A friend recently told me that she appreciated the way I spoke to my child a few years ago when my two or three year old didn’t want to leave to go home with me. Apparently I gave options, listened and was patient. I don’t really remember it but I know that while I might have appeared put together on the outside I would have been panicking internally, so worried that I was coming across as weak while resolute in fulfilling my own expectations of myself as a “good mother”. I was most likely pulling from an internal script, constantly measuring myself against a set of rules designed to help me perform under pressure.
Too real, this is amazing. Thank you