A Blustery Day Inspires Goal Setting and Empowerment

 I'm always amazed at how rapidly Cabin Fever sets in after a few delectable days of Spring are followed by the falling of fluffy white misery. This morning we awoke to SNOW! It's Spring Break, and there were moans from my five and 3-year-olds who had thought playing outside with friends was on the agenda.

As they sat, moping in slumps of sadness, staring out the window. I suggested they suit up and head outside to build a snowman and collect snow for some snow cream. Immediately, my five-year-old set in on how "hard" it was, and she "always falls."

I remembered reading about the Block Building exercise on the Fishful Thinking website and immediately said, "I will help you, and if you promise to put forth the effort, I know you can help make an amazing snowman."

We suited up and went outside. It was cold, but we were a team on a mission to build a snowman. I packed three snowballs and showed each one how to roll and pack their ball. After a few minutes, my five-year-old stomped her feet, folded her arms, and marched off, declaring, "I can't do it!"

Kneeling on her level, I asked, "What can't you do?" She answered pitifully, "Make my ball get bigger. It keeps breaking."

I suggested I watch her and see if maybe we could find the solution, but to do this, I needed to know what she hoped her snowball would become. "I want to make the belly. It needs to get this big (and she held her arms out, indicating a large tummy)." I clarified, "So we need to make this little snowball into a belly ball this big?" I exaggerated my hand movements. "Yes."

Together, we rolled and discovered she was pressing too hard while packing. I suggested she make a mantra, "I can do anything because my name is ___________," and she loved it. Over and over, she repeated her mantra. Slowly, her snowball was becoming larger and larger until she jumped up and down and said, "I did it, Mom! I made a ginormous belly ball."

We put our snowman together using each of the balls everyone contributed. We danced around the snowman to bring it to life, and as my five-year-old put the hat on our new friend, she leaned into him and said, "When it stops snowing, and it gets to be a sunny day, just keep saying, "I can do anything because my name is Frosty" and great things will happen!"

Our afternoon has been influenced by making that goal to make a small snowball transform into a colossal belly ball. Making a goal to transform something ordinary into something inspiring has led to a delightful day when we suddenly feel empowered. There is nothing we can't achieve, and should we, for even a moment, hesitate to believe this, we just remember we can do ANYTHING because of who we ARE!