Don’t Squash My Spirit: Raising Children to Be Who They Are Without Breaking their Wills--or their Hearts

For hundreds of years, parents have been advised to put a lid on exuberance. To perceive a child’s energy, intense emotions, individuality and persistence as potential “problem behavior.” But, on the other side of every child who resists is a parent who is resisting too. For the parent whose alarms are tripped by a child’s intensity of anger, sadness and fear, there is a back story that is fueling his reaction to “cut it off at the pass.” But, what if, in doing so, our children’s authentic selfhood hangs in the balance? How can we preserve our child’s authentic self -- spirit, energy, intensity, exuberance -- and understand who they are, instead of unknowingly breaking their will...and their heart?