Sunday Night Homework Hour

It was Sunday evening after dinner when Samuel remembered that he had a homework sheet for Math class that was due Monday morning. "How could I forget I had Math homework!" he exclaimed. Knowing he only had one hour before bedtime, Samuel rushed to grab his backpack. "I'll never have enough time to get it done," he complained. He dumped the backpack onto the kitchen table searching for the worksheet. In his haste, his agenda book burst open, spilling papers onto the floor and creating a mess. Unable to find the worksheet, Samuel screamed, "I'm so stupid! I can't do Math anyway! Forget it!" Samuel burst into tears and ran upstairs to his room.

Have you ever watched as your child got into spiral of negative thoughts like Samuel? Have you ever found your own thoughts escalating from one negative thought to another, to another...?

The Problem with ANTs

Like Samuel, most people have ANTs (Automatic Negative Thoughts). "I'm so mad I could spit nails!" Some people think it isn't a problem because the bad thoughts are in their head and they are not acting upon them. Therefore their ANTs are not hurting anyone and they're not a problem. The problem is, their ANTs are hurting someone, themselves! Here's how. ANTs have a tendency to multiply. Just like Samuel's example, one negative thought can lead to another...and another, and before long, a negative downward spiral results. By children being aware of this, they are less apt to get steamrolled.

Here's what happens. Negative thoughts release bad brain chemicals that go to every cell in the body which weakens the person and creates negative feelings. Those negative feelings usually trigger negative behavior, that typically result in a bad outcome, which in turn creates more negative thoughts.

And that's the problem with ANTs!

Positive Power

To counteract the spiral of negative thoughts, we need Positive Power! Similar to the biological reaction negative thoughts cause, positive thoughts create positive brain chemicals that positively affect the entire nervous system. Thus in turn, creating a positive chain reaction of positive feelings, behavior and results.

When children learn how powerful their thoughts can be, they gain motivation; motivation to learn about ANTs and ANT Smashing. They learn that they have a choice. They can either allow the ANTs to have power over them or they can be more powerful than the ANTs! They can choose to recognize their ANTs, tap into their positive power and choose to use their ANT Smashing Strategies to SMASH them. The first step is to recognize the power of thoughts and become aware of the thoughts we are thinking!

Nancy Sheain & Kathy Norton

Building Futures, LLC

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