I truly believe that as mums, we are amongst the most powerful people on the planet. We’re literally raising the next generation, and the things that we do and say have the power to affect the people that our children grow up to become. Scary right?! But also incredibly empowering.

When our children are younger we are in control of what they watch, what they eat, where they spend their time, but also how they behave. Our own behaviour has such an enormous impact on the behaviour of our children, so it’s super important to make sure that we are aware of it.

Have you ever noticed that when you are having a bad morning, so is the rest of the house? For me, it’s crazy to see how my mood can set the tone for the whole family. Even when I think I’m doing my best to disguise my negative energy - it comes out in our faces, our eyes, our movements, and our children pick up on it immediately.

I used to think that my toddlers frustrating behaviour was what caused me to be in a stressed-out and bad mood. But each time that I bring attention to myself when I reflect on the day, I notice that it was always me who was in a bad mood first.

The minute that I start getting impatient with my daughter she picks up on it, ‘acts up’, and makes me increasingly impatient and annoyed.

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Here’s what tends to make me impatient:

• Knowing that I have a lot of work to do
• Realising that I forgot to do the washing up from dinner the night before
• Making lunch too late - which eats into my daughter’s nap time

All of these things can be remedied by myself by simply being more proactive. Being proactive is an inherent part of motherhood that is born alongside our children, but is still something that we need to work on to stop ourselves from getting stressed out and entering the vicious competition between mummy and child of ‘who can get on each other’s nerves the quickest’.

I’ve written previously about how MamaZen has helped me to tune into my own needs and development, and ultimately make me an even better mother. Because let’s be honest, we are already doing a great job and should big ourselves up for it! What is even more incredible to me, though, is watching the effects that the app has on my daughter.

Obviously she doesn’t listen to the app herself, but the hypnotherapy sessions change my approach to the day which has a direct effect on her mood and behaviour. Listening to the sessions in the morning helps me to realise that the things which make me impatient are small in comparison to my job as a mother. Of course, work pays the bills, the washing up needs to be done so that we have cutlery to use, and it’s easier if our children nap on time. But really, if we fall a little behind it is not the end of the world.

There is so much value to a tool like MamaZen, a tool that can enable us to stop sweating the small things, acknowledge our stress and let it go, and ultimately start putting our children and ourselves first. I am by no means an expert in not sweating the small stuff, but I do notice a huge difference in the days that I listen to my hypnotherapy session. It’s empowering, it’s quick, and (if you can manage to get up before your children) it’s a great way to start each day with a little silence, reflection, and self-development.

Try and take note of it the next time you feel a bit stressed out and are starting to lose your cool - notice just how quickly your children start playing up in response. You’ll get angrier, they’ll get more annoying, and in no time at all, you feel as though you’ve turned into the mummy monster - it is evil and exists in all of us! MamaZen can help you to indirectly improve your children’s behaviour by first improving your own, in as short a time as 15 minutes per day...we all have 15 minutes to spare, especially if it means that the day will pass with fewer tantrums from both us and our children.