Hello lovely!

While her back was turned, her naked toddler wandered out the door!

(Rhoda’s story is here with her permission plus some details were changed for privacy.)

My friend Rhoda gets her groceries delivered to her apartment. She recently had the door propped open while she brought them in multiple loads to the kitchen.

Fresh from a bath and excited to see the world, her son made it out the door and around the corner of the hallway before Rhoda was back to grab the last bags and shut the door.

Assuming he was still playing quietly in the living room, she began putting groceries away when there was a knock on the door.

“Huh. Maybe the delivery person forgot a bag?” Rhoda thought while going to answer it.

NOPE.

It was the neighbor holding her small son.

The text message I got read, “I’M A BAD MOM. I DIDN’T EVEN KNOW HE WAS GONE. And he was FULL BUTT NAKED. I’m sure my neighbor thinks I’m a horrible parent!!!”

I replied, “You’re a wonderful mom! Toddlers are super-sneaky-fast escape artists and thankfully no harm was done. I know this isn’t funny now but I promise it will be funny someday.”

I totally get why Rhoda started to shame spiral when her son got out alone into the apartment building hallway and I’m so glad she reached out to me as her friend.

Shame can’t survive in sunlight so sharing her feelings helped Rhoda feel better.

If you’re a parent, caretaker, or responsible in some way for other humans, you know how stressful it can be and how rapidly things can go wrong!

Back in June, Christina Claytor of Follow Through Coaching asked if I wanted to join her September giveaway of 24 free resources for overwhelmed parents?

I know how important it is to have extra support when you’re taking care of others so I said YES!

It expires on September 28th.

I contributed “12 Boundary Phrases for Millennial Moms” to help you protect your time and energy.

It’s twelve phrases like, “My calendar is as full as I want it to be” and “I have a personal rule that I don’t discuss that with strangers.”

The freebie from the bundle that I downloaded for my personal use is Dahn Ballard’s “Yummy Relationship Checklist”. It’s an audit you can go through to see if your relationship is yuck or yum?

Whether you’re a Millennial mom like my friend Rhoda or just a person who takes care of others like me, I bet the bundle has something for you. And it’s free!

Let me know if you have any questions or need help accessing the 24 free resources?

If you’re reading this after September 28th, send me an email and I’ll send the “12 Boundary Phrases for Millennial Moms” flash cards to you.

Happy Autumn Equinox tomorrow!

Warmly,