we can take charge of our summers if we were someone who kind of just saw what happened and, and let things evolved, or went in with like your fingers crossed and hoping it was gonna be a, you know, a really good summer.
I wanted to give you mom's some more control. Dictating whether the result that you will have at the end of August or beginning of September or whenever the summertime ends for you, that you have way more control over whether it's the best one or a good one than you were ever led to believe before.
And I'm just gonna give you, I'm gonna give you some practical, They might seem like simple that we all kind of know this, but maybe I just serve as a reminder for you today, and you don't have to do all of them, but maybe you focus on a couple, right? That has things that you can do like right now that would set you up, set your summer up well, and then I wanna bring in a couple.
Life coaching concepts, again, as a reminder to draw on one or two or three of these could really tip things for you. It could really be something that makes the difference on whether you have the best summer ever or not. So let's dive in. Okay, so let me just start with some of those kind of practical strategies.
And the first one I wanna discuss is planning ahead. For myself and my children now, including two that will be coming home from college or are already home from college. We kind of gather together and. Everybody sort of had their own kind of things that they were doing. And so we, we had like the talk of the activities and events that were going on individually and then again what we were gonna do as our family.
So this is what you wanna do, is you just wanna start early with kind of gathering some of that some of the activities, events, the vacations that you may wanna take with your family, and just make a list of things that you would like to. So that we can start researching and ensuring that you get, let's say, like the best deals or you get your reservations in advance, or you're just on, on par with what everybody else has in has going on, which will help you like dictate.
You know what, we all can get the best out of the summer and the schedules, so totally plan ahead. Just kind of think about the months, think about, you know, fill in when you have to work or when you already are going to see grandma or what you. Or have for the family vacation, or if you have vacation Bible schools, you know, the camps for the kids, and just kind of get that lined up on the calendar.
I love if you could visually kind of see what's happening with your family during these weeks. Okay. The other thing that's kind of a practical tip is to right now start to get a little bit more organized when it comes to. Your home? Clutter changing out seasonal clothes. Checking and making sure I know that some of those, either pool supplies or things are, are you know, up to date or at your fingertips If you're like me, if you, you know, put, put them back into a, you know, pushed back behind in our like crawl space kind of area.
Yeah. It's time to kind of bring them up to the, for, for. So it'll just being organized and less cluttered. It will help you feel less stressed and more relaxed during the summer, and it'll make it easier to pack for any of those trips or activities that you go on. Okay, let's set a budget here. Do you wanna feel more in control of having a good summer?
That if you are doing camps, or maybe it is like museum memberships or your family vacation, just try to avoid. Overspending and making whatever your budget is, work for you and have your brain go looking for how you can make it the best ever within that amount. So it'll allow you to not worry about that financial aspect of it.
Of course, in the summertime we all want to get outside and. If it's something, if you live in a place where it's been a long, hard winter, as much as possible, we wanna use this springtime right now to get outside and enjoy this weather. And sometimes for me it is like this time of year is the time to be outside the most because it does get hot where I live, like really hot, which then, you know, has me staying in.
Everybody right now to prepare for your best summer. Take walks, go hiking. Enjoy the other outdoor activities that will help you get some exercise and fresh air, which are ultimately gonna set yourself up right for a, the good summer, and especially if it's a, a place where it gets very hot. And then we'll have you staying indoors later.
I am gonna be doing this this weekend. Want you to start getting your yard ready. Yeah. I love the joy that I get from walking outside of my door and in the two like side pots, just having beautiful flowers. Now is that time to set yourself up for, by planting some things or cleaning up. And if it's anything like my bushes around the house, right?
All of the leaves from the giant oak tree in my front yard are all still there, which is, you know, just kind of getting the debris and clutter up and just setting out the outdoor furniture and getting the cushions out and everything can set yourself up, set yourself up for a good summer. And maybe, you know, when you start to do that and you reveal, you're like, oh, I need new ones of these.
And so being on top of that can help us, you know, get a checklist of some items that we wanna take care of to prepare for this summer. And the last one of, of these sort of, kind of pre springtime, right before the summer, setting ourselves up for a good summer kind of strategies that I think is the most important and probably the one I have the most struggle with.
And that is to make sure that in all of this you are scheduling down. Don't forget that summer. And I know some moms might think I don't get the break, you know, but it is to have some time for you and your family to enjoy the summer because it can be a busy time. I do see moms who they go and they end up packing a lot and so much in there, but I want you to remember that it's important to make time for relaxation and self care.
You know, that I'm always, always pushing for moms to go on the. On the extreme part of the continuum to relax and get self-care and get all filled up. So by taking some of these kind of pre-planning steps, that will is definitely not gonna, is gonna help you have a stress-free summer and help you move towards having the best summer ever.
And now I want to give you some tools. From the, from the mindset, from your, your thought patterns and your beliefs about maybe summer's past that, that will help you ultimately have a positive and fulfilling experience this summer. And the first one literally is a piggyback onto how I ended with the pre-plan, and that is to say, I want you to still prioritize your self-care during the summer, even if the kids are home or when they're home.
Even if you have, your brain is telling you that you'll have less time to yourself. I want you to counteract that and believe that it's even more important for me to not put my own needs last and. It means making time for activities that bring you joy and relaxation, such as reading books, taking a bubble bath practicing Pilates, you know, whatever that is for you.
Because when you do that, you'll be able to more go into the second mindset that I want you to have, to have the best summer ever, and that is for you to embrace the present moment. We, it, it might remember when we were kids, it, it felt like summer was forever, but then all the older we've gotten, the, the more summers fly by and fly by so quickly, that is something that we can see happen with just life in general and definitely summer, that it'll buff, it'll fly by so quickly.
