This month can be an incredible time of anxiety and worry. Our teens are finishing end of semester projects and finals. The winter break is looming and time spent with friends and even family can be tricky navigating between after school activities, jobs, community service hours, therapy and/or doctor visits and trying to balance it all. As parents, we try to help them navigate a balance, get it all done and in the process feel like we are nagging our teens. At the exact same time we also feel like we have to do it all as well! That this season requires Pinterest perfect decorations, food, clothes and parties (not to mention hair and make -up if you’re female). It can all get overwhelming especially adding in orofacial myofunctional and speech therapy home programs. How do you ‘fit’ in the prescribed exercises? How do you get it all done in a day? Tis the season of stress, anxiety, and worry! Well, let’s break it down, in Max Lucado’s book, Traveling Light, he states that worry divides the mind. In fact, the Greek word for worry, merimnao is a compound of merizo , “to divide”, and nous, “the mind”. The result is half-minded living. So, let’s focus our energy on full-minded living, mindfulness. Take a moment to breathe deep and examine the priorities of the day and the season. Set a schedule for your teen and discuss the time of day that is good for you all to work on the exercises. Agree to the schedule. By setting the example of time management and the importance of orofacial myofunctional and speech therapy home program you are setting the tone for success. The exercises only take a few minutes out of the day and can be done according to the schedule you all set. It requires mindfulness and a willingness to let go of lesser important activities. In the end, you will see a difference and hopefully a little less worry and anxiety about ‘trying to do it all’.

Lucado, Max. Traveling Light: Releasing the Burdens You Were Never Intended to Bear. Nashville, TN. Thomas Nelson. 2001.