“Child, give me your hand that I may walk in the light of your faith in me.”
As infants, our children rely upon us for everything. As they grow, they look to us for guidance. Their faces alight to see us if we have been gone for even a short amount of time, and when they are hurt, they run to us for help. Their focus is on us, and as parents, that gives us not only great power but also great responsibility. Our words, as the people they place their absolute trust in and expect to be able to count on, hold a great power for our children: the power to build and energize them or to frighten and devastate them. Their light is something to be treasured and nurtured rather than crushed by ill chosen words.
living peacefully with children 
I stumbled onto your website during the Carnival of Breastfeeding and am enjoying it very much. I have lately been re-examining my style of parenting and trying to become more “peaceful”. I won’t go into it except to say that old habits are hard to break. I wonder if you are familiar with the “Love and Logic” series of parenting books. I have also recently read “Grace-Based Parenting” which I enjoyed. It speaks about the prevalence of fear-based parenting in today’s culture and how it is detrimental to both kids and parents. I would love to hear your thoughts.
~J.
I am glad to hear that you ar enjoying the blog. I have limited knowledge of Grace-Based Parenting. I know a few families who use it and it works well for them. It does seem to fit with gentle parenting in general, but isn’t quite consensual living. It is not something I would choose for my family, but it may very well be something you may want for your family. I do have very strong opinions about Love and Logic. Even with the newer versions which don’t instruct corporal punishment, Love and Logic is not a form of gentle parenting and does not fit in with attachment parenting. In my opinion, it is anything but loving or logical. The use of logical consequences is merely another form of punishment. I consider it to be authoritarian parenting with a sugar coating for parents. Good luck in your journey to find something that works for your family.
Beautifully said. Our children’s faith in us is amazing and not to be taken for granted.