Moonstone Maternity Tanya Alderman

06/02/2024

Home from some lovely far and wide posts. Now available in the South West for the next few months ☺️

06/02/2022

27/01/2022

Maternity care, Moonstone Maternity, postnatal, nanny, Cornwall

14/09/2021

Have you ever stopped to consider the strange dichotomy between our hopes for our children in the future and how we want them to behave today?

Today is all about compliance. We want children to always do what we (and others) tell them to do, to not question us or complain, to be subservient and easy to control. If we think about our goals for them when they're in their twenties and beyond we want the complete opposite for them. We want them to aim for the sky and smash glass ceilings, we want them to be true to themselves, with a strong voice that they're not afraid to use to question injustice. We want them to respect themselves and know that respect should be earned, not demanded. We want them to be inquisitive, to explore the world, to try out different things. We want them to stand up for their beliefs. Basically, we want them to be completely different to the easy to control little child that is easier to parent. No wonder our 'job' is so hard. We have our goals and expectations confused and muddled and so rarely do we stop to admire a so-called 'stubborn' and 'willful' child for their amazing grit and resilience, or to celebrate a tween who answers back when they perceive an injustice has occurred.

The more I write about parenting, the more I keep coming back to the idea - that it really shouldn't be about trying to change our children, but instead, changing the expectations we have, which are largely inherited by a misinformed society whose beliefs are still entrenched in outdated authoritarian views of childhood. I think it's about time we shift this train of thought, don't you?

For more reframing and tips on how to discipline mindfully, so you can have boundaries and rules today, but still nurture your child’s amazing traits for tomorrow. Check out my Gentle Discipline Book:

🇬🇧 https://amzn.to/2YQ8r9b
🇺🇸 https://amzn.to/3zf3JOF
🇦🇺 https://bit.ly/3nwXlQU