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Sometimes in the moment we forget the long term goals of parenting. We are exhausted or lost in someone else's judgment or just don't know what to do.
Take one minute and pause. Imagine your kids as grownups recounting this moment, what do you wish for them to have felt or experienced from you?
Do your best and be kind when you mess up (we all do ALOT)
Hold onto the vision of your long term relationship with your kids when you're making the tedious short term decisions of the day. You won't regret it.
Learn how to provide honest and appropriate answers to your kids' tough questions about adult struggles, without being dismissive or intrusive, by focusing on your child's needs and taking care of their heart in this insightful video.
The difference between consequences and punishment is important to understand, as consequences are the natural outcome of an action and necessary for learning, while punishments are intentional pain inflicted to control behavior, which can damage the parent-child relationship and hinder a child's growth towards internal security.
Teaching healthy conflict resolution to our children means modeling it for them, which requires communicating and connecting through conflict without fighting dirty or being violent.