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Compassion fatigue is real. And so is the power of repair.
If you have a failure of empathy with your kids, own your failure, offer compassion delayed, give space for their pain about your lack of compassion, and start the dance of connection again.
We all get out of step. The key is getting back in and taking the lead to get there.
P.S. we had our repair this morning and he said "mom it's ok, we all get grumpy sometimes, and anyways I had already forgotten"
A message to all fathers: keep going with your efforts to connect with your children because they desperately need to see what a healthy, connected, caring male looks like, and it will create a secure attachment that fosters resilience.
Learn why kindness is a learned behavior that requires empathy and space for development, especially for neurodivergent children, in this informative video that encourages viewers to seek evaluation if standard teaching methods are not effective.
The most helpful way for a child to understand boundaries is to model it for them, and as parents, we should also honor some of our children's boundaries as well to protect connection and safety, not power.