My son was five when I was helping him with homework. Just as I raised my hand to flip the page, my son flinched. Worried, I asked, “Why would you do that, baby?”
“I thought you were about to hit me, Mamma. I thought you were mad at me like my teacher,” he responded innocently. He told me about how a subject teacher had shown rage at a classmate.
Concerned, I emailed his classroom teacher. She responded that they had investigated and my son's account was correct - the said teacher had been suspended. Wanting to reinforce that speaking up against abuse was right, I updated my son about the school's action.
“That teacher came to me, Mamma, and told me she wasn’t angry. But I told her, ‘No, Miss, I saw you!’”
A docile, compliant child would have backed down. Mine didn’t.
But that’s the thing about so-called misbehaving children - they’re often simply strong-minded kids who refuse to conform blindly.
And their defiance starts at home.
An essay I wrote about parenting a defiant kid was published recently in Business Insider.
I am the same woman who once avoided looking at her son’s childhood pictures. Never had I imagined that I would one day be publishing our story as well as performing and owning a part of my life that I never wanted to revisit.
If there ever was a tangible proof of what the The Rhythm of our Stories workshop by
and did for me, this is it. I didn’t see it happening then, but there’s unbelievable power in voicing our stories and owning it in front of witnesses.From being triggered by my son's pictures to celebrating our journey together, I’ve come a long way. We’ve come a long way.
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