Family Matters: AI and Emotional Regulation
I hope you have had an amazing week and I can not wait to share with you what we have in the works!
Weekly Update:
Travel Plans
We are back in the full swing of busy large family life! Last week’s newsletter I told you we had an invite to the TikTok Headquarters for research outreach, and that we were considering taking the whole family! I was on the fence, just working out the logistics of travel. Putting some research in I realized we would be right on top of the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, and even Time Square! I started to get really excited about the trip just in time to get an email notifying me the recruitment for the study had ended and we would be moved to the waiting list. Ah well, maybe next time, Big Apple!
We are discussing some travel plans for the fall, to the Dominican Republic! Prayers, and patience, while we wait to hear God’s plan and provision. There is an organization we work with in the Dominican called G.O. Ministries who have served the Santiago area faithfully for over 30 years, and are now spread GLOBALLY to many countries, including Mexico, Argentina, and even the U.S. We have been down to work with them every year since 2018, except 2020 (Covid), and 4 of our children have gone with us as well! This trip, we would plan to take the oldest 3 and youngest, as to not take over the team completely with our giant family.
Super Mom Competition
I've got some thrilling news to share with you all! I've been selected to participate in an amazing contest called Super Mom 2024! This is not just any competition, it's a chance to shine a light on extraordinary mamas who go above and beyond for their families every single day. And guess what? YOU can be a part of it too!
Super Mom 2024 is on the hunt for that one special mama who embodies strength, love, and everything in between. The winner will receive a jaw-dropping $20,000 prize, be featured in Woman's World magazine (how cool is that?!), and enjoy a fabulous weekend getaway in Palm Springs, California!
But wait, there's more! This competition isn't just about celebrating moms—it's also about giving back to those who need it most. Super Mom 2024 is proud to support the Children's Miracle Network Hospitals, a nonprofit dedicated to saving and improving the lives of countless children. These amazing hospitals, all 170 of them in the network, work tirelessly to provide top-notch care for kids, and they need our help to continue their incredible work.
AI In The Home
Chris has cooked 90% of meals this week, which has been delicious, and delightfully helpful as I have been working endlessly on curating a Sellers Dozen WEBSITE! More on that coming.
I tried something new this week, and if you’re a tech junkie you’ll get a kick out of this. Utilizing the website ChatGPT, I simply asked for a healthy meal plan for a family of twelve, including three meals and two snacks per day. In a matter of seconds we had an entire meal list! I took it one step further and asked it to make me a shopping list with portion sizes. A chore that used to take me hours, cut down to seconds by artificial intelligence, and now my wonderful husband has a grab-and-go inspiration menu/grocery list for the week! AI blows my mind! It planned foods such as grilled salmon, shrimp skewers, beef tacos with avocado and salsa, quinoa salad… If you are interested in the list it gave me, I have put it together for you! You can click to download or edit for your own family!
Full transparency, our days often are very busy, so this is an inspiration meal planner, not a strict weekly menu. This process removes a dramatic hurtle for me: when I am hungry, I have a hard time thinking. Having a menu to pull quick ideas from is game changing and is a regulating tool when hunger is giving me brain fog. Which segues me right into a concept that has been bouncing around in my head all week.
Self Regulation
I heard a new phrase recently, “you have the patience of a dead man.” This comment on one of my videos made me laugh and was not far off from similar statements I have heard about having the patience of an angel. It just simply is not true. Having ten kids does not magically make me immune to overstimulation or getting overwhelmed.
That being said, I have practiced many self regulation tactics over the last decade to help me direct my patience away from unnecessary demands, and instead, to my favorite little people. A quick google (or ChatGPT;) search will yield results encouraging you to practice meditation, journaling, progressive muscle relaxation…
Honestly, I have never tried strategically relaxing each of my muscles in the middle of a full blown meham meltdown, but here is a list of some things I rely on daily that have proven to help:
Reduce Stimulation: Sometimes it is hard to explain that Mommy is struggling with your normal kid noises, because her hair tie is too tight and the collar of her shirt makes her want to cry. Instead, I go change and fix my hair issue. I refuse to be even mildly uncomfortable with my body and clothes, because it demands a part of my brain and patience that I need for the sake of my home instead.
Set Systems: We have systems for everything, and we fall back on them when things are stressful. I once read that presidents often wear the exact same outfit every day and have someone else pick their food to reduce decision fatigue. Decision fatigue is real, and spending the entire day playing referee with every little disagreement, can be mitigated with some solid systems in place.
