The No-Aggression Challenge: Mindfully Celebrating Week Ten of the New Year
Hello, Claire, Peter, and dear reader families!
As we dive into week ten of our enriching family challenge, I want to take a moment to express my pride and joy in how wonderful this journey has been so far. Each week has brought us new opportunities to learn and grow together, and I am so grateful for the chance to celebrate family bonds through these shared experiences. We may have had our ups and downs along the way (thank you, Claire and Peter, for every time you’ve dragged us out of bed in the dark to participate in our family challenge when we forgot), but what truly matters is the effort we put in and the lessons we learn along the way. If you haven’t joined us yet, there’s always time to start—begin with us right now!
This week, we are embracing the No-Aggression Challenge. This is a wonderful opportunity to reflect on our words and actions and discover more about ourselves and how we interact as a family. The goal is to consciously avoid aggressive language, movement, and behavior—to instead act with kindness and understanding!
You might be thinking, “Aggressive? That’s not me at all!” But take a moment to consider the little things. Does anyone in your household jokingly threaten to “punch” or “slap” someone? Have you experienced a moment where a slammed door spoke louder than words? This week is all about pausing and recognizing those behaviors.
Here are a few key reminders for our No-Aggression challenge:
- Be Mindful with Your Words: Eliminate phrases like “shut up,” calling someone a “stupid head,” or saying someone is “annoying.” Kind words can greatly change the tone of a conversation.
- Stay Calm: Avoid raising voices or using hostile verbal or body language. Steer clear of yanking something from someone’s hand. If you feel emotions bubbling up, remember our challenge—it can be helpful to take a deep breath, sit down as low as you can get, or even go wash your hands to calm down.
- Modeling Behavior: This challenge is for the whole family! Everyone—from the youngest sibling to the oldest, from parents to grandparents—can benefit from practicing non-aggression. It may take more reminders for the little ones (or, ahem, the grandparents), but that’s how we learn and grow together.
- Use Your Tools: If you feel overwhelmed, remember the smile therapy we introduced in week 8! A simple smile can help diffuse tension and lift spirits, helping you regain control.
Focusing on gentler words and movements creates a more peaceful, less chaotic environment. Listen to one another, share feelings, and communicate with love and grace. This change can transform not only how we interact as a family but also how we view and understand ourselves.
As a reminder, we are a week ahead, and I want to share that we really benefited from this challenge. You will probably make mistakes, just like we did. Here’s how we handled those moments: Phrases like, “I love you, and this is a friendly reminder that we are on a no-aggression challenge this week” can be helpful. Sometimes, it might sound like, “I have reminded you three times that we are on a no-aggression challenge this week. Please actively listen and repeat back to me what I just said.” And if I’m being totally honest, there was that one time it came out as “You can be mean to each other next week, but this week we are on a no-aggression challenge!” followed by, “I’m sorry, I shouted; I know we are on a no-aggression challenge, and I’m practicing just like you to do better.” As parents, we realized we needed to improve on separating the kids during a pinchy, scratchy squabble; we discovered that we could handle these situations with less force.
I wish you all the best of luck this week! I hope you embrace this opportunity to connect in a positive way. This is a challenge we may repeat again this year, and I can’t wait to hear how this week goes for you!
With love,
Ashley
