Once you have Clarity on what is important to you, you can set expectations and boundaries. When you know what boundaries you are going to enforce, you need to be consistent about your messages and consequences. This is important for parenting “solo”and with a co-parent.
This is another “simple” concept, and one that takes lots of practice to follow.
Boundaries may shift over time as kids grow and their needs change. You should be able to communicate this and why there has been a change.
When my son was a preschooler, we ALWAYS held hands when crossing a street or in a parking lot. No exceptions. He is now school aged and doesn’t need to hold hands to cross. We are still working on making sure it is safe to cross, but over time I expect he won’t need me to help with that judgement and he will walk places on his own, keeping his safety in mind as he goes.
What we have tried to do is to stay consistent on with both of our kids in being clear about expectations and holding them accountable when appropriate. This is a work in progress, completely tied to the other C’s: Clarity (what’s the expectation and why), Confidence (we “know” this is a solid expectation and it’s worth holding the line on it) and Compassion (for the kids when the cross the line and for ourselves when we miss the mark on staying consistent).
Does this resonate? Do you feel like you could use some support? Shoot me an email using the field below and let me know how it’s going and how I can help.
