How we once envisioned the way we would parent our kids is probably not the way it ended up going down.
The way that kids respond to our attempts to lead, protect and discipline is not like 1+1+1=3, is it?
More like the limit does not exist (DNE)!
Becoming intimately related to that made-up vision you slapped together (or artfully curated based on your own childhood pleasure and pain) and getting comfortable with letting it go---
so that you can actually parent the kid you GOT in the world we actually live in NOW...
THAT IS HOW YOU GET A CONNECTED, CLOSE FAMILY and feel really good about who you are for them.
I can do this with you. If what you're doing is NOT working and your strongly-held ideas and principles are not cutting it, it could be time for a change.
Yes it takes BIG humility and vulnerability, but my style (leading with LOVE) is the anesthesia for your fear and pride.
I GOT YOU. I am not scared of any circumstance you've found your family in the middle of.
I LOVE YOU!