Scrap the Systems: Sometimes I get overwhelmed trying desperately to teach and enforce a system that, in my mind, should genuinely smooth out some active pain points in our life. Sometimes it is someone else’s system that works like magic for them, and I want it to work like magic for us too! The problem is, if a system is not working, then it is a problem of its own. Don’t be afraid to scrap the systems that are not working, but remember to revisit it in the future! Sometimes your family just needs to grow a little first. The same is true with systems your family outgrows. Archive them for later, but scrap that system if it is no longer working.
A System That is Working and a System That is Not Working
Our well operating system is the Timer System. If you follow my socials you may have seen me talking about this recently, but our Timer System works like this:
Our children have multiple tools available to them that include a timer they can set themselves, all the way down to the 5 year old, and they can label the timer. Labeling is necessary in our home, as we often have 5+ timers going at the same time, so we personally use an Apple Home Pod Mini. If someone begins using a shared family item, for example a tablet, they are expected to set a 30 minute timer for themselves. If they choose not to do this, because sometimes they get away with MORE than 30 minutes if they are sneaky enough, they leave themselves vulnerable to a sibling wanting the device and setting them a 10 minute timer to end their turn. That’s it. For other shared family items such as the swing set, the trampoline, or bikes, we work the 10 minute rule which states, if you are being asked to share, and you aren’t sharing within a reasonable time, a 10 minute timer is set for you to establish an end to your turn.
A system currently not working so well: the before breakfast clean up. This system is to give everyone a get ready, get organized mindset before starting our homeschool day. The kids have been omitting the bedroom clean up and are choosing instead to start their school work before breakfast, which I don’t mind. But the bedroom clean up is getting skipped more than I like, so we need to re-adjust this system, to accommodate their current desire to start school early, and my desire to have the rooms picked up. I will update when we land on something.
The Good Stuff:
Luke 12:7 reminds us, “Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid…”
Understanding God’s vastness is humbling and comforting. This morning my husband and I read back over Job 36-38. This is the part in scripture where Job has lost all that is important to him, his friends have demanded to know how he sinned to cause such problems on himself, his wife is… well, being a nagging wife. Job says something incredibly unwise; that he is no better off than if he HAD sinned. (I read, “all this pain, and I didn’t even get to sin for it??” Very dangerous.) This triggers a younger friend named Elihu, who steps in and calls them all out on their mess. He glorifies God and is livid with their small minded and selfish reasoning.
Then God answers Job.
Chapter 38 is an overwhelming, comforting, and challenging chapter where God blatantly states his power and majesty. If you haven’t read it recently, I encourage you to do so, because whatever your circumstances, they are not too big for God. The things you are praying for are no trouble for him; he is not limited in resources and creativity. Better yet, he adores you and is highly attentive to your needs. Be encouraged and do not fear.
Our Favorite Content of the Week:
We tested our two sets of twins with the Twin Telepathy Challenge!
The boys really surprised me: Twin Brother Telepathy Test
But the girls were about what I expected: Twin Sister Telepathy Challenge
Books I am reading:
Items May Have Shifted by Maxine McDonald. Maxine is the author of some other books I love, including What Christians Have Always Believed, and How To Talk To a Missionary. The one I am currently reading, through stories from several missionaries, discusses how God moves and directs us in many ways, often times out of alignment with our working plans. Regardless, we are called to be flexible and willing, which is what I am working on daily!
Simply AI by DK. DK has some phenomenal educational resources filled with big ideas, explained simply on topics like Roman History and Nutrition, even Quantum Physics! I am exploring the use of AI in my field of content creation, primarily, but as I mentioned before, it could even be used for things like simplifying daily chores and inspiring systems to mitigate pain points in the home!
I can not think of a field that could not benefit from the use and inspiration of AI. As I am aware much of the modern world is divided on the topic of outsourcing intelligence, my deep dive on the history, construction, and intended purpose of AI, will hopefully allow me to make an informed choice on it’s seemingly unknown risks.
A Little Give a Little Take:
My give this week is a ONE MONTH Meal Planner. These are meals I love and aspire to eat regularly in my house hold! Click to download or edit for yourself!
My take this week is to ask you to jump over to my Super Mom Competition and vote for me! I am excited to be a part of something this is honoring moms all while supporting the little people who made us moms in the first place. If you want daily reminders, make sure to follow me on my socials!