When we would have conflict he would leave. Go to a different room, go for a walk, head to the bathroom, etc. Get away. I would follow him. Escalating. Getting louder and more frantic. I felt unheard and like he didn’t care about the issue… or me. And worse, his walking away triggered my…
Tag: conflict
I Loved My Child But I Didn’t Like Her
by Jessica Martin-Weber *Edited to add this content warning- difficult relationship with parent discussed including parent not liking their child.* I had a child I didn’t connect with well. For some reason we didn’t click. It was more than that. We didn’t click, we didn’t connect, we didn’t understand each other, we didn’t enjoy…
When Character Building Tales Are Damaging
Good news for all parents: I have come up with a design for a school that would offer our kids the character building opportunity of having to walk uphill to AND from school. I know parents everywhere are going to jump all over this idea, because none of us want our kids to be wimps…
The Importance of How We Communicate
“Haven’t your parents taught you any manners?” Taken aback by the aggressive and rather rude question, I tried to find a quick and appropriate response to the question – not an easy task for my slow-processing brain. “Um, what is this in reference to?” “Haven’t your parents taught you any manners?” Taking my cue from…
Trampling People in the Spirit of the Season
Decorating our house for the Holidays has long been a staple of the post-Thanksgiving weekend for our family. Jessica and I have rarely had a year when we haven’t been involved in some kind of artistic production, be it a musical, choral performance, recital, a concert, or some other type of show. The Holiday…
Beyond Yelling
We have chosen not to spank our children and we aim to parent with respect and gentleness. This is a departure from how we started (though, to be honest, we would have told you we were parenting with respect and gentleness with spanking and yelling because we believed it was necessary) and it has been…
Beyond Relationship Advice
Did you know that every 5 minutes an article is published on the topic of romantic relationships? Actually, I just made that up. But it sure feels that way. From blogs to articles featured on trusted online news sources, newspapers, magazines, self-help books, talk shows, virtual discussion forums, to local discussion groups for men, women,…
Modeling Screwing Up
Yesterday I had a moment that I wasn’t proud of in my parenting. When I sat down the girls and apologized for how I behaved we talked about why I yelled and the issues I was struggling with behind it (lack of sleep, back pain, sad about sending Earth Baby off, frustrated with the…