restacks

Profound piece from a mom living the daily challenge of parenting.

What if we reframed difficult interactions not as reflections of our relationship, but as our kids’ experiments? And, what if we expanded our role to include co-researcher, there at the ready to observe and offer useful feedback? That might mean shifting from “You really hurt my feelings — don’t you realize how much I do for you?” to “I know you were trying something out there, but what you said landed pretty harshly. Is that what you were going for?” That reframe doesn’t mean we stop feeling it. It means we use what we feel in service of helping our kids learn.

• Meghan Fitzgerald

I cried in the grocery store last week.

In my defense, I was out of milk for coffee. And, after the morning I had, I just couldn’t live up to my socks. But, really I think I just needed a chance to process how my parenting job is changing.

What followed was an unexpected chance to reflect, and out came this post—on the ongoing search for …

What does it even mean to be a great parent in today’s world?