Learning from our children
June 2nd, 2013
Recently my daughter pointed out a flaw in the way I treat people. My immediately reaction was, “That’s not true, I’m not like that! You just don’t understand the real world.”
But upon honest reflection, she was right.
Do you find it hard to receive criticism from your children? Do you brush them off with an attitude of “You don’t know how it really is in the adult world. You’re too young to understand”?
Children can see with clarity what we as adults are often too jaded to see. If you react to your child’s criticism with defensiveness, you could be missing out on cleaning up a blindspot in your life.
Next time your child says something like, “You’re mean!”, take a moment to see you from their vantage point. Be honest with yourself. Are you being more harsh than you need to be?
Learning from the innocent eyes of our children is one of the benefits of being a parent.
Comments
It takes guts to be humble when our kids call us out on our crap. But it’s something that also makes me very proud when they do. Kids are so honest and sometimes the way they see the world is perhaps the way we ought to start seeing it again too. Thanks for posting!
Renee
My kids are teenagers and it does hurt when they see things you don’t. It kind of amazes me at the same time what they pay attention to and the way their ideas and beliefs come through. Then there are my nieces and nephews. I live on the same street with 5 nephews and 3 nieces aged from 2 to 11 and they never let me wonder how my hair or make up looks! That honesty can hurt too!
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