Be the change you want to see in your kids.

[Spidermama]

This reapplication of Gandhi's idea is going to be my mantra for 2013.

This year I'll have two teenagers and two younger kids and something tells me I might be spending a bit more time on Mumsnet again.

Happy New Year.

Nice one Spidermama ! I'm making a mental note of that ... I'm off to tidy my bedroom right now

Hahaha Brighter that made me laugh: my DS2 brought down two bin-bags of rubbish from his room yesterday, and DS1 said he was going to tidy his too, and I thought "Oops, s'pose I better get on with mine soon, as well".

More seriously Spider, that's a great quotation - thanks. I often find myself telling other mothers here to look after themselves and be kind to themselves, though I haven't always been very good at doing it myself. I do think it's really important: I have often thought that by neglecting ourselves we are actually teaching our children (a) that we, their mums, are not worth caring for, and (b) that when they become parents, they shouldn't expect much for themselves either. :(

I want to see my children respecting and caring for themselves as well as other people... So I'm going to try a bit harder to 'be this change' myself. :)