Parenting Archives | Alicia Eichmann

What Will We Teach Them?

As millennial parents, we know that our kids will face unique challenges. Our kids, born 2010-2025, have been termed Generation Alpha, and they will be the first generation born entirely in the 21st century.

This gets me thinking: What kind of world will they live in? What challenges will they face? How can we best prepare them?

The world is the most global and interconnected that it’s ever been. The United States, founded as a nation of settlers and immigrants, is the most diverse ethnically and culturally that it’s ever been.

However, as millennials we have inherited a society that in many ways has forgotten its identity and lost its way. Many of us are disillusioned with the religious and political establishments.

If you pinned us down on it, we’d have to admit that deep down we have big questions about the fundamentals of life. Why are we here? Is there a higher power on our side or are we all alone? How do we make decisions, what beliefs make up our compass?

Sometimes we pull ourselves together and we think we’ve got some answers, other times not so much. But what do we believe strongly enough to teach it to our kids?

What do we want them to know about life? What are the values that we want to pass on? What are the things that we know that we know? How do we pass on the humility that is honest about our struggles with some of these questions, while still preserving the message of hope?

I want my kids to value love over fear, peace over division, hope over despair, and freedom over security.

I want them to be creative and curious, hopeful and free. I want them to go into the world with open eyes and open hearts, knowing they will encounter darkness at times, but also certain of their ability to carry the light.

Let’s explore how to raise our kids to be joyful, courageous and resilient, to live lives of creativity and freedom, of love, joy and compassion.

Let’s talk about science, history, and technology, but also politics, economics, religion and philosophy.

Because our kids can take it. They are ready to go there. Our kids are brave and kind, they are earnest and smart, and they were born for this. We must not white wash our history, dumb down our curriculum, or insulate them from the important issues and events of our day.

Instead we must gently inform, educate and equip them for the tasks set before their generation. Just like their parents, I believe our kids crave authenticity, honesty and challenge. They want to know what’s real, and they want to know how to engage their lives with intelligence and passion.

This path is not for the faint of heart, for it will require that we go into our own hearts and face our own demons. To teach our kids the real stuff of life, we’ve got to stop hiding from it ourselves. But it’s not quite as daunting as it sounds once we get into it, because this is also our path. We were also born for this.

We are brave, we are strong, we are resilient. We are here to do all sorts of awesome things, and one of those is to equip our children and set them on their own paths.

Practicing Living in the Present Moment

Motherhood, Parenting, Spirituality

I’ve been thinking a lot about the power of the present moment, and living fully present, especially since recently reading The Power of Now, by Eckhart Tolle. (I use affiliate links for books. I appreciate your support.)

And then that was immediately put to the test this week as I began the process of potty training our youngest son. In the past, whenever I was potty training, I inevitably spent my days wishing I was somewhere else. This time around I set my intention to embrace the experience and live in the present moment, asking what lesson it held for me.

What I found this week while focused on being present in the moment with my precious son, as I sought to see the lesson to be learned, I realized that the experience itself was helping to teach me how to be present.

Ever since I began to awaken to a new level of spiritual reality a few years ago, and began the process of renewing my mind, and aligning with my soul, and such, I realized early on that being present and patient was quite difficult for me. I have always been a planner, a forward-thinking, detail-oriented, responsible, future-focused individual.

Now I’m learning to change my perspective, to rewrite the rules, to enjoy the journey in an entirely new way.

On the one hand, watching myself potty train our youngest is showing me how far I’ve come, that I have changed so much, and for the better, in my pursuit of my better self and a better way of life and service.

On the other hand, it’s still incredibly hard for me to just sit for hours and play duplos and watch Team Umizoomi and Story Bots. But as I practice witnessing myself from the vantage point outside myself (in alignment with the pov of my soul), and I set my intention to find the lessons and learn them, and gently insist to myself that I relax into the present moment, I shift into a wonderful new state of mind.

I allow myself to rejoice in my son’s life, to enjoy his joyful, innocent and enthusiastic presence. I relax, and sit, and soak into the moment. I play duplos and snuggle and do the potty routine 2-3x an hour. And I realize at some point that my son is teaching me to be present.

When I release my judgment (of him, of myself, of our routine, of the situation – there are many options in both parenthood and potty training) and focus on being present in the moment, I see him as he is, I see myself as I am, and I am able to focus on loving him and being present.

