I've had these thoughts spinning around in my head for the past few days about how we spend the first few years of our children's lives keeping them hidden from the world, protecting them from all of the things that hurt us as children or continue to hurt us as adults, but we eventually reach a point where we have to send them out into the world and realise that there is nothing that we can do to stop people from hurting them. They are no longer in our protective bubbles, and aside from talking to teachers, etc, there are not many other options, making you feel so helpless.
But let me tell you, I've started to recognise that how I treat my child and what I do in my home matters during all of those school years where my son is trying to find his footing in the world. If I mock my child, or belittle my child, I am not setting him up for success, I am showing him that I am just as volatile as the world around him. I am no longer a safe place, and I am only making him feel even more alone.
We may think that we are toughening our children up, getting them ready for the world out there, but of all the people in our children's lives, we should be the people that consistently show them kindness and lift them up, so that they know that home is a soft place to land at the end of a very long day.
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Thank you so much for your lovely comment!