How to Model Toddler Behavior — It’s Never Easy, but It’s Always Clear
And the results will hit you when you expect the least — as they hit me.
They say parenting is the hardest thing of them all because the stakes are so high, and we often feel like we don’t know what to do. We don’t want to mess up our children, right? We need to teach them things that will make them decent human beings. But what are those things, exactly? And how are we supposed to teach them?
I have found the answer, and I will spare you from reading everything below to discover it. You teach your child yourself.
Parents teach themselves.
This one — parents teach themselves — is one of the greatest lessons I’ve got from Magda Gerber. Parenting is about being a model of what is human, a model that our children will happily follow. And once you realize that parenting comes down to watching yourself, you’ll know what you have to do. It won’t be easy, but it will be clear.
The way you handle your mistakes or deal with frustrations
How you approach problems or ask for help when you’re overwhelmed
How you apologize and fix things with other people or how you navigate various life conflicts
How you listen or how you speak up (not just for yourself, but for others, too)
How you care…
