Parents today carry a heavier load than most people see. Data shows the gap clearly. Employed adults with no children at home spend about 4.5 hours a day on leisure and sports. Those raising a child under six average only 3 hours. The pressure shows up in relationships, too. Parents who report a strong partnership with their spouse or co-parent are far more likely to say they have an excellent relationship with their child, at 67% compared with 50%. Time, energy, and connection matter, and many families feel short on all three.
Ask parents what they want most, and the answers tend to repeat. More calm. More connection. Less chaos. Digital noise, tight schedules, and constant comparison make home life feel like a cycle of rushing and recovering. Holly Swenson has seen this pattern for years, both as a nurse and as a mother of four. Her takeaway is straightforward. Families do not need more pressure to perform. They need tools that help them slow down, stay present, and live with intention.
Holly Swenson, Founder and CEO of Live Your Glow LLC, is a wellness advocate and the award-winning author of Stop, Drop, Grow & Glow. Her mission is simple yet powerful: to bring mindfulness and intentional living into the heart of parenting. Her debut book introduced a four-part framework designed to help parents break old cycles and build healthier emotional patterns at home. The response was immediate and clear. Parents resonated deeply with the concepts but needed guidance on how to put them into practice.
That insight shaped her next project, an online course called Glow Forward: Parenting with Presence and Purpose, set to launch soon. The course pairs practical strategies with reflective exercises so families can shift from reactive habits to grounded, conscious choices.
Even before the course goes live, the ideas behind it offer steady guidance. Swenson’s work reminds parents that a calmer, more connected family life is not about perfection. It is about presence, practice, and small intentional steps that support everyone in the home.
A pause is more powerful than it sounds
Swenson talks often about the value of stopping before reacting. In a tense moment, even a short pause can break a cycle of frustration. It gives parents a chance to respond with clarity instead of emotion. For many families, this small shift changes the tone of the entire household.
Patterns matter, and so does noticing them
Many parents move through their days on autopilot. Swenson suggests paying attention to what consistently drains energy or triggers stress. Once those moments are identified, small adjustments become easier. Sometimes it’s a boundary. Sometimes it’s a routine change. The awareness alone can be a turning point.
Connection doesn’t need to be complicated
Parents often feel pressure to create big moments, but research and real life both point to something much simpler. Short, consistent interactions build the strongest bonds. Five minutes of undistracted conversation. A shared walk. A check-in question at bedtime. Small moments add up.
Swenson’s interest in this work isn’t abstract. She has lived the long days, the crowded schedules, and the internal tug-of-war between responsibility and presence. She describes her work as “soul work,” something that keeps pulling her forward even on tired days. She continues writing, developing her course, and building resources rooted in her mission because she believes parents need straightforward tools, not more pressure.
The course expands her framework into a guided experience that helps parents examine inherited patterns, improve communication, and apply mindfulness in daily conflict and stress. It also highlights emotional intelligence, something Swenson believes will matter even more for children growing up in an unpredictable world.
Alongside the course’s core ideas, she offers practical exercises that families can apply immediately.
A daily ritual can stabilize a chaotic day
It doesn’t need to be long. A cup of coffee without multitasking. A quick journal check-in. A stretch before bed. These small rituals create pockets of calm that ripple into the rest of the day.
Repair matters more than perfection
Conflict happens in every home. Swenson recommends repairing quickly instead of letting tension linger. A simple acknowledgment can restore trust. “Quick repair models emotional responsibility,” she often notes, “and it helps children feel safe again.”
Presence is the real currency
Turning off notifications during family time. Listening without scrolling. Offering full attention even for a short moment. Swenson argues that children remember how present their parents were, not how perfect.
Swenson’s long-term aim is bigger than any course or book. She wants families to build habits that strengthen resilience and emotional awareness in the next generation. She often speaks to parents who overcame difficult upbringings themselves, encouraging them to see their experiences as a foundation for purposeful growth rather than a barrier. With awareness and small daily practices, she believes anyone can reshape their family story.
As Swenson’s online course prepares for launch, her work continues to echo a message many parents are ready to hear: change doesn’t always require big steps. It often begins with a pause, a breath, and a decision to show up with intention. In a world that moves fast, that choice may be one of the most important tools parents have for raising grounded, confident children.
