How To Be A Zen Mama

By Betsy McKee Henry

Parenting can be the cause of so many emotions like worry, anger and disappointment. These emotions are habit forming and put a wedge in your relationship with your children. How To Be A Zen Mama gives you helpful hints about how to stop worrying and let go; and by letting go, you become closer to your kids. Study with the Zen Mama Master and learn to let go!

Readers are saying:
“This was a fantastic book! Being a mom is so challenging and no matter how much you think you have it all together or not, reading this book helped me immensely. And as our worries, and stresses change with age, Zen Mom, put a whole new perspective on life where you can just exhale and be Zen. The book will remind you to spend time with your kids in ways you may not have thought of. And to have this book around for the wonderful reminders to go back to once in a while sure helps as our children grow and our lives get busier. A marvelous quick read. I highly recommend for all parents young and old.”

“I was fighting back tears while I read How To Be A Zen Mama. It’s really a gem and I love it. I will reference it often, as I have an 11 year old daughter right now who’s dealing with pubescent, pre-teenage angst, hormones, peer pressure,self-induced pressure, etc. Any pearls of wisdom within my grasp are always appreciated. Your delivery is calming and filled with nothing but love and compassion,the traits we desperately need more of in this world.”

“I can’t thank you enough for the Zen Mama book. It arrived last Friday and I’ve read the book twice already. It really spoke to me. She addressed all my fears and worries about parenting and I felt like she was speaking directly to my situation! Like her, I have often felt like I can be the Zen preschool teacher but then have trouble carrying this philosophy over to my own children. It saddens me that I can appreciate and accept other kids’ personalities more than my own childrens’ but the book really gave me inspiration. Please thank Betsy for writing it and let her know how much it has meant to me.”

• Language: English
• Publisher: Betsy McKee Henry
• Release date: Jul 2, 2011
• ISBN: 9781452485300

Betsy McKee Henry

Betsy McKee Henry (1963- ) was born in Connecticut and moved to Chicago with her parents at an early age. How To Be A Zen Mama is her first book. Betsy was always writing as a child and was told all the time she should be a writer. She knew that the writing would come when it was time.She moved to Colorado after attending Indiana University. She wanted to come to Colorado after having spent wonderful family vacations there. Colorado is more wonderful than she even dreamed!She loves to read, garden and travel with her family. She wrote this book in the hope that other mothers will be able to let go and live happier lives. She lives with her husband and three boys in Littleton, Colorado.Please visit her blog and website at www.zen-mama.com

Book preview

How To Be A Zen Mama

13 Ways To Stop Worrying, Let Go And Be Closer To Your Kids

by Betsy McKee Henry

Zen Mama Publishing

Denver, Colorado

Copyright 2011 Betsy McKee Henry

All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations in critical articles or reviews.

For information, contact:

Zen Mama Publishing

3100 Cherry Creek Drive South, Suite #907

Denver CO 80209.

Cover Design by Betsy McKee Henry

Cover Photo by Elisabeth Feldman

Smashwords Edition

License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

____________

This is dedicated to the

Original Zen Mama,

my mother, Barbie McKee

"Life is not a problem to be solved,

it is a gift to be opened."

~Wayne Mulle

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface

Introduction

1. Oh Well

2. Pick Your Battles

3. Don’t Sweat the Big Stuff

4. Each Child is Different

5. Be a Yes Mom

6. Be In The Moment With Your Kids

7. Send Them to Bed And To School Happy

8. Find Out What They’re Interested In

9. Let Them Experience Life

10. Nagging Doesn’t Work

11. Take An Evening Off

12. Teach Kindness

13. Just Love Them

Appendix

Books and Websites

Acknowledgments

Meditation on the Zen Circle

About the Author

How To Be A Zen Mama

"If you’ve had a happy childhood, no one can ever take that away.

If you’ve had an unhappy childhood, you’ll search for it the rest of your life.

Give your children a happy childhood.

Treasure your children."

~the Zen Mama

Preface

"When the student is ready, the teacher will appear."

~Zen Proverb

The idea for this book was conceived on a trip to Boulder, Colorado. My husband and I had just finished a challenging year with two of our three children; grades had fallen, limits were being tested. The teenage years are not easy, as anyone with even one teenage child will tell you. Being a positive and optimistic person, I tried to find the lessons in all of our experiences and understand where we had made mistakes. I couldn’t continue to be the person I’d become over the summer and the new school year. I was a frantic, nagging mother worried about my kids in this modern world with text messaging and Facebook and our demanding culture that wants them to be volunteers, super athletes and ivy league students. Yet, at my job as a preschool teacher, I felt more Zen-like, giving out pearls of wisdom to those overly concerned parents of my 3-5 year old kids. I decided at that point that I had my own life to live and needed to let my children live their lives. If I let go, maybe we’d all be happier. I decided to combine the two ideas: the frantic mother and the Zen like teacher, and become one, become a Zen Mama.

Hopefully this book will be a teacher for you. None of us brings a child into this world with a degree in parenting. I have at times been thankful for my teaching degree, having studied and practiced teaching before