Dinner time always seems to be stressful at our house. I’ve been told that’s a fairly universal phenomenon amongst families with kids, but knowing that doesn’t really seem to make it any less traumatic. A few nights ago we had a particularly taxing dinner hour. Mike was late coming home from work, Dean wouldn’t sit in his high chair so he was on the floor crying and clinging to my pants while I was trying to cook, and Juliet was sitting at her seat asking (i.e. yelling) for more juice. To top it off Miles (our dog) was on the other side of the baby gate whining to be let into the kitchen so he could lick my baby’s face and eat food off the high chair tray. I snapped and yelled at the dog to go lie down. Loudly. After a few seconds of stunned silence Juliet said “Wow, that was a loud one. Could you… maybe next time you could say ‘Miles please go lie down.’” Gulp.

One of the most helpful techniques Mike and I have found for conscious and positive parenting is to tell our kids what we want them to do instead of what we don’t want them to do. It works really well with Juliet, particularly when she’s feeling cranky or demanding. For example, when she orders “I WANT MILK!” we respond with, “A nicer way to say that would be, ‘Can I have some milk, please.’” Hence her sage advice to me.

A few weeks ago I wrote a blog about viewing life through our “God Goggles” to find what we are looking for. But the truth is that it doesn’t really matter what we think we need or want, because what we’re meant to have will always find us. As the Buddhists say, the Universe is our medicine.  And I’ll add to it that everyone within the Universe is our own personal sage, here to teach us the exact lesson that we need to learn right now.

Whatever you may be looking for, be open to the unexpected lessons and advice that pop up along the way. It may even come out of the mouth of your three year old. It may often come out of the mouth of your three year old!

P.S. As a side note - Juliet has a second-cousin (also three years old) whose name is actually "Sage". And she says all kinds of cleaver things. I couldn't stop thinking about her when I was writing this blog! So if Sage or her parents read this... hi!