Blinded by Behavior

Written by Kelly Bartlett for Parenting From Scratch.

Being a parent has taught me to see children through a new set of eyes. Rather, through being a connected-parent-who-is-focused-on-child-development-and-nonviolent-communication, I have come to see children’s behavior through a new set of eyes. Behavior can be a bit misleading, especially when it tugs on my emotional triggers, and I tend to react with strong emotion. When I first started seeing “triggering” behavior in my youngest child’s toddlerhood, I looked at it with a blind eye.

Where there was hitting, I saw violence. Where there was whining and pestering, I saw an annoyance. Where there was “not listening,” or not following directions, I saw disobedience.

But I wasn’t seeing the behavior. Not really.
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