How Understading Me, You, and Us Makes for Better Parenting

Nov 6, 2015

I can feel the heat of my heart pounding on my ears.  I notice my daughter holding her breath as I sternly tell her how I “hate irresponsible people.”  As I take my next breath, I stop dead in my tracks and realize, wow, complete mom fail.  I have transformed my moment of teaching and showing my daughter about responsibility into a moment of shaming her.  I stop and tell her I am too upset to speak and think this process through.  Once together again in the car, I attempt to explain how “Mommy got to the point, where she was being hurtful rather than helpful.” The vulnerability of noticing my mistake and pausing to understand what was going on for me allowed me