For some reason I've been thinking a lot about advice I would give my children in the future when they have kids. (It's all a weird thought, but it keeps coming back to me)

So I've been racking my brain about the 2 biggest things I've learned about kids so far! (I'm sure I have so much to learn especially as they get older but here are my top 2)


1) Children have emotions, insecurities and feelings just like adults and shouldn't be held to a higher standard.

I have found since I've had kids that I've expected and pushed my kids to do things that I probably wouldn't do myself. Or I expect them to act in a certain way that I probably wouldn't act if I was in that situation

Like for example when one of my kids doesn't get their way and cries, I often get frustrated and expect them to just get over it and stop crying......yet, when things don't go my way I often get very mad or frustrated. So why do I hold my kids to a higher standard??

Or the time that Christian fell in the pond and Evelyn was traumatized by it. It affected her so much that she would not step near the pond. Whenever we went on walks, we had to take the routes with no ponds (which is hard since there are ponds everywhere in AZ). I can't tell you how frustrating and annoying it was for me at first and then I thought about the times recently where I was traumatized by events (like when our apt was broken into) and it helped me better understand her feelings and anxieties.

This has changed my parenting a lot since I've thought about this. It's open my eyes to being a more patient mom to my children and helped me empathize with them and then learned to cope with the situation.

2)repetition, repetition, repetition

More than anything, I've learned as a parent you just have to keep repeating and repeating things for your children to catch on. Whether it's presenting a food over and over again that they refuse to eat, or establishing a good routine in the home, teaching them a new skill or practicing the alphabet, repetition is the key!