[link to audio, below] A little shout-out to @Rachel Willoughby for throwing this topic my way, because the minute she mentioned motherhood, boys, and letting them be wild enough to break a bone or two, I laughed and thought… yep. Been there. 😂 One thing I learned pretty quickly as a mom is that boys can be a whole different experience. When mine were little, a lot of my friends had girls, and I remember feeling like we were some kind of traveling circus. 😂 I’m sure there were moments when people were thinking, That child needs discipline, Does he have ADD? or Somebody needs to get control of that kid. Meanwhile, I was thinking, Nope. He’s just a boy. Climbing. Jumping. Wrestling. Testing limits. Doing the exact thing you just told him not to do because apparently verbal warnings are merely suggestions. And somewhere along the way, one of the best parenting lessons I ever got came from our pediatrician [St. Dr Kelly Stephens] when Bella was little. He told me: “If it’s not illegal, immoral, or dangerous…good luck.“ Over the years, he added expensive to the list. 😂 And I still think about that all the time. You want another ice cream cone even though I told you your stomach is going to hurt? Good luck. You want to stand on that little ladder after I’ve told you six times to get down? Good luck. You want to make a choice that I already know probably isn’t going to work out exactly the way you think it will? Sometimes…good luck. Because not every bad decision needs to be prevented. Sometimes the consequence is small enough, safe enough, and age-appropriate enough that the lesson is worth more than another warning. As parents, I think we spend so much time trying to protect our kids from discomfort that we can accidentally protect them from learning too. There’s a difference between something being dangerous and something simply making us nervous to watch. And that line moves as they grow. First it’s climbing too high.

Me: I’m going to sit quietly, make some notes, and get into the right headspace before my session. Romeo: Cool. What are we writing? 🤦🏽‍♀️😝

Am I the only person who reads 4 books at the same time… and apparently stores each one in a different part of the house? 🤦🏽‍♀️ It took me about 10 minutes to round these up. One was in my car. One was in the kitchen. One was by my desk. One was on the kitchen table. Honestly, I’m a little surprised there wasn’t one in my purse. But if you’re looking for something to read, these are all here for very different reasons: • You Speak — Finished this one. And apparently liked it enough to bring it into family dinner, because I distinctly remember stopping mid-conversation the other night to read everyone a section. 😂 • Choosing Easy World — Recommended by my friend/Reiki Master @Tyanne Jennings . I’m almost finished, although “finished” is relative because I’ve been jumping around based on the table of contents instead of reading it front to back. Highly recommend that approach, btw. • Passion-Driven Education — This one is pure curiosity for me. [Respectfully] I personally think our education system is an outdated institution, so I wanted to hear someone else’s thoughts on what education could look like if we started with a child’s interests instead of the system. • Maybe It’s Your Medications — The $32 Kinko’s impulse purchase. 😂 I saw it, was curious, bought it. Sometimes there really is no deeper story. So now I need to know… 🙋🏽‍♀️ Are you a one-book-at-a-time person, or do you also have a small library currently scattered throughout your home, vehicle and possibly handbag?

⚠️ Fair warning: apparently, I woke up and chose a slightly deeper conversation today. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the difference between enabling someone and advocating for them. Addiction is one obvious place this shows up, but honestly, I think it applies to so much more — a serious health diagnosis, aging parents, adult children struggling, mental health, finances… or even something as ordinary as a teenager dealing with school, responsibilities and the consequences of their own choices. When you’re standing close to someone you love, “helping” can get incredibly complicated. The distinction I keep coming back to is: Enabling helps someone avoid what they need to face.
Advocating helps someone access what they need to move forward. Advocacy might look like researching treatment, asking questions at a doctor’s appointment, helping navigate resources, making the right phone call, tutoring your kid or helping them make a plan. Enabling might look like constantly rescuing, financing, covering, fixing — or removing every uncomfortable consequence before they ever have to experience it. And then there’s that giant gray area in the middle where I suspect most of us have lived at one point or another. Maybe the question isn’t simply, “Am I helping?” Maybe it’s: What belongs to me to help carry — and what belongs to them? Because sometimes helping means stepping in. And sometimes helping means letting the 17-year-old learn that if he bails on something, there are consequences. ❓So, I’m curious: How do you know when you’re supporting someone versus carrying something they need to carry themselves? ❓ 👉 found its way to my inbox - divine timing - "is this emotion even yours?"🤔