Guilt Trippin'
So I'm the type of parent that believes that our children are not meant to be just seen, but most especially heard.
I'm convinced that the issues we struggle with as adults are deep seeded from the moment of our infancy.
Having been a painfully shy, quiet and extremely insecure child who as an adult still struggles daily to shake off those issues (let the record show, I'm also a product of my mom is the absolute BEST MOM IN THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE *love you mommy*)- I'm doing what I can to encourage the opposite in my own children.
I want them to understand they have options. I want them to know they have a voice. I encourage freedom of expression. I do my best to validate their opinions, feelings, needs and wants because even if they don't dictate how our household runs or our expectations of them- they matter. Meeting their mental and emotional needs are just as important as their physical needs as the mental is what creates our physical. I stress the importance of having high standards yet recognizing the value of the little things and the understanding that, more is not always better. I do my best to nurture the need in each child to plug into something creative. Art is our souls expression and neglecting that aspect of ourselves is to deprive us from connecting to the divine and the experience of achieving flow- in which all our best work is done. (Can't remember the last I reached that level of concentration myself... but... anyway... moving on...)
I teach them to respect their peers, their elders and all those in positions of authority. However, I also encourage my children to not be afraid to question anyone or anything that doesn't seem quite right to them. I want them to trust themselves and know that they are capable of making decisions for themselves that align with their beliefs, regardless of what other people say is thee right way of doing things.
Challenge and question everyone.
Everyone and everything, that is- except for me.
*Reyna, by the way, is my daughters FIRST name, hence, the name printed on the ribbon.*
I'm convinced that the issues we struggle with as adults are deep seeded from the moment of our infancy.
Having been a painfully shy, quiet and extremely insecure child who as an adult still struggles daily to shake off those issues (let the record show, I'm also a product of my mom is the absolute BEST MOM IN THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE *love you mommy*)- I'm doing what I can to encourage the opposite in my own children.
I want them to understand they have options. I want them to know they have a voice. I encourage freedom of expression. I do my best to validate their opinions, feelings, needs and wants because even if they don't dictate how our household runs or our expectations of them- they matter. Meeting their mental and emotional needs are just as important as their physical needs as the mental is what creates our physical. I stress the importance of having high standards yet recognizing the value of the little things and the understanding that, more is not always better. I do my best to nurture the need in each child to plug into something creative. Art is our souls expression and neglecting that aspect of ourselves is to deprive us from connecting to the divine and the experience of achieving flow- in which all our best work is done. (Can't remember the last I reached that level of concentration myself... but... anyway... moving on...)
I teach them to respect their peers, their elders and all those in positions of authority. However, I also encourage my children to not be afraid to question anyone or anything that doesn't seem quite right to them. I want them to trust themselves and know that they are capable of making decisions for themselves that align with their beliefs, regardless of what other people say is thee right way of doing things.
Challenge and question everyone.
Everyone and everything, that is- except for me.
*Reyna, by the way, is my daughters FIRST name, hence, the name printed on the ribbon.*
Lemme just say, I'm not a big fan of guilt trips. Call me stubborn if you like, but I prefer to know my children are acting from their own free will and because... well... mom is always RIGHT.
And then there are moments like the example above where I just gotta bust it out of my back pocket.
And while I wouldn't consider this morning to be my best parenting moment- I'm also a firm believer that a healthy dose of dysfunction is necessary to make our kids funny.
Note, her face edited into that pea. *Knee slap* Genius.
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