Hoppy
04-30-2008, 01:17 PM
From www.screamfree.com
Quote of the Day: "People who get nostalgic about childhood were obviously never children."
— Bill Watterson, creator of Calvin and Hobbes (1958- )
http://www.screamfree.com/resources/partners/template/images/hal_runkel.jpg Hal's Take: It is so easy for adults, feeling overwhelmed by the responsibilities of adulthood, to forget how difficult it is being a child. School is either incredibly difficult or incredibly boring, relationships are seemingly always full of melodrama or pain, and body image and hormones are, well, major issues. Such is the story of being immature, insecure, and in constant need of validation.
But all of that is not even the hardest part. Unfortunately, the hardest part about being a kid is having to relate with your parents. Even parents with the best intentions will usually project their own unfulfilled hopes, and their worry-filled fears, upon their kids. And it leaves kids feeling the weight of all the unmet expectations of the family. We parents usually don’t even recognize this process, but it’s the driving force behind much of what we do.
That’s the force we’re all trying to stop with ScreamFree Parenting. And the first step is asking yourself, in a calm way, one question: Would you have liked having yourself as a parent?
Hal Runkel, LMFT, author of ScreamFree Parenting:
Raising Your Kids by Keeping Your Cool.
Quote of the Day: "People who get nostalgic about childhood were obviously never children."
— Bill Watterson, creator of Calvin and Hobbes (1958- )
http://www.screamfree.com/resources/partners/template/images/hal_runkel.jpg Hal's Take: It is so easy for adults, feeling overwhelmed by the responsibilities of adulthood, to forget how difficult it is being a child. School is either incredibly difficult or incredibly boring, relationships are seemingly always full of melodrama or pain, and body image and hormones are, well, major issues. Such is the story of being immature, insecure, and in constant need of validation.
But all of that is not even the hardest part. Unfortunately, the hardest part about being a kid is having to relate with your parents. Even parents with the best intentions will usually project their own unfulfilled hopes, and their worry-filled fears, upon their kids. And it leaves kids feeling the weight of all the unmet expectations of the family. We parents usually don’t even recognize this process, but it’s the driving force behind much of what we do.
That’s the force we’re all trying to stop with ScreamFree Parenting. And the first step is asking yourself, in a calm way, one question: Would you have liked having yourself as a parent?
Hal Runkel, LMFT, author of ScreamFree Parenting:
Raising Your Kids by Keeping Your Cool.