Hello! I’m Sommer. I like to write things. Drink coffee. Ponder. Write more things. I am a practitioner of mindfulness. And I write about it. I am a mother. And I write about that too. I was also dealt quite the hand. A Royal Flush, with Anxiety and Depression as my Ace and King. I’ve managed, through exhaustive practice, to pull them out of the deck. I still have the cards though. I’ve accepted that. I also write about that. Enjoy the read, stop over at the blog if you dig it! I will go put on a pot of coffee!

They are Watching Us

By Sommer, TheGreenGlasses.com

I’m taking a cultural communications class. If we just focus on the amount of work associated with it then it would be an absolute nightmare. The content itself is intriguing though. Especially the content centered around ‘self’. Or rather family. The epicenter of culture is family. This is where we get the tools needed to go out in the world and build a house. Our values, our beliefs, our behaviors. If you think globally then you’re like “duh, Sommer” but what if you pull out your mega magnifying glass and really look at what you do, when you do it, and how you do it. It comes from family. My preferred choice of peanut butter, the way I fold laundry, make a bed, prepare a meal. At the very center of me is my family. I could examine myself for days; peering into my values, beliefs and behaviors.

But what I am really thinking about are my kids. I am their family. I am their center. What I do now will carry forth into their adulthood. It might not manifest into a peanut butter choice. But it will manifest into how they view the world and its people. And it’s exciting! When I set off to have children this was NOT at the forefront of my mind. And honestly I don’t know what was driving that boat. I only knew I wanted to be a mother. But here I am. I have two growing minds at my fingertips. Every action and reaction is being cataloged by them. And to some, and even myself at times, this may seem like a massive and scary responsibility. But to me, it seems fun, an opportunity to help create two amazing adults who will navigate the world. I am not their only influence and I know that. But I am their mother.

I’ve touched on it before. Do as I do rather than do as I say. They are watching us. They need to see us succeed and fail, be happy and sad, overcome challenges, have bad days and good. They need the full spectrum. They need to know we aren’t perfect. Because they aren’t perfect. And neither of us ever will be. They need to see us having a bad day but still being courteous to the cashier at the grocery store. They need to see us mad at them but still comforting them with affection. How we treat them and others will be the foundation for how they treat themselves and those they encounter.

Now would be a good time to step back, pause, and take a good long look at how you behave. How you speak of other people, of other religions, races, cultures, political beliefs. How you generalize. How you treat the janitor versus how you treat the CEO. Are you condemning those that are different than you? Or are you respecting the differences? Are you really listening to them while looking at your phone? Are you teaching them to learn by words or by actions? Are you placing value on possessions or moments? Are you allowing them to experience music that is different from your preference? Books? People? Are you trying new things together?

What will be their view of family? What does their cornerstone look like?  If you take a snapshot of today and examine it, what does it really look like? Do you need to adjust the sails? I know I do.

Are you fully aware of your audience when you rise upon your soapbox at the dinner table or while watching the news? If you are the epicenter of your children then know they are soaking it all up. All of it. Even your peanut butter choice.

I hope you enjoyed this post I reached out to Sommer to guest post as I read her blog constantly and resonate with so much that she talks about. Life is hard sometimes we just need to see (read) that we aren’t alone and how other humans handle it. So do yourselves a favor and follow https://thegreenglasses.com/  …… and thank you Sommer you can guest post any time you want!