I have wrestled with even posting this, because I would never presume to judge another parent. We are in this together! However, it was a wake up call for me, and maybe it will be for someone else too. Listen to yourself when you respond to your children. Listen at the worst moments and the best moments. Listen with their ears. Remember that the voice they hear is molding their heart, and shaping the way they see themselves for many many years to come.

I looked into my 10 year olds eyes, and said, “I’m so sorry if I’ve ever spoken to you that way, will you please forgive me??” He looked directly at me and said, “Yes.”

I’ll never understand why people roll their eyes when they see that I have five boys, as if they are just so sure that I would be annoyed with the whole thing. Or why they speak of their own children as if they were a complete waste of their valuable time. Do you not know that children notice this?? I will forever defend the incredible gifts I’ve been given, and NEVER come into agreement with the culture of annoyance with children. Do they annoy me sometime? OF COURSE. Do I want to constantly hold that over their heads or make them pay for it? NEVER.

A treasured child will treasure others.
A disdained child will be an angry child.
A respected child will respect others.
A child who is delighted in will be a delight.
A child resented will be lost.
A child defiled with rage will defile others.
A fiercely loved child will love fiercely.

Let’s love them fiercely friends, with our words, expressions, actions, thoughts, and hands.

📷: Alison Little