I am a firm believer that our most powerful tool as nannies is modeling. Modeling kindness is at the tippy top of my list of ways to teach kids compassion. But I hadn't heard many practical tips to help us destress when our nerves are frayed so we CAN model kindness - until this week.

I've written about a few such as exhaling, dropping your shoulders, saying a phrase like, "Adam is frustrated but I am not." But those weren't completely cutting it. Then I stumbled upon these three. They're mantras.

#1 I found the first one while reading O Magazine in the bathtub. It comes from an article by Martha Beck called How to Deal with Emotional Triggers. She suggests mentally offering ourselves kind wishes using these Buddhist phrases: May I be healthy. May I be happy. May I be free from suffering.

#2 You can see Gabrielle Bernstein demonstrate the second technique in this video. She suggests tapping your thumb to each of your other fingers (on the same hand) saying each of the following words with each tap: Peace. Begins. With. Me. Then the other hand.

#3. This one's my mantra: I am a good nanny.

I was up too late last night so I'll be employing one or more of these tips today... If you do, let us know how it goes!