And my soul itself is soothed by this process. I find a state not unlike that I find in meditation at times, where the outer world and the inner chatter fall away, and you are able to simply focus on something simple that fills you with joy and gratitude, just for the simplicity and complexity of this gift called life.

My challenge to you today and this week is to consider what mundane or tedious life circumstances might have a lesson for you, and to practice being fully present in the moment in those parts of your life. Look for where you have resistance to your life and ask yourself what it would look like to accept those parts. Relax into the experience and invite spirit to speak to you as you allow the moment to be what it is, without trying to make it something different.

It’s important to remember that we can apply spiritual principles to anything. This journey is all about finding your true self, about finding a new and better way to be you. This means what you are learning can be applied to what might seem to be the most boring or ‘non-special’ parts of our lives. Practice inviting spirit into every part of your daily life; expect miraculous shifts and you will find them.

Dear Homeschooling Mom

Letters, Motherhood, Parenting, Spirituality

I applaud you. I salute you. I adore you. My heart beats as one with you. Don’t ever stop, just keep going.

Your mission is sacred.

You have divine assistance ever ready to support you when needed. All you have to do is ask.

I prayed for years to join you. And now I am one of you. It’s been several months now. I just got my second ever homeschooling approval letter in the mail. It’s official; we’re set to homeschool for our first full school year starting this fall.

It’s interesting to have all the kids all summer knowing that there is no ‘relief’ in the fall, there is no break, no end, this is the new normal. Me. The kids. Doing life together.

And yet no relief was greater than getting that letter in the mail after sending in my letter of intent and our test scores as required by the state.

And yet it’s intense. There is always someone talking to me, touching me, interrupting me, questioning me. Someone is always eating, or pooping, or arguing, or talking.

Some days it is just intense and real, and I make it through. But some days it’s just heavenly and those are becoming more and more frequent. We’re learning how to get along, how to do life together. We’re finding routines, co-creating our days, our schedules, our outings, even our menu.

And then the fear returns. They are fun and wonderful and getting along, yes. But they take so much time, when will I ever work?

When will I write, when will I record videos, will they ever all sleep consistently on the same schedule? Please?

But then I remember to choose faith, to choose love, to choose hope, to believe in mission, purpose and alignment.

What has God put on your heart, for your children, for yourself?

I believe you can find alignment there, and a sense of peace and joy, that will give you a sense of purpose and alignment. And which in turn will give you an acceptance and ownership of your life. And that will revolutionize your use of your energy and your relationship with time.

Which in turn changes – everything.

Dear homeschooling mom, don’t ever give up. Yours is a sacred, holy mission, a beautiful task. Know this, you have everything you need to succeed, and whatever God has put on your heart in addition, a way will be made for you to do all that truly matters, all that you are meant to do and be, you will be given divine capacity for the task.

I have friends who work and homeschool. Knowing them bolsters my faith, as I hope to now lift yours.

You have the time and energy and creativity for everything you wish to do. Learn to listen to yourself, so you know what that truly is. Then really listen to your kids so you know what matters to each of them, and what really doesn’t.

Find what is true for you and your family. It doesn’t matter what other families juggle. What is important to you, to your husband, to the kids?

What are you doing just because?

Figure it out and stop doing it, and give yourself permission to find more time for the stuff that makes your heart sing, and then give yourself permission to make money doing it, if you want.

Your mission is sacred, God is your ally, and I am your biggest fan.

You’ve got this, momma, you’ve so got this.

With all my love,
Alicia

My Letter to You

Inspiration, Letters, Motherhood, Parenting, Spirituality

Daughter, sister, friend,

I see you, I know you, I was you. I love you.

I see your struggles, your heartache, your frustrations, your hope. I know you know there is a better way but sometimes you despair of ever finding it.

I see you shopping for groceries, paying the bills, learning new skills, finding time for real talk with your husband, having those challenging conversations with your kids.

I see you in those quiet moments, I feel your determination, your desperation, to find a better way, to make a change, to create a life for your family, that is more, more than you have now, different than you had growing up.

I see you doing dishes, listening to podcasts, reading books, networking on Facebook, going to church, looking for friends, trying to pray.

I see you looking for answers, unsure where to go, where to look, where is safe, who can you trust. I’m here to help you, and I love you.

