Child Abuse Prevention Month...Day #9. To Prevent Child Abuse....
/...acknowledge that parenting can be challenging. For some folks, it's not. For some folks, parenting is a breeze. And, that's very nice. For some folks, it's damn hard. Why? Well...frankly...that doesn't really matter. It doesn't matter to a little child who is just trying to get her needs met (and may be doing it in a way that hits her parent's very last nerve) why parenting is hard for some folks.
We hear "child abuse" and we immediately think of sick, deranged, evil, sadistic people who ought to be removed from society altogether. It's an us-versus-them kind of thing. The "us" are the good folks who would never dream of laying a finger on that beautiful head. The "them" are those evil folks who are out of control.
But...please consider this:
Having compassion for people who don't know how to deal with their own intense feelings at a bad time is NOT the same as accepting or excusing child abuse. We ALL get owned by our feelings sometimes, we ALL are at risk of snapping and doing something we regret under the right (or, rather, the wrong conditions). AND, holding them in compassion and offering loving kindness allows a person to get to a better place (maybe, maybe not, of course), rather than entrenching them in their own defensiveness.
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Be well and be kind,
Marji
Marji Zintz, IFC-Certified Parent Coach
The Peaceful Parent Whisperer
www.peacefulparentwhisperer.com
Office: 845 . 657 . 3111
email: marji @ peacefulparentwhisperer . com
P.S. Visit this link to learn more about upcoming classes that are starting up soon! To honor Child Abuse Prevention Month, I am offering a 10% discount off all classes.