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Yes, a connected approach to parenting takes more time when your kids are little.
It means investing in their emotional worlds and helping them understand them and cope with them without shutting them down.
But it also means less time feeling terrible about the way you reacted to your children. AND it means less time trying to repair broken trust when they are older.
Investing in your children is time well spent, and the beautiful relationship you will develop will absolutely be worth it.
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 difference between calm and gentle teaching and permissiveness when addressing problematic behavior in children can be confusing, but punishing a child for their mistakes does not teach them emotional and behavioral maturity; instead, being respectful and patient in drawing boundaries and limits is more effective in teaching children the right way to handle difficult situations.