I have had the opportunity to read Rebeca and Mauricio Wild's book "Educate to Be" and I must say that it has helped me reflect on many aspects of the kind of parenting and education I want to give my children.
I identify with its authors because it is a couple who change their lives completely by having their first child and discover that everything is easier when they decide to go at the child's pace and not the other way around. The book tells the story of a couple who have set up their own school of active education in Quito, Ecuador, where they have learned to respect children in their individuality, time and curiosity.
I would like to share with you some phrases that I have liked the most and that has made me modify habits or interpret my little one better. Anyway, I suggest that you read the book and if you have the opportunity, also other books by this author.
What do you think of this phrase? Is it instinctive to say "Nothing happened" to them when they cry? Has it ever happened to you that your children have cried a lot for something that didn't seem to make so much sense to us but that after crying, the child has been better or more relieved?
It has been hard for me to banish that phrase, but I realize that I am very empathetic when I give my daughter's tears a place when she has hurt herself, when another child has hurt her or when she feels bad because she wants something she cannot have at that moment. Putting words into her emotions, telling her that I understand that she feels bad but that "now we can' t", has helped me to go through moments of sadness for her, and a lot of learning for both of us.
Soon I will share more excerpts so that we can continue to share, think, test, modify attitudes, improve and feel better about ourselves and our loved ones.