relationship rewind

Abbie: Hello and welcome to the CosmoParenting Podcast brought to you by the CMM Institute for Personal and Social Evolution. In this space, we invite you to see yourself as someone who is curious about and actively participating in creating your own meaning around parenting. 

This is our ‘Animate’ episode, where we offer some strategies to integrate into parenting so you can bring to life the things we talk about here on the podcast. Let’s begin.

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Abbie: I am joined once again by gifted educator Stephanie Higgs. Hi, Stephanie.

Stephanie: Hello, Abbie.

Abbie: So, Stephanie, we have spent this month discussing relationships. What’s the strategy you are offering us related to this theme?

Stephanie: Of course, Abbie. Today it’s the ‘Relationship Rewind,’ which is actually a practice that I learned as a participant in therapy. And I found it so helpful, effective, and insightful in my own personal life that I started thinking about how I could use this practice with kids in the classroom or even at home. 

The idea of a ‘Relationship Rewind’ involves reflecting on your top people! This could look like your top three favorite friends, your top five favorite peers, or your top family members. It’s the idea that, first, we identify who are the people that stick out to us the most on a day to day basis and then it involves us doing a bit more reflecting on the qualities of these people that we greatly admire, respect, appreciate, or love. You could also do this in reverse too and start by thinking of a quality you value, then look out for it in your relationships. 

So, perhaps that looks like identifying your three favorite friends and then your three favorite qualities about each of them. The overarching principle here could involve reflection that allows you to determine what qualities you most value in others or self reflection in how you can continue to emulate some of these admired traits in your own life. 

Abbie: Okay, I really love this practice in the context of parenting because, like so many of these practices, they’re good for all ages. And it’s a great tool to prompt your child with, but also adults who are parenting deserve to think about their other relationships and what they want out of them, too. So, this practice really works on a couple different levels. And I really think it’s true that the relationships we have that make us feel the best, those don’t happen by accident, so when you can name what exactly you are experiencing in a relationship that makes it feel so warm and fuzzy, then that’s when you can replicate it and seek it out in other relationships. 

So, thank you so much for joining me today, Stephanie! And thank you to everyone listening for joining us as well. You can connect with Stephanie on Instagram @littlemissgifted and you can check out our other CosmoActivities and additional resources all for free at www.cosmoactivities.com. We are so grateful to be on this journey with all of you. And we will see you next week for the final episode of the month where we will talk communication on the theme of relationships. 

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