So, welcome to the Sharing Kindness Tribe! I'm Tess and these are my two kids - Sienna and Scarlett (we are a kind family from Sweden living in Australia)!

Why do I feel so strongly about kindness, you might ask?

Well 5 years ago, I became a mother of two girls and, wow, how everything changed! I totally lost myself to motherhood… and had so many thoughts running through my mind…

...how can I teach my kids to be confident when I don’t feel confident in myself?
...how do I teach them to be resilient and confident but still humble and compassionate?

...and how do I raise them to value themselves yet still be kind to others?"

But after having my children and being so far away from my family my identity got somehow lost in motherhood.

And suddenly, I had no idea who I was anymore...

And people would often describe me as outgoing and confident.
But what most of them couldn’t see was that, inside, I deeply struggled with self-worth.

The honest truth is that I had never felt that being me was enough.

I had spent my life trying to be ‘perfect’, helping others and being kind and compassionate with everyone but myself.

Friends and family could tell me I was intelligent, funny or even beautiful, but I never really believed them. I would look around and find 10 girls that I thought were smarter or prettier than me.

And if I wasn’t the best, I didn’t think I mattered at all.

Don’t get me wrong, being kind and compassionate is great!

But when this is at the expense of your own emotions, then there’s a bit of readjusting that needs to be done. And, really, we give best from a wholehearted heart!

If you’re also a fellow PLEASER and PERFECTIONIST, then I'm sure you share my lingering fear of passing down this negative/toxic narrative to our children.

By rooting the stories they tell themselves in kindness, resilience, and self-worth.
It's what makes THE difference!

How do I know?
Because, research doesn't lie and it all points to AFFIRMATIONS....

The more I looked into it, the more I found evidence based research (being a nurse and all, this really was a thing I needed to find) and testimonies of people who found them extremely beneficial and life changing.

I had nothing to lose, so I tried them.

For instance, not long ago, when my husband and I were having an argument...

...as parents sometimes do – Sienna, my 4-year-old daughter, tiptoed into the room and reminded me of something she had learned from the cards...

“Mamma,” she whispered, “when we’re angry, you know your kind heart will calm you down.’

My heart melted! I cried, realising this was the text from the card she likes the most.

I can already see how my kids’ personal stories are changing for the better. And I was so proud of how she even managed to put the meaning of those words into context in such a compassionate and kind way!

I had to share this type of self-kindness so other families!

So, I decided to create my own affirmation cards with...

...simple yet powerful story elements, language, and emotionally aware characters my kids could get invested in.

I also wanted to create an emotionally aware space for children to learn about their emotions and to empower them with skills to feel safe to talk about how they feel by learning through characters doing the same.

Fast forward one year it’s taken me to create this one-of-a-kind Box of Confidence for kids. And for the first time in my life I am genuinely proud of something I have created.

I love to see them thriving. And I am constantly benefitting from them too. I really found that I need these words as much as my kids do (or maybe even more…)

And whether you’re new to the world of affirmations or mindfulness or if you have used them for a while, you will find that once you welcome that kind of positivity to your life, there’s no going back.