Lately I have been reading these power to choose books with the kids. So each situation the child is in, they get to pick which decision to make and based off those decisions you see how their day turns out. It really has resonated with the kids but to be honest it actually has had ME thinking even more about it. 

Lately I have been reading these power to choose books with the kids (here and here) — they are these cute books that are set up in a “choose your own adventure” style. So each situation the child is in, they get to pick which decision to make and based off those decisions you see how their day turns out. We read it once through where Danny picks all good choices – and he ends up having a really great day. Then we read it again where he makes bad decisions and you see how his day ends up being a bummer of a day. It really has resonated with the kids but to be honest it actually has had ME thinking even more about it.

It is just crazy how the little decisions we make daily could lead us on such different paths. And it is empowering knowing we have power over those decisions and therefore we largely have the power to decide how our days turn out (of course not all the time when horrible things out of our control happen, but you get what I am saying.)

I just really love the books and they have sparked really good conversations with the kids. It is also a helpful tool to be able to reference the book when they are in those moments of needing to make choices – being able to say “okay you know you have two choices and you get to decide how you respond to this situation.” I even thought of it myself the other day on the way to work. I was honestly really bummed to have to be leaving the kids.. I was so tired and just felt like having a chill day at home with them. So I was driving to work feeling a little sad and honestly pretty stressed about everything I had on my to do list. And it honestly occurred to me that I too have two choices – to continue to be sad or just remember how much I love working, how grateful I am to have a husband who is home with our kids keeping them safe, that I have such a great team at work who helps me, and if I just power through and try to enjoy the process then I will have a wonderful afternoon with the kids when I get home.

Funny how lessons we teach our kids end up just being lessons for ourselves.