The unbearable rightness of being (a toddler) — the unbearable rightness of being (a toddler)⁠↗

• Stay firm and unwavering, like you are being deposed and cannot change a single word of your answer every time it’s asked. • The hard part of gentle or gentle-adjacent parenting is that for the first 5 years of your kid’s life it will appear to not be working, because they’re not afraid of you (which is good.) • Check in with yourself internally to see if you really care about the boundary or if you’re trying to feel a semblance of power (I often realize I’m caught in a power struggle w my kids about something I don’t care about.) • Keep a repertoire of phrases at the ready. Like, “That isn’t being offered to you right now” and “can you do it by yourself or do you need me to help you?” • Finally, don’t buy into the parenting scripts that want you to give lengthy affirmations about your child’s feelings; they are too little and he’ll just zone out.

Decide what you’re going to allow your children to do, understand that they’re probably going to have a meltdown no matter what, that there’s really no getting around it. That if they’re expressing this, it’s the healthiest thing for them to do and something they need to clear to be able to be that person they need to be to do their day.