Thanks for sharing this Jade, I feel like so many mums need to read this on the regular, and not just toddler mums too. I have a two-year-old and find that when she melts down, something about her red face, the big fat glistening tears and the guttural screams of horror if I try and cuddle her really just pierces my soul. I find myself shaking, on the verge of tears too, anxious and clumsy.
I have read so much about gentle parenting, that sometimes it leaves me feeling much worse because the strategies I've read about and tried haven't helped at all. And that knocks my confidence. A friend thinks consuming so much information about parenting clouds one's ability to make instinctual decisions based on the child in front of you. I can see what she means. Some of the gentle parenting stuff sounds great on paper, but can be really unhelpful and even more infuriating in practice.
The ONLY thing I've realised, over the last year of toddler parenting, is that some days I'm much more capable of staying calm and helping my little one navigate the frustration, and other days I'm not. And that's OK.
Some days I wait calmly, give her a massive cuddle and she calms too and we get over it. Other days we are trying to leave the house and we are late and I feel rattled (understatement). Oh, and making getting dressed to go out a game/assault course with cushions and tasks—total winner at the moment, but you have to have the energy for it! (And I've NEVER read that tip in a book, just made it up.)
You are so welcome. I just think for most of us. We are good mums. We shouldn’t be beating ourselves up over feeling human and if we are bubbling over more than we feel we should be (and it’s not a nice feeling) then there are so many medical professionals and organisations with accredited councillors (which I can’t stress enough in the age of social media) to help. We just need to seek it before the feelings swallow us whole.
That out the door game sounds right up my son’s alley. Getting him into the car seat is a battle at the moment haha it’s snails pace!
Thanks for sharing this Jade, I feel like so many mums need to read this on the regular, and not just toddler mums too. I have a two-year-old and find that when she melts down, something about her red face, the big fat glistening tears and the guttural screams of horror if I try and cuddle her really just pierces my soul. I find myself shaking, on the verge of tears too, anxious and clumsy.
I have read so much about gentle parenting, that sometimes it leaves me feeling much worse because the strategies I've read about and tried haven't helped at all. And that knocks my confidence. A friend thinks consuming so much information about parenting clouds one's ability to make instinctual decisions based on the child in front of you. I can see what she means. Some of the gentle parenting stuff sounds great on paper, but can be really unhelpful and even more infuriating in practice.
The ONLY thing I've realised, over the last year of toddler parenting, is that some days I'm much more capable of staying calm and helping my little one navigate the frustration, and other days I'm not. And that's OK.
Some days I wait calmly, give her a massive cuddle and she calms too and we get over it. Other days we are trying to leave the house and we are late and I feel rattled (understatement). Oh, and making getting dressed to go out a game/assault course with cushions and tasks—total winner at the moment, but you have to have the energy for it! (And I've NEVER read that tip in a book, just made it up.)
Oh and Kevin Maguire wrote about EXACTLY THIS from the father's perspective this week, and is well worth the read! https://www.thenewfatherhood.org/p/9-recent-events-that-pushed-me-to
Thank you I’ll have a read!
You are so welcome. I just think for most of us. We are good mums. We shouldn’t be beating ourselves up over feeling human and if we are bubbling over more than we feel we should be (and it’s not a nice feeling) then there are so many medical professionals and organisations with accredited councillors (which I can’t stress enough in the age of social media) to help. We just need to seek it before the feelings swallow us whole.
That out the door game sounds right up my son’s alley. Getting him into the car seat is a battle at the moment haha it’s snails pace!