Rather Timely

If ever I needed to read this, it is now. I've declared my new job title "psychiatric orderly". I am, on occasion, losing sight of the bigger picture.


THE DAILY GROOVE ~ by Scott Noelle
www.enjoyparenting.com/dailygroove

:: A Human Becoming ::

In a product-oriented culture, there's a tendency to"productize" and "package" people. We often forget that a human being is a living process -- a "human becoming."
Children are especially dynamic -- often visibly different from one day to the next -- and no two children develop precisely the same way. This can be a challenge for us when we've been conditioned to "need"the predictability (read: controllability) of static products.
Many parent-child struggles can be avoided simply by allowing children to be different than they were the previous day, or even the previous minute! A toddler may "hate" peas at the beginning of the meal and"love" them by the end of the meal, provided the parent doesn't pronounce the child a pea-hater in the interim.
Today, be mindful of the way you talk about your child. Note that *labels* tend to productize. You can avoid labels by focusing on the process. For example,"he's a fussy eater" becomes "he's figuring out his tastes."
Especially avoid "always" and "never" statements like "she *never* brushes her teeth willingly. "Someday she will. :-)

http://dailygroove.net/human-becoming
Feel free to forward this message to your friends!(Please include this paragraph and everything above.)Copyright (c) 2008 by Scott Noelle