So it is important to enjoy these times. Be, be grateful for the stage of motherhood you're in because there's so much goodness, whichever one you're in, and the way that summers are experienced for you, because before you know it, it will change. My summer with older kids now look so different from the ones with my younger ones and, and.
Because they're fleeting. I want to really invite you to embrace the present moment this summer and just be thankful for the experiences that you get to have with your family at this age, whatever age your children are, I want you to have the mindset to be a little bit more flexible because as much as we're talking about planning ahead, we also know.
Circumstances and the swirl of life and the swirl of the cyclone that I talk about. In my book and, and in the podcast episode, I'm becoming a cyclone mom. It, we're always going to have plans that. Need to change unexpectedly or that a new circumstance comes into our life, that right now, no matter how much we plan ahead, we will not be able to expect.
So we wanna be able to adapt. We wanna be able to change our mindset about things. We want to be less frustrated and stressed when there is a change, knowing that it's an opportunity for us to call on. Greatest power, which is our mind, to create any way we wanna feel. And so when we think about, okay, plans change, but now we get to try something new or we're gonna adjust, or we'll just have to do something at a different time.
I mean, the, the adjustment might end up just being better. And so I would love for you to have a flexible mindset. We're gonna focus on two more. The next one is going to be to practice communication. This is what I was just explaining that I've done with my children recently on where I just communicated.
All right. Tell me what you wanna get out of this summer. Tell me what your. Plans are, tell me what your list of activities is and so we can all sort of like get on the same page and kind of understand everybody's wants and needs and that clear communication with your family members can help prevent misunderstandings and ensure that, you know, we're all getting our desires met or at least come up with a way that we can.
In the best way, and so we wanna encourage open, honest communication with your spouse and children and hear what they have to say. Because you have these ideas on what you wanna happen have go down and they have their wants and desires too. And then we also wanna communicate to them, like, so for example, if there really is no you know, place in your budget that you can take a vacation that maybe they were used to going on, you wanna clearly communicate to them that it's going to be different or this change is gonna happen.
Or because of, I don't know, mom or dad's new job. There's new boundaries and parameters and things we can and cannot do. But just know that communicating it to everyone helps everyone get on the same page and come from a place of understanding. And with that communication will come to the, the last thing that I also want you to focus on, to have a best summer ever, and that is connection there is being present, which is you you know, focusing on.
What is actually going on like right now? Instead of maybe thinking about the past or worrying about the future. But there's also that the knowing that the thoughts that you have about your family and what you're doing and how you're spending your summer, and whether it's bringing you all closer, is what's gonna create that feeling of connection for you.
So if that means that you want to. Do activities that are in your mind, like quality family time, such as playing board games or having a family movie night. Just know that whether somebody else is. You know, you see them like having a quote. Good time or not. Know that if you wanna feel connected, even if you guys aren't physically present with each other as much as you would like to over the summer, just know that the feeling of connection is.
Self-made. It comes from inside of you. So your mindset about how connected or disconnected you are is gonna play a role into how you define whether you've had a, the best summer ever or not. So again, I'm just, I'll just kind of recap where The mindset shifts I'd like you to have going into creating the best summer ever is to prioritize self-care, is to embrace the present moment, and it's to be flexible and to practice communication and to focus on connection.
And earlier when we talked about like the kind of like the pre-planning, the things that I suggested were to plan ahead to get organized, to set a budget. To get outside, to get your yard ready and to schedule downtime. And in my eyes, if you do this, you'll be well on your way to having a fantastic summer.
And I wanna leave you today with what I usually bring to my clients and my moms around. This time I bring it to my SE coaching session. We take some time to actually stop and visualize ourselves in August. I'm just gonna say that's the month for me when, when summer ends, as far as, you know, having all the kids home and for you it might be out of school and things like that.
And I have us do the exercise of just for a moment, closing our eyes and taking ourselves to that future. And then say, we are there right now and you just finished having your summer. What were all of the things that you were thinking and feeling and doing and not doing that had you creating that amazing summer?
So for a moment, we wanna go till it's actually over, but only a moment. Right. And. And if you were there and were able to say, I just had the best summer ever. Think about what it was that you, that you did and how you felt while you were doing it. And if you can, that layer of, what was I thinking that made it the best summer ever?
And now you come back to the present day and know that that's your roadmap. That. If you were to think that way and create those feelings and do those things that you imagine would make it a great summer, then that is where you wanna put your focus on thinking, feeling, and starting to do right now today.
And that is how you will ensure that you will make progress and have the best chance ever of creating your best summer ever. And that is what I wish for all of you. I love summer. I'm so excited. And I just hope that this gave you some things to think about, some things to start and some ideas to hold onto that.
Maybe you wanna try one or two so that you can apply to your life and again, create and live the life that God meant for. Okay, everyone, thank you so much for being here and I will talk to you again soon. Thank you for tuning in to today's episode of The Peaceful Mind Podcast. Are you ready to take everything I teach you here and put it to work for your own life?
To really learn how to have peace of mind no matter what is happening around you. If so, I'd love to have you as a client, as your coach. This is where you'll get personal and focus time on your own mind, using life coaching tools, concepts, and proven life, transforming wisdom, all through a faith-filled lens.
To learn more about how we can work together, come on over to daniellethienel.com there you'll see how to sign up for a free coaching consult and learn how to get started. Until next time, peace be with you always.
