Drinking habits and parenting habits…
Doing something different.
Before I quit drinking, I was getting ready to quit drinking. I read a lot of quit-lit, I listened to a lot of podcasts, and I took the occasional “do I drink too much” quiz online (which was frustrating because it never reported I did, but isn’t checking this online a 🚩???)
But until I actually stopped drinking wine, nothing really changed in my life. And not just because alcohol is a poison and quitting it INSTANTLY helps you…the reality was that I could dress up reading books and listening to podcasts as doing something. But I wasn’t. I was getting ready to do something…but you have to take the leap to truly change something. You have to do something different.
Parenting is not so different. You cannot stop yelling (toxic behavior that you feel kind of addicted to), and so you buy books and listen to podcasts. You’re learning (which is awesome), but you have to do something different to stop yelling. Therapy. New routines. More help. Something else for the kids. Something else has to change for anything to change.
The scary part of doing something different is that it comes with uncertainty, fear, and failure. It’s safe in the books and online quizzes. You have the illusion of changing with no skin in the game.
But life won’t change there. Your habits won’t change there.
What are you doing differently?
