Trust the child or Push the child?

20 year old refuses to attend a community function as she feels she doesn't know anyone much and would not have a good company. Her choice is respected and she is left on her own.

4 or 8 years old refuses to participate in a group game in the function. She is pushed, coerced, rewarded with good girl labels until she gets herself in the group.

We may think that children of a certain age need us to make their decisions while we can leave children of another age to decide for themselves.

Truth is, child of any age can decide her action for herself. He/she is the one who should feel comfortable in a group and s/he is the one who should want to do something without an external push.

A constant external push for their schedules and what they should be doing will eventually make them looking for external consent and appreciation for their acts instead of listening to their inner voice.

Children of any age need our facilitation maybe to explore their surroundings better but not decisions from us.

Trust the child. Trust the child's feelings. Connect with the child. This helps the child to connect to their intuition better and listen to their own inner voice.

#Rethinkparenting #intuition #trust #children #selflearners #letthembe