Parenting and family stuff

Since it is so likely that children will meet cruel enemies, let them at least have heard of brave knights and heroic courage. — C. S. Lewis, “On Stories” https://t.co/wGA8Ixcmye

I once read in a parenting book that one way to deal with kids’ tantrums is to “parent with awe.” In Hunt, Gather, Parent, Michaeleen Doucleff observes the way some Inuit mothers are able to calm children by encouraging them to turn their attention toward beautiful, worldly things.

One of the things that happens as boys are growing up is they learn about a very restrictive version of masculinity, a list of things that you’re not allowed to do or say. Particularly around emotions: You’re allowed to be angry, and you might be able to cry if something’s really bad — like a sports team you’re on loses a really important game, or... See more

In only three generations, children in the British Isles as well as the United States have lost their freedom to roam, their independently explorable territories shrinking from hundreds of acres to the dimensions of each child’s own back yard. This is not an accusation toward parents; their decisions reflect their judgments about their children’s

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The only thing I should feel is compassion because that’s the only thing I wish for people to feel for me. So I will do my best to give grace to everyone. But often the hardest thing is to give that grace to ourselves.