What Is Nourishing Parenting?

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Nourishing Parenting is embracing your instincts and following your soul’s purpose while raising your children in the manner in which you firmly believe.

Have you ever found yourself reading book after book, blog after blog, trying to find the perfect example of the parent you want to be?

I certainly did.

I wanted to find someone who parented like I did so I knew that I what I was doing was ok. As I have matured and become more confident in myself as a parent and as a human being, I realized that the parent that I instinctually want to be is the best parent I could possibly be.

Nourishing Parenting is not a parenting style.

Sure, my content revolves around parenting but I am not here to convert anyone to my style of parenting. It doesn’t matter the labels and descriptions attached to your style of parenting or living.

I want to encourage you to be the parent, and person, you want to be.

If I can provide some inspiration and motivation, then that is amazing. We all need a little inspiration and motivation sometimes, especially on the hard days. I want you to be inspired to push past those hard days, knowing you are doing the right thing and your parenting style aligns with your beliefs.

Parent Vs Self

Nourishing Parenting is a way of living your best life both as a parent and as an individual. You, as an individual, matter just as much as you as a parent. I want to inspire you to live in a way that fills your cup and does not leave you mentally drained at the end of the day.

This might look different for everyone.

The way I personally parent encompasses traits from many different styles of parenting. Whether you label me an attachment parent, a conscious/mindful parent, a crazy hippie… I find I always come back to a few essential characteristics that I try and promote.

• respect
• love
• positivity
• compassion
• trust
• balance

These are just a few words that I would use to describe how I parent. These also happen to be words I use to describe my life in general because they are qualities I want to put forth both as a parent and an individual. Balancing the parent vs. self is very important.

Nourishing Parenting is about finding the balance of parent and self. It is embracing your instincts and following your soul’s purpose while raising your children in the manner you firmly believe in.

It is my journey to discover this path for myself.

When your parenting does not align with your personal beliefs, every day can be challenging. As parents, we do not need more challenges in our lives.

Knowing Who You Are

It took me a long time and a lot of self-reflection to get to where I am now. I did not wake up one day with the realization of who I am. If only it were so easy…

Check out this article, which is not really that old. I was still struggling with who I was… It is amazing how far I have come.

So often, being a parent and being an individual are classified as two separate entities. We struggle with our sense of self when we are required to give so much of ourselves to these tiny humans who depend on us. Some parents feel like they lose a part of who they are, as individuals, when they become parents.

Often times we quit our jobs or give up friendships that no longer fit our needs when we become parents. This struggle is real. But we often forget about how many jobs we left or how many individuals have moved through our lives before we became parents.

We also often forget to express gratitude for all the opportunities becoming a parent has provided. I have met some wonderful people and been to amazing places since becoming a parent. If I did have my children, I probably would have been stuck in that old job and not be able to experience the world as I do now.

I may have closed a few doors but opened many more.

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Take time to embrace the beauty in life. . Hiking in the Alberta badlands today and marvelling at the beauty around us. This is life.

A post shared by Amy | Respectful Parent (@nourishingparenting) on Jun 5, 2019 at 6:41pm PDT

Choices Not Sacrifices

The changes we make in our lives, when we become parents, are often noted as sacrifices. I, personally, do not like this term. I prefer to take ownership of the changes that we have had to make in our lives to make our lifestyle work.

They are choices we have made.

That does not mean that we have not struggled through hard times or made difficult decisions. We have – we just prefer to not see those things as sacrifices. We willingly gave them up, as hard as it was, to be able to live how we do and we made a choice.

My goal, with Nourishing Parenting, is to show you that you do not have to give up who you are when you become a parent. Who you are might fundamentally change when you become a parent but is that a bad thing? We are constantly evolving, learning, and growing.

We can always change our story.

As parents, we all have different ideas about what will be best for our children and for our families.

Some of us may choose to homeschool while some of us choose public school. Some of us choose to work in the corporate world while others choose to stay home to raise a family. None of these decisions are wrong unless they do not feel right to you. These choices are ours to own and, if you are struggling with your situation, perhaps you need to evaluate the story you tell yourself as to why you are doing what you are doing.

I want to inspire you to look deep within yourself and understand the story you tell yourself about who you are.

How would you describe yourself?

How would you like to describe yourself?

Be The Person You Want to Be

My ultimate goal, with Nourishing Parenting, is to encourage you to be the best version of yourself possible. Live the life you want without worrying about judgment and criticism from the outside world.

The only person who can truly judge that is you.

Our judgement for others is only an extension of judgment we have for ourselves. If we can interrupt that pattern of self-judgement and live in a place of true happiness, there will be no stopping us on our paths to reach our dreams.

You can choose to be affected by their judgement or you can choose to be who you are deep down with confidence.