beyond a shadow of a doubt

I adore you.

Maybe this parenting thing is just a whole lot easier than we make it out to be. Our children simply want what we all long for…to be adored, shamelessly and entirely adored.
Remember how you felt when someone was madly in love with you? How you could walk around feeling madly in love with yourself because you were looking at yourself through that person’s eyes?
Give that to your child. Give that to yourself. (Hint: when you tap into your inner being which IS pure love, you will have endless pure love to give).

On the practical side…HOW does that look in the daily mess of things?
Here are some examples from our day.

Echo asks Elliott for some of the banana he is eating.
Elliott quickly shoves the remaining 1/3 of banana into his mouth.
“Echo, I guess Elliott didn’t want to share that. Is there something else we can get for you to eat?”
I assume Elliott was hungry. Simple as that.
Love them both.

Echo grabs Elliott in the face.
“Echo, that hurts Elliott. Are you needing some space? Are you feeling frustrated?”
“Elliott, are you alright? Can I hold you?
Love them both.

Echo is saying “no” to Elliott’s requests for play.
Natalie says “Elliott, Echo has been saying NO when other kids ask her things. If you want her to join you in playing, it might work better to just start playing and see if she joins in.”
Love them both.

NO labelling, no name-calling, no shaming, no eye-rolling.
Openly accepting, providing information, addressing needs, loving.

I adore you.
Simple.
Above all else, that’s what I want my children to remember.