2024-01-16
28 分钟So here's a question I get asked a lot from reporters, from parents.
Tell me about gentle parenting, Dr.
Becky.
Tell me about gentle parenting.
And, you know, I often am struck by this question because I don't even exactly know what to say.
Nothing about my approach to parenting, nothing about good inside, to me actually reads gentle.
And to be clear, I don't think there's anything wrong with the word gentle.
And when I say it's not gentle, I don't think the opposite has to be true either.
It's not harsh.
It's not mean.
But when I think about a word that describes good inside parenting and my whole approach,
it's the word sturdy.
And I want to go into this a little bit because I think it's really important.
It's not just semantics.
That good inside is sturdy, not gentle.
So many of the most critical moments with our kids require intense sturdiness.
The moment when I have to pick my kid up
because they're out of control at a play date and all the other parents are around and I carry him to the car and he's screaming I hate you let me down.
I don't think there's anything gentle about me in that moment.
There's also nothing punitive.