7-Day Parenting Reset Challenge – It’s All About Connecting

Welcome to Week 9 of the 90 Day New Page Challenge!

But first — Week 8. How did it go?

Did you take a walk? Do your calf raises while brushing your teeth like a very sneaky athlete? Maybe even make it to the gym once and feel unreasonably proud of yourself for the rest of the day?

I hope you moved your body a little more last week than the week before. And if the most athletic thing you did was walk from the couch to the refrigerator at a slightly brisker pace than usual? We don’t judge here. We just lace up and try again.

Now. Let’s talk about Week 9.

This Week, We’re Talking About Our Kids.

Not their schedules or their grades or their activities. Not the logistics of who needs to be where and when, and who forgot their water bottle again.

Just… them. The actual small humans living in your house. The ones you would genuinely do anything for and also occasionally hide from in the bathroom for five minutes of peace.

Week 9 is all about a parenting reset. It’s about pressing pause on the busyness long enough to actually connect with your kids in a way that matters to them.

Why a Parenting Reset Matters

Real talk for a second.

Parenting is a lot.

There are schedules to manage, meals to make, permission slips to sign, and approximately forty-seven things happening simultaneously at all times. There are the kids who need help with homework, the kids who won’t stop arguing, and the kids who need you to watch them do the same thing seventeen times in a row and react with genuine enthusiasm every single time.

It is a lot.

And what tends to happen when life is a lot is that we shift into management mode. We’re present, but we’re managing. Coordinating. Logistics-ing. (Is that even a word? I say it is!) We’re doing everything “right” and somehow still feeling like we’re missing something.

What we’re missing, usually, is connection.

Not more time necessarily — although more time is always nice. Just better time. More intentional time. The kind of time where your kid feels like the most important person in the room instead of one more thing on the list.

That’s what this week is about.

What We’re Resetting This Week

Week 9 is about showing up for your kids in small, intentional ways that actually land.

Not by becoming a Pinterest-perfect parent who has crafts ready and never raises their voice or by overhauling your entire parenting approach in seven days. Just by doing a few small things that communicate to your kids, loudly and clearly: you matter to me. I see you. I’m here.

Things like:

• Putting the phone down and actually being present for ten minutes
• Asking a question that goes deeper than “how was your day”
• Leaving a little note that will mean more than you realize
• Saying yes when you’d normally say not right now

Not perfect parenting. Just more connected parenting.

Let’s Be Clear: This Is Not About Mom Guilt

Quick pause here because I mean this sincerely.

If you read the intro to this week and immediately felt a pang of guilt about all the times you’ve been distracted or stressed or running on empty and not as present as you wanted to be —

Stop.

We are not doing guilt this week.

Every single parent reading this loves their kids ferociously. Every single one of us is doing our best with what we have on any given day. Some days our best looks great, and some days our best looks like cereal for dinner and a Netflix movie because everyone needed to decompress.

This week isn’t about beating yourself up for the times you weren’t fully present. It’s about intentionally creating a few moments this week where you are.

That’s it.

No guilt. Just intention.

Week 9 Nudges — Pick a Few and Actually Do Them

Same rules as always: don’t do everything. Pick two or three that feel doable, actually do them, and watch what happens.

No phone during pickup: The next time you pick your kid up from school, practice, or anywhere else, leave your phone in the car or put it in your bag and actually look at them when they come out. Make eye contact. Ask how it went and actually listen to the answer. Those first few minutes after school are when kids are most likely to talk. Don’t miss it. (May I recommend playing Mom Jukebox? My kids love it!)

10 minutes of one-on-one time: Set a timer for ten minutes and give one child your completely undivided attention. No phone, no multitasking, no half-listening while you fold laundry. Just them. Let them pick what you do. Play a game, read together, listen to them talk about whatever they’re currently obsessed with, even if you have heard about it forty times. Ten minutes of real, focused attention does more for a child than hours of being in the same room while distracted.

Leave a note on their pillow: Write your kid a note and leave it on their pillow for them to find at bedtime. It doesn’t have to be long, eloquent, or poetic. Just tell them something specific you love about them, something you noticed this week, or something that made you proud. Kids keep these notes. They read them over and over. They tuck them in drawers and find them years later. This takes five minutes, costs nothing, and will matter more than you think.

Ask one deeper question: Instead of “how was your day,” which will get you “fine” and nothing else, try something different. “What was the best part of your day?” “What’s something that’s been on your mind lately?” “If you could change one thing about school, what would it be?” “What’s something you wish I understood better about you?” One good question, asked with genuine curiosity, can open up a conversation you didn’t know your kid needed to have.

Share a memory about yourself: Tell them a story about when you were their age. Something funny or embarrassing, just something that shows them you were once a kid, too. Kids are fascinated by the idea that their parents had a childhood. It opens up a conversation AND makes you seem surprisingly human to someone who mostly thinks of you as the person who makes rules and buys groceries.

Ready to Level Up? Here’s Your Bonus Challenge:

If you’re feeling ambitious this week, try the Level Up Challenge:

A full “yes” afternoon.

Pick one afternoon this week and say yes to everything your kid asks to do together.

Yes to the board game that takes two hours. Yes to baking something messy in the kitchen. Yes to the bike ride, the movie, the backyard adventure, the very elaborate and somewhat confusing game they invented that has rules you will never fully understand.

Just yes. For a whole afternoon.

Now I know what you’re thinking. “I have things to do. I have a house to run. I cannot just say yes to everything for an entire afternoon.”

I hear you. And I want you to try it anyway.

Here’s what tends to happen during a yes afternoon: your kids light up in a way you haven’t seen in a while. Because what they’re hearing isn’t just “yes to this activity.” What they’re hearing is “you are worth my time. You are worth my full attention. Being with you is something I actually want to do.”

That message lands. It lands deep. And it stays with them long after the afternoon is over.

If a full afternoon feels like too much, try a yes hour. Or a yes morning. Or just say yes to the next thing they ask you to do together, right now, today, before you talk yourself into finishing one more thing first.

Progress over perfection. Always.

We’re In This Together

I’ll be on Instagram this week sharing how the parenting reset is actually going — the moments that go beautifully, the questions that open up amazing conversations, and the yes afternoon that will probably involve more mess than I planned for.

Come find me and show me what you’re doing with your kids this week!

• Sign up for weekly emails — every Sunday, the new theme and nudges land in your inbox
• Follow along on IG — daily updates, behind-the-scenes, and more shenanigans than I probably should share publicly
• Download the 90-Day New Page Challenge calendar – download and print the free 90-Day New Page Challenge calendar and write down your nudges each week to help you stay organized. (If you printed this last week, we made a few small updates, so you’ll want to print a fresh copy!) 
• Tag me and use #90DayNewPage — I will find your posts, cheer loudly, and repost you. Share the messy parts. Especially the messy parts.

If you’re just finding us and want to join, learn more about the challenge here: https://lifeonanewpage.com/the-90-day-new-page-challenge-lets-level-up-together/