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Hello ,
Parenting is challenging, rewarding, soul-nourishing and a constant learning experience.
As a mother of 3 children now, it has compelled me to not only look at my own self but also my own emotional baggage, the importance of early childhood, and the necessity of maintaining a peaceful environment at home.
Young children who are 0 to 7 years old, pick on the fears and insecurities of adults as children of that age are complete sense beings. They are just like a sponge, absorbing the whole environment. They are also big imitators
"Children who live in an atmosphere of love and warmth, and who have around them truly good examples to imitate, are living in their proper element." (Rudolf Steiner, The Education of the Child)
So that definitely steps up the pressure on us as parents - we have to pull up our socks. Parents are being watched by those little eyes. What children need is not a perfect mother or a father, but someone who is striving to become a better version of themselves.
They need parents who admit their mistakes, instead of lying or trying to cover their faults. They need parents who accept them for who they are, and not what they would want their child to become based on 'society standards'.
There is no one-formula fits all, each child is different and unique, and that's where the beauty lies.
You rather cultivate life skills - cooking, gardening, cleaning, washing, doing laundry etc. in their early years (0 to 7 years) instead of feeding their brains with numbers and alphabets, and intellectual information.
Children at that age, don't need an information overload, they are not products to be polished and refined, but beings who are innately connected to a higher source, up until they're molded by societal conditioning.
We have been trying to raise our children following an alternative path, grow some of our food, sending them to a Waldorf school, eating healthy simple food, staying out of consumerist behaviour, no media usage, and so on - though it has been challenging to stay on this path.
What I have realised, is to stick to what resonates with your soul, but at the same time to be open, to bend like a bamboo and not be rigid. I am sure the reward will outweigh the challenges.
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