I’ve had many friends and acquaintances ask me recently about how calm my children are. What’s my secret? How do I get them to obey?

I know that my kids do get rambunctious, but they always seem to be calm and collected when it really counts. When other kids are ricocheting off the walls and their parents are embarrassedly hushing them and stage whispering threats, I am usually inwardly smiling at my kids’ stellar behavior.

I am a firm believer in child training consistently and early. Don’t wait until they’re 4 and rule the house!

Here is my Pinterest board on parenting. I have many resources here and my husband and I are teaching our church’s adult Sunday school class about marriage and child training. I am certainly no expert!

Whereas I find my friends’ compliments a great affirmation, I can’t take all the credit here.

I totally rely on essential oils and dietary supplements. They are lifesavers.

We take vitamins and supplements daily. If we forget or run out (God forbid!), I notice. My husband notices.

We’ve run the gamut with making sure our kids are healthy and productive. Elizabeth was “off the charts” for ADHD when she was about 5 or so. We went the medication route for about a year. She stopped eating. She is super skinny anyway, so that didn’t work for me at all. I looked into more natural ways to manage her moods and focus abilities. We changed our diet and started eating more naturally. If it has lots of unpronounceable ingredients, we rarely eat it. Now, we do have M&M’s for treats (with all that sugar and dye!) and occasionally eat things we shouldn’t but I think we’re healthier than average. Baby steps. We use Annie’s mac and cheese rather than Kraft. We eat lots of fruits and vegetables. We can’t afford organic meat, dairy, or eggs right now with as much as we consume. And yes, I do keep Cheetos and Doritos on hand. If that’s the worst of it, I think we’re ok.

Then, in my research, I discovered cod liver oil. I cannot praise its properties enough! The kids are calmer, more focused and attentive, complete their school work quicker than before. Some of this is that they are maturing and growing up these last few months, but I know the cod liver oil helps. I love this article from Keeper of the Home to help explain its benefits. Our kids love the Cinnamon Tingle flavor. I take the orange capsules. There’s no flavor, no aftertaste, and no reflux or burpies.

We’ve taken this liquid multi-vitamin for years. I highly recommend a multi-vitamin since our diets are never good enough. The kids have so much more energy when they take this daily. It’s worth the expense.

I also take 2 Evening Primrose oil capsules and a multi-B complex in addition to the cod liver oil every day. I try to take a multi-vitamin too, but I find if I remember to take my oils and B, I’m energetic enough.

These 7 essential oils are the ones we use daily.

Thieves oil helps our immune systems. We rub it on our feet before bed. We rarely get infections now!  When Tori recently got a cold, it was much less than previous years.

Lavender works wonders on the little cuts and scrapes and skin abrasions so common in kids. Alex and Tori have dry, sensitive skin and break out around their mouths periodically, but after a couple days of lavender oil, it’s all gone. Tori knows to dab it on herself when she starts breaking out.

Frankincense helps brain development and heightens spiritual awareness. There’s a reason it was a gift to Jesus and it is a precious substance. I put it on my face Sunday mornings before church. Tori loves the scent and often asks me to massage her face with it. It helps moisturize skin better than Oil of Olay!

I use Valor, Joy, and White Angelica like perfume every day to help me conquer negativity and moodiness. I have suffered from low grade depression since I was about 12. I can’t tell you how much better I feel since using these oils. I sometimes put Valor on Tori to help her if she’s going to be experiencing a tough situation, like our church Christmas pageant. She’s painfully shy and it gives her strength to get through it.

Peace & Calming is just that. Ahhh. I use it mostly on Kate to keep her from bouncing off the walls. I often use it in my bath water after a tough week (before you think: “Ew”…I shower daily, but I only get to lay in a bath weekly, if I’m lucky!).

Click the picture to get a lovely chart to see how to replace OTC meds with essential oils.

Alex was such a big boy at the Christmas pageant. He “hushed” the big kids during the production and gently placed his hand on one girl’s arm to encourage her to sit still.

All three little kids played in the handbell choir. I love how serious they look as they concentrate on the numbers and colors on the flashcards for the songs.

A couple boys refused to play bells at the dress rehearsal and Alex was thrilled to fill in and played at the actual performance in front of the whole church. I helped him, but he sure knew what to do!

Liz was a narrator for the Christmas pageant. She has come such a long way from when we were at our wits’ end with her lack of focus and hyperactivity. She is learning how to manage on her own and recognize her mood triggers and find memory helps to learn better.

Of course, prayer is also extremely important. The things we do work well for our family. I don’t know what issues you may have with moods, behaviors, allergies, etc. I am not a doctor. I’m just a mom. These are just our experiences.

If you want to learn more about essential oils, please check out my essential oils page or contact me with any questions.

If you’re all ready to purchase some wonderful oils for yourself, here’s my Young Living distributor website.

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