One Little Word - Peace

I had a fun and interesting discussion with my son the other night.
Despite having a pretty good schedule, some week nights can be a little crazy with just me and the kids here, and they aren't even toddlers or babies any more.
At seven and twelve they are pretty self sufficient for a lot of things.
But they still need me to be there and help.
The time between 4-9 pm is generally packed full of activities that need to be done. Homework, school paperwork, occasional friends over to play, dinner, clean up, getting ready for bed, service projects, talking with dad on face time, and soon to be violin lessons. 

Every night though, I like to just talk and connect with my kids one on one around bed time. I like to see what the day was like or if  there is anything going on that I should or need to know about. It's amazing how much my kids open up at bedtime!

Well Evan and I were talking, and after a particularly crazy evening with homework, I told him that my word for the year is Peace.
He was interested and wanted to know what I meant by a word.
I said that every year for the past few years, I pick a word that kind of becomes my mantra. Something to focus on. (I didn't get into the whole Ali Edwards explanation of who started it and why I do this. But it's thanks to her that I gave it a shot)

He of course then wanted to know the words I have used in the past.  
Purpose
Breathe
Humor
Focus
All words that were to help me relax and stay grounded. Keep me in the moment.
He really liked this idea, but did not like using one word for the whole year. He said that was too long to think about one word.
His solution, one new word a week. And that we should pick it as a family on Sunday.
Now I plan to continue focusing on Peace as my own personal word.
But frankly, I love his idea of coming together as a family and just trying to think of a word that would benefit us as a whole.
Our first word chosen by Evan was Love
Peace and Love go so well together.
And I have to say, I have used it quite a bit this week as a reminder. I will just quietly say, Peace and Love when the kids are fighting or we are feeling stressed about missing homework or running late for car pool in the morning. And it quiets us.

As for Peace...

The lyrics of this song from my childhood pop in my head often when I am feeling a little overwhelmed. Something I have definitely learned over the years is that I control me and no one else.

If peace is needed than it really has to start with me. I think about the things I do to calm myself when anxiety sets in or life stresses start to affect us. I use breathing techniques, yoga and listening to music. Sometimes a hug from a someone I love is enough to just calm and center me. I want to really focus on these techniques this year.

So for 2015, my word is PEACE.