Starting
The first step in choosing freedom is to start to see that you are making choices, even when you don't think you have a choice to make.Think about all the things everyone just expects – all the areas in your life that you are already choosing a path different from what is expected. You may have chosen to breastfeed your children for longer than others expected. You may have chosen to be attachment parents. If your kids are older than 5, then everyone expects them to be in school, but you may have chosen not to send them to school, and that is definitely an upstream swim in a mainstream society!
Recognize every time you make a choice, whether it is answering the phone or not, getting embarrassed because your kid is having a difficult time in the store and “making a scene” or peacefully helping him get his needs met, enjoying cooking a nourishing meal for your family or helping your kids to eat whenever they’re hungry. The list goes on indefinitely.
As you learn to identify your choices, you can start to evaluate whether a particular choice will bring you and your family closer to freedom and joy or farther from that path.
One caution – stay in the present with your choices – don’t be going back and second-guessing all the choices you made in the past. Our journey only goes forward, it does not double back on itself!
So, in choosing freedom and joy, you just need to keep questioning the expectations and making your informed choices. You already know that gentle, respectful parenting is for you, or you wouldn’t be reading this. My job now, is to help you fine-tune so that your journey becomes even more free and joy-filled!
Monday, March 30, 2009
Trust Children
"Trust Children. Nothing could be more simple, or more difficult. Difficult because to trust children we must first learn to trust ourselves, and most of us were taught as children that we could not be trusted." --John Holt
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