Alcohol-Free Alternatives and DOING JUST ONE THING.

"Be For Yourself" ❤️

A friend has recently asked for alc

-free alternatives and I am more than happy to oblige. I love a ritual of something special and, in the first year of my sobriety, I relied on alc-free drinks to scratch that itch. If you aren’t interested in this, skip down to JUST ONE THING. ⬇️

Here’s my list of alc-free in no particular order:

• Heineken 0%

• Kin

• Seedlip

• Leitz - Eins Zwei Zero Sparkling Rosé Non-Alcoholic Wine

• Sovi - Non-Alcoholic Sparkling Rosé (4-Pack)

• Hiyo Blackberry Lemon Non-Alcoholic Sparkling Social Tonic (4 pack)

• THE SPIRIT OF TEQUILA®

• Ghia ORIGINAL APÉRITIF

• Waterloo seltzers

• Vevue Du Vernay Zero Alcohol Free Sparkling Wine

• This holiday mocktail

• Little Saints Paloma

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Just One Thing - Parenting Edition

So, I stumbled upon Rick Hanson a loooong time ago, and fell in love with his Buddhist + neuroscience mojo.

His book, Just One Thing, is beautiful, easy, and so doable, and I have found myself turning to it for years for inspiration. I especially pick it up when I have fallen into the chaos of doing too much when it comes to my parenting life. I have three kids, two are neurodiverse, and it is easy for me to become scattered and whack-a-mole when parenting them. It sucks and never works out for anyone.

I am not a big goals or resolution girl; I am a Gen X woman…and we tend to not treat ourselves too kindly. We are either are working on too many productivity goals or we are trying to make ourselves physically smaller…and both of these goals are exhausting. And we also tend to go too hard. So for the last decade or so, I have eschewed all resolutions.

But.

Or AND….

I have noticed a high level of burnout in parents. The people are tired. (I am also “the people” by the way) And so, why not share what works for me? I am going to share some mini-chapters from Hanson’s Just One Thing and how they can smooth, help, ease, simplify or enlighten your parenting path, and I will share some tangible examples of what that may look like in parenting.

Or you ignore it. Do the needful thing.

The First Section is called, “Be Good to Yourself” and the first sub-section is called, Be For Yourself. It may seem obvious, but the first thing that goes when you are struggling with a child’s behavior is your self-care (and God, do I loathe that phrase). I am not talking bubble baths and crap like that…I am talking about treating yourself as kindly as you would a total stranger. I am talking about basic sleeping, eating, and movement. I am talking about attending to your own emotions. Rick Hanson wants us to try to be on our own side. This is hard when your mind and body feel as if they are in some level of crisis, but hey. Let’s fake it till we make it.

Some ideas of how to Be For Yourself:

• See yourself as a young child, deserving of love, care, and compassion. Remember that you are worthy of that love, at all times.

• Remember a time when you had to strongly or bravely be for yourself. Maybe it was emotional danger, physical danger, or both. Remember how that felt in your body…that you could do it and did do it.

• Recall being there for others; you know how to do it! How did you stand up for them? Support them? Show them love?

• Bring that all energy to yourself when you are feeling down on yourself, when you’re speaking to yourself critically, and when you are going down a shame or blame spiral around your child.

• Being For Yourself is a mental habit. Where can you write these reminders where you will see them? Alerts in your phone? A song to play in the car? Stickies in your bathroom?

How this looks with my real-life clients?