Loving Boundaries

"I know I SHOULD not let them, but ugh, better than a battle right now!"⠀⠀
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If you are a parent, you have likely uttered these words to yourself. And you aren’t wrong, sometimes putting a relationship first is letting them wear the ball gown to bed. ⠀⠀
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I shared an analogy with a lot of parents as the pandemic hit our respective countries, we all looked to the leaders. We thought, “okay, what’s the accurate and true information and what are we to do with that?” Ultimately, we wanted to know what the loving boundaries were and to have a confident leader guiding us to the safest path. ⠀⠀
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Can you see the parallels? ⠀
Our children are the same. ⠀
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They feel good when someone is in charge and they can rest in that security knowing it’s not their decision what the family eats for dinner, whether it’s their bedtime, whether it’s time for mom to work or play, or really any big decisions that belong to the adults. ⠀⠀
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We can hold loving boundaries. ⠀⠀
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But how?⠀⠀
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💜We know what loving boundaries are: screen time rules, health, safety and whatever your family values deem as an important boundary. ⠀⠀
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💜We do it. We remind ourselves that sad isn’t bad and that we can say no, allow the tears of disappointment to flow.⠀⠀
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💜We recognize the fear: we can be so scared of our children’s reactions. Maybe because it’s loud, maybe because it’s intense, maybe because it makes us feel inadequate as parents (aren’t we supposed to have quiet well mannered children???). Once we can call out that fear, we can remind ourselves that facing those fears will enable us to be a confident leader and our children can sigh in relief and rest with us.

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