Lessons For My Daughter | Carmen Caterina | Episode 156

Seeing our kids struggle is heart breaking for parents. In fact, it can be one of the hardest things for parents to do. It’s why they jump in where they shouldn’t and do more for their kids than is healthy. Parents want to protect their kids, to simply wave a magic wand to give them a perfectly wonderful life. While there isn’t a magic wand, there are important lessons that give kids a leg up on creating a beautiful life. In today’s Mighty Parenting podcast episode, Sandy Fowler interviews the author of Lessons for My Daughters, Carmen Caterina, to discuss how we can connect with our kids and help them find the magic inside themselves.

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A Favorite Quote from the Show: 

The most important relationship you’re going to have is the one you have with yourself.

High Points From Our Conversation about Lessons for My Daughter:

Often times, academic lessons are lost on teens due to them struggling with things at home. The lessons that really help are those having to do with human connection.

The lessons Carmen taught her daughters make a difference in the way they see things and interact with each other.

Two of her favorite lessons encompass self-care. The first is that we only get one body in this life. We need to honor it and care for it. The second is to love yourself. This allows you to feel good about yourself.

We can care for our mental, emotional, and spiritual body by being careful about where we put our attention. Who are we hanging out with? What are we reading and listening to?

Our lives are made up of the small things we do on a consistent basis. Therefore, our kids have more control over their lives than they think they do.

The most important relationship you’re going to have in this life is the one you have with yourself.

Parents are afraid to share struggles or bad decisions we made, but those conversations are important because they make us relatable. When you talk about it, the most important thing is to be real and authentic about who you are as a person.

We need to teach our kids their feelings are valid and not permanent.

Let them know that when they choose to go through something and shine their light then they can impact many people. 

We don’t need to have a big conversation with our kids. Just follow their lead and be curious about what they’re into.

Carmin grew up in a very dysfunctional household but her grandmother was a beam of light. She didn’t make grand gestures, but she made time for Carmin and invited her over. That had a great impact.

Whenever your kid has something to say, drop everything and act like it’s the most important thing to you because it is the most important thing to them.

3 things parents can do for their children:

• Be the best version of yourself
• Take your own advice
• Take care of yourself

Resources:

Becoming a Better Parent Through Self-care | Judy Davis and Sandy Fowler | Episode 14

Our Guest Carmen Caterina:

Carmin Caterina exemplifies the power of transformation. Raised in a difficult home, her Nonna gave her consistency and the genuine feeling that she mattered. Carmin grew up to be a speech-language pathologist, and after over a decade working in some of NYC’s toughest schools, she discovered the biggest transformations for her students happened when she showed up for them the way her Nonna had shown up for her.

Carmin began to realize that the most important relationship you will ever have is the one you have with yourself, and that there is power in knowing that you are both the author and director or your life and can choose to rewrite your story at any time. Carmin began to see the gaps in public education and decided to unschool her 5 and 10 year old daughters. This life change and a multi week road trip with her daughters led her to develop a program called Lessons for My Daughters, a transformational workshop with simple yet powerful lessons that has impacted her life in profoundly positive ways.

To learn more or connect with our guest visit https://www.lessonsformydaughters.com/   

Our Sponsors:

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Sandy Fowler—helping moms find time for what matters most (Free strategy on taking the first step to finding more time while relieving stress and guilt at https://sandyfowler.com/find-time

Women were told we could have it all. No one said “all” came with endless guilt, stress, and anxiety. But what if you could find a way to have what’s most important to you without the guilt, stress, and anxiety? What if you could follow your passion AND love your family? Find out how I did it and take the first step to making it your reality.