Children Don't Come With Controls

aka the one about recognising our own behaviours before theirs

Newsletter 30, 29.08.2022

Tea

Been lucky enough to have homemade iced cold mint tea in the garden here in France. Fresh mint growing wild everywhere! Here are the benefits of drinking mint tea.

Energy

We’re in our final few days of visiting family. Juliette has flared up with a fever the last three nights. It may be from the heat from the beach and then swimming in the cool sea. It’s been very physically demanding beachin’ around so much this year! ;)

Thought

When people say 'this generation is full of soft people, we were taught to be strong.'

I think: This generation is not soft, they just learned to set boundaries when previous generations were taught to numb insults. They also learned to express emotions instead of repressing them.

Adults often think they need to criticize, put down, or put children in no-win situations in order to make them resilient. You know how children learn resilience?

When mistakes are normalized, they are taught what to do when they mess up and are encouraged to keep trying. Recent generations are more connected, more mindful, more appreciative, more affectionate, more assertive, and have a better balance between considering other people's needs and their own.

If this is soft, I hope there are more soft people in this world."

By Ryan Johnson

Action

I’m getting better at noticing when Juliette is coming down with something. Her mood changes from one extreme to the next, she says odd things and her irritation is catching. And I relate rather than retaliate!

This is not my toddler misbehaving; this is her feeling moody, having an off day, processing a lot around her, being overstimulated, and overtired. To which she’s perfectly entitled, too!

Mindfulness

Image source: @happyasamother