Parent Spotlight

Name:  Anna Lundeen Location: Steamboat Springs, CO Occupation:  Family Medicine Physician and Rodan and Fields Skincare Consultant Children (Names, Age): Laurel, 6 and Linden (Lindy Lou), 4 - both girls

What brings you joy as a parent? 

I love watching my kids learn how to be kind to others.  Living in Steamboat and sharing outdoor living with them whether it be mountain biking, skiing, camping has been such a thrill!  

What are some of your challenges as a parent? 

Working full time and not being able to pick kids up right after school is hard.  We try our best to always eat dinner together and have good conversations, but there are definitely days that both kids are tired and we are equally so.  Dealing with tired, emotional kids when your tank is not full personally is tricky.  As a couple, my husband and I try to acknowledge each of our personal needs for self care and strike some sort of "balance."  That feels more like a juggling act than true balance most of the time.

What is the best advice you received or lessons learned as a parent? 

Remember, as important as your children are, if you don't put yourself first, 2 things will happen. 1.  You won't have the capacity to be fully engaged with your children.  2.  They won't learn how to put themselves first either.

How do you practice self care? 

I am a big member of our local crossfit gym.  I crossfit 4-5 days per week and ski at least once.  I meditate or read something for myself for at least 15 minutes per day as well.

How do you make time for your relationship with your partner? 

We have a lot of meaningful conversations over lunch making at night after the kids go to bed.  We try to do a date night once per month.  It usually happens more like every 2 months.

Are your parenting styles different than your partners?  How do you manage parenting with your partner? 

We are really consistent and on the same page with parenting thankfully, but we balance each other out in terms of capacity to handle the hard things.  My husband is better at using humor to diffuse situations, and I tend to be better at rational discussions and acknowledgement of the hard emotions my kids are facing.  We are also both really good at apologizing for our short comings either to each other or to our children.  Open discussions about when mommy and daddy don't handle things well I think are important for kids.  They need to see us be vulnerable as well as understand the importance of owning our mistakes.

How do you spend quality time with your children? 

We have a family ski day once per week, dinner every night, and we try to have a game night 1-2 times per week and a movie night once per week.  We like to make things special even when they aren't really.

What parenting tools work for you and your family? 

I subscribe to a newsletter called "Ah-Ha Parenting."  Other than that, we are really just winging it.

What do you wish for your children? 

My only goals at this point are 1.  that I am teaching them to be kind and respectful to themselves and to others, and 2.  that they understand how to work hard toward goals and dreams.  I expect them to face challenges, heartbreak, hurt.  As hard as that will be, they will know that we are there for them to pick them back up and that hard work will pay off in the end.