...And I Turned Out Okay

Or, What Changing Patterns Looks Like

Floor time with the pup is an emotional wellness staple.

I turned out okay too.

And:

I get triggered by my kids’ developmentally appropriate behaviour.

I find myself assigning judgmental labels (brat!) to age appropriate behaviour.

I find myself focusing on the behaviour instead of the needs beneath the behaviour.

I work against my natural instinct in order to treat my children with respect.

I work against my natural instinct in order to remain calm and curious.

I have to actively choose to walk away instead of go in and fight.

I have to remember to take a deep breath and pause so I can respond and not react.

I read and read and read respectful parenting books/articles/thoughts in order to stay inspired and on track.

I have sought out respectful parenting scripts in order to know what treating my kids with respect even looks like in certain situations.

I practice my calm responses ahead of time so that I feel confident that I can show up in the way I want.

My natural tendencies towards parenting are not at all in line with my values of raising children who are seen, heard and understood so they know they matter and belong.

I have filled volumes of notebooks with “Future Self Journaling” as another method of practicing respectful parenting ahead of time, so that my responses are reliable.

I get overwhelmed by a normal amount of noise.

I catch myself daily either in the middle of or about to use shame to control my children.

It’s been almost 8 years since I began my respectful parenting journey, and I am still learning and growing. I think it will never stop.

I turned out okay and there’s still a lot of work to do.