Hi, I’m Marilynn, and I proudly embrace multiple roles in life— I’m a mom and an educator with more than 12 years of teaching experience. At SnugglyFam, we create specially crafted digital printables for both teachers and families, infusing concepts from Positive Psychology to bring about wellbeing in our classrooms and homes.
How we started
My journey into positive parenting and positive education began when I realized that traditional methods like yelling, nagging, or even threatening didn’t yield positive results with my strong-willed and determined daughter. There was a period in our lives where her response to everything seemed to be a defiant “No!”. Requests and rules were met with stubborn refusals and screams.
My love for my child is immense, but I’ll admit that I used to get triggered when she didn’t follow instructions or insisted on doing things her own way. Our interactions often involved a lot of screaming, shouting, crying, and boundary testing. Every single day felt like an exhausting battle.
As negative behaviors began to manifest in my child, I started to question myself. I knew there had to be a way to help children navigate their feelings and emotions effectively.
That’s when I stumbled upon Positive Psychology and Positive Parenting. Driven by my newfound passion, I pursued a Graduate Diploma in Applied Positive Psychology, and I soon realized the importance of teaching our children emotional literacy and how to regulate their negative emotions. Positive emotions are relatively easy to understand because they are visible and bring about good feelings. However, it’s the negative emotions that pose a challenge. How can I encourage my child to express her negative feelings? How can I help her when she’s upset, even if I don’t understand the exact cause?
Before I could effectively teach my child, I needed to educate myself. I discovered that the key to solving all my parenting challenges lay within me—my perception of the situation, my ability to manage my own emotions to provide comfort and support to my child, and the way I framed my thoughts and set boundaries. As I began to improve my own emotional regulation, I found myself better equipped to be there for my child, connect with her, and assist her in navigating her own emotions.
It wasn’t easy at the beginning, and I often felt the temptation to revert to yelling and screaming. However, I realized that parenting is a journey of progress, not perfection. I allowed myself the space to reflect, try again whenever the next meltdown or tantrum occurred, and keep striving. Every time I witnessed a more positive response from my child, I celebrated it as a personal victory. I am still a work in progress, and I continue to make an effort every day.
So here I am, eager to share relatable steps in my blog that are backed by research (and that I have personally tried), infused with techniques and strategies I learned from Positive Psychology. My goal is to assist parents who find themselves in similar situations to mine, helping them enhance their own mental well-being while nurturing their children’s resilience in the face of adversity.
Join me on this journey as I share tried-and-tested techniques and strategies that you can implement in your own life. Together, we can build a foundation of positive parenting and emotional well-being for ourselves and our children using the digital resources that we have created.
