Episode 224: Natalie Hixson

Today’s conversation is going to be so helpful because I bet I’m not the only one who has completely lost their mind and exploded in anger at their kids especially during this season of self-isolation. A few weeks ago, certified professional life coach Natalie Hixson joined me to talk about anger and motherhood. Natalie is a mother to three daughters and knows firsthand what it is like to experience destructive anger and burnout. In this conversation, we talk about how anger played a role in her motherhood, how to overcome the pattern of destructive anger and how to rebuild broken relationships because of anger. 

Her story hits so close to home for me. I never knew how to handle negative emotions which made it hard to teach my kids how to handle negative emotions. You’ll hear Natalie coach me through how to handle my emotions when my kids are fighting. And before we jump into the conversation I need to let you know that we experienced some weird technical difficulties about midway through the conversation. Skype actually dropped the call and then we had to try to pick back up where we left off. 

Freebies:

• Sign up for Sarah’s monthly newsletter containing her survival kit

• Download Sarah’s FREE planner pages to help you be more productive and efficient

• Season Two of Sarah’s other podcast, Raising Boys & Girls is available!

NEW:

• Patreon for Surviving Sarah - this is a great way to financially support the show and in return you will receive some amazing bonus content

Links mentioned:

• Natalie’s Trigger Tracker

• Surviving Sarah episode with Dan Scott about Raising Tweens

Survival Kit:

• getting up early

• reading

• coffee

• sunshine

• exercise

Takeaways:

• “Your mistakes do not define you as a mother.”

• “This is jut a challenge that you need to overcome.” You can do hard things. Just because this is a challenge doesn’t mean you don’t want to be a mom.

• To break the destructive cycle:

  • admit you have a problem

  • be curious why you were triggered

  • how do you want this to look like in the future?

• What to do in the moment of triggering:

  • S - stop 

  • A - inhale

  • T - tune in

• How to rebuild:

  • Go to your kids and say “its okay that I was angry but how I treated you with my anger was not okay.” Take responsibility and ask for forgiveness.

  • Ask “what is going on for you? How was you feeling?” You validate them when asking this. This teaches empathy.

  • Then give physical touch - it reminds them that they are not a problem.

Discussion Questions:

• How would you describe your motherhood experience?

• In what ways can you relate to Natalie’s story?

• What tends to trigger your anger?

• Are you able to see where it’s not bad to feel angry but it’s not okay to respond in a destructive way? What does the difference look like?

• What would be helpful for you to be able to respond in a productive way to your kids?

• What is one thing you can put into practice right now from this episode?

(Amazon affiliate links used when possible--purchasing through these links is an easy way to support the show. Or shop using www.SurvivingSarah.com/amazon and a portion of the what you buy will go back to the show.)

Connect with Natalie:  Website // Facebook // Instagram // Pinterest

What did you enjoy about this episode? What was your takeaway. Let's continue the conversation on Instagram or Twitter.

Thank you for following along life with me. I love being apart of your day. And as always, I hope this show helps you survive a little easier.

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