I’ve been playing the “What If” game a lot lately on both of my blogs Love From Baby and My Everyday Magic. I like to use the “What If” game to rework and rethink things without fully committing to them. It feels safer and it’s more believable that way. On my Love From Baby post my “What If” post is subtitled “Radically Rethinking My Parenting Beliefs“. This is a reflection of my inner thought processes that have been going on in my head over the past year and I’m now questioning a lot of the things that have been ingrained (read: beaten into) our culture. Among other things, I’m questioning the validity of forcing our kids to brush their teeth obsessively or cram down their vegetables at all costs. What are we really teaching them ~ that if they don’t brush, their teeth will get sick and if they don’t eat their vegetables, their bodies will get sick. IS THIS REALLY TRUE? I don’t know anymore.

Here is an excerpt about tooth-brushing:

What if our kids REALLY DON’T need to brush their teeth everyday?

I started considering this one when my second son was about 2 years old and each tooth-brushing session became a reality trip straight through hell. I would literally have to pin him down to do it and it became the most stressful part of the day.  It didn’t take long for me to realize that pinning him down to brush his teeth was probably much more harmful than skipping it and keeping our relationship intact. It was at this time I decided to approach teeth-brushing from a place of LOVE instead of fear ~ if he wanted to do it we would sing silly songs as we brushed, if he wanted to skip it, we did. It became much more harmonious, and now at 5 years old tooth-brushing is done very smoothly…on a semi-daily basis.

There’s a lot more to the story than this ~ if you’re interested, read the rest HERE.

The “What if” game on My Everyday Magic was more light-hearted and a lot of fun with others getting into the game as well. Here are some of my favorite “What If’s” copied from some of the comments:

* What if wearing pajamas in public and eating candy whenever you want were truly accepted by all?

* What if I did not feel so held back by lack of money and what if I trusted we are provided for in each moment?

* What if I let go of all fear, what would happen then?

* What if my Big Dream is actually on track to happen in the next few weeks?

* What if the collective consciousness released all baggage and limitations we have around food? How would that change our bodies? What would eating and nourishment look like then?

* What if we celebrated each other every day?

* What if we celebrated ourselves every day?

* What if we truly believed “I have enough” ?

* What if I didn’t need to be sick to take the time I need for me?

* What if everyone was as friendly and happy as the people I meet on my early morning runs?

* What if going out in public was like attending a PARTY?

* What if I stopped trying to improve myself and instead started enjoying myself?

And a couple more from me, this Magical Monday:

What if I never needed a “to-do” list because I got things done right when they needed to get done the first time around?

What if instead of complaining about things, I took steps to change them RIGHT AWAY?

What if I handled every complaint and request from family members as an opportunity to LOVE them the way they need me to in that moment?

What if Cheetos are actually GOOD for you? 😉

Do you have any ideas you’d think to rethink with a “What If” or two? Share with me, please!