I know you love your husband, your heart hurts for his struggle, the burden he carries to provide. I know your love for your kids, and all your hopes and fears and dreams for them. I know that deep down you despair of knowing what beliefs you can confidently pass onto them.

I know that education opened your eyes to the world but also burdened you with knowledge, and debt. I know you see things you don’t know how to grapple with. I know you see the effect of the culture and yet you still fall under its sway. It feels like an uphill battle, going upstream with a small paddle.

I know your struggle with technology, with food, with business, with always striving to make everyone happy. I know that church gives you a high of spirit and relationships for a moment but then leaves you empty. I’ve been there too.

I know you feel shaky in your faith and wish you could find solid ground. I know you feel the tug of your soul, your heart lights up when you make and create, and you despair of having enough time for your art, and your family, and your home, and your own well being.

I’m here to tell you that work life balance is not a myth, and that you can change your relationship with every aspect of your reality – time, money, family, faith, kids, marriage, health, self.

And it starts with a transformation of faith. You’re going to rediscover God in a way that is real to you, so real you can feel it in your bones.

God is alive and well and calling us all forward into a new dispensation of his grace. Science is illuminating the spiritual. The divine is revealing itself to us in new and fresh ways.

You can find solid ground, and integration of faith and practice. You can have an understanding, an experience, a faith so flexible and yet solid that you can teach it to your kids.

You can discover your own true power, a power greater than you ever realized you had. And yet that is so truly you and a part of the you that is you, that once you find it, you feel like you always knew it to be true. On a deep level you always knew you were so much more than the shell, the shadow, the small version of yourself, of your life that you’ve been living.

You are more than your past, than your mistakes, than your successes. You are more even than your current hopes and dreams for your future. You are so much more than you can conceive in this moment.

You are beautifully, mysteriously, powerfully good, and strong, empowered and inhabited by the divine energy and wisdom that created the universe, and it’s time to reclaim the truth of who you are.

Your single most important task is this remembering. Your world, your friends, your family, they need you to remember, to recover the forgotten truth of who you are.

Together we will help you remember and recover your identity and through it, your power.

And when you do, I promise you that everything will change.

You’ll do work that makes your heart sing, that doesn’t feel like work, and you’ll have time in the transition for everything.

And as you build your foundation, you’ll retire your husband and teach your kids and pour into others and sit in stillness with yourself. You’ll have time for it all and abundance overflowing.

Because God is here, working in and through and with us. All we need to do is answer the call, be receptive, seek alignment, and expect goodness, love, joy and abundance.

Let go of Resistance, seek Assistance. Your desire is enough.

Let go of your fear, and embrace Faith. Embrace the love that flows into and out of your soul.

We received a tainted religious tradition and a wrecked culture driven by greed and fear, that feeds on the innocent and tempts us into lives of addiction and consumption.

We now declare that this ends here, with us. We will embrace love and the renewing of our minds. We will press into spirit and find our true power. We will learn and grow and thrive and remove our inner blocks. We will fight the fight of our mind and emotions. We will battle resistance and fear and greed.

So that our children can know a different world, can be raised in a lighter, better world, have a deeply empowering perspective on life that allows their generation to create a radically better world that matches the transformation of their inner lives.

We commit to healing ourselves so that our children can start with a fresh perspective, a new paradigm of Spirit and Truth. We align with the divine, all encompassing source of love that is God, and set our intention to embrace the transformation God intends for us, so that our children can be free of our blocks and limiting beliefs, with the freedom to live at a higher level, to partner with God in the ongoing evolution of humanity, the positive moral arc of history.

We now declare that it ends with us. We must rise up, we must meet the challenge, rise to the occasion, fight our own demons, conquer our resistance, embrace our power, and offer healing to the world. In all of this we are not alone, our victory will come through the assistance of our inspired imagination powered by love, we no longer work from a striving placed relying on our own willpower.

As we first heal ourselves and each other we will cleanse the energy of our homes, changing our language and our thoughts, our actions, our emotions. We choose to radically transform our hearts and thus our environments so that our kids can learn a better way at a younger age. They will stand on our shoulders and call us blessed.

They will embody the next stage in human evolution, in the beautiful picture of truth, beauty and grace that the divine in us is calling us forward into.