Sublime

Well, these children of praise have now entered the workforce, and sure enough, many can’t function without getting a sticker for their every move.

Inside the rule-bound, precise, formal person, a playful, silly self is hoping for release. Inside the important person admired for their status is a child who wants to be liked for themselves.

I once read a beautiful teaching attributed simply to “a modern educator.” It read: “Try to see your child as a seed that came in a packet without a label. Your job is to provide the right environment and nutrients and to pull the weeds. You can’t decide what kind of flower you’ll get or in which season it will bloom.”

According to Orthodox psychologist and parent educator Miriam Adahan, children need an opportunity to learn about the “wave pattern” of emotions. If parents rush in to rescue them from distress, children don’t get an opportunity to learn that they can suffer and recover on their own. TURNING

You are your child’s greatest gift in this world—or at least you can be. Choose to be your child’s champion. Choose empathy over disappointment, love over anger, self-efficacy over fixing blame, and problem-solving over punishment.

seek constructive criticism.

When we talk about parenting, she reminds us that we can’t force a child to do something: we need to motivate them to want to do it themselves.

controlled half of the relationship, my half.