Everyday Parenting: A Day in the Life of a Respectful Parent
Sometimes it’s hard to describe what respectful parenting looks like in day to day life. How can it work with multiple autonomous kids making their own choices? Isn’t it chaos? Well sometimes, ha! But I think every house has a nice amount of chaos, right?
Anyhow, I thought I’d share with you a day in our life, from a parenting perspective. How do I make sure not to limit the freedom of these awesome people, while also making sure everyone’s needs are met? How do I consciously and intentionally parent so as to help eliminate childism from our family? How do I guide and nurture without control? Big goals I have there! But, all it realy is, is intention, thoughtfulness, and conscious choices in everyday moments.
“You need to be content with small steps. That’s all life is. Small steps that you take every day so when you look back down the road it all adds up and you know you covered some distance.” -Katie Kacvinsky
The day starts early. I mean, before the sun is up early. My kids are early risers. On this day Miss 6 is first up and she wants to play Minecraft straight away. The girls are new to this game. As in, first played it yesterday new. They’ve never really played a computer game before so they are mega excited. When Miss 8 wakes up, she joins her.
The little girls wake up and ask me to make them breakfast, which I do. Miss 1 likes to be made breakfast, but rarely eats it. She’s all about the ritual of sitting at the table while her sister eats and having a bowl of the same thing, but is actually hanging out for something better to come along. We don’t force her to eat.
The big girls are still playing Minecraft. I make my breakfast while the little ones watch. They argue over a bug catcher, both wanting it. And then they argue over who gets to whisk my eggs. I just narrate and stop any physical harm. We don’t force sharing.
‘You both want the bug catcher. I won’t let you hit her.’
‘Whisking the eggs is really fun. You both want to do it. How can we work this out?’
They’re not overly passionate about these two things and they’re settled easily, both having a go and then offering to the other with a smile, making a game out of passing it back and forth now.
I cook my eggs and the girls stay sitting on the bench. They’re playing in the fruit bowl and I notice they’re throwing tomatoes. Hmm…maybe not. I pick up the tomatoes and explain that if they are thrown they might get bruised and yuck and I would like to use them. I ask them not to throw anymore and then go back to cooking.
They throw them again, having a great time. This time not onto the floor but too hard back into the bowl. I go back and explain again that the floor wasn’t the issue, just that they were being too rough. They try to put them back gently.
‘You were having a lot of fun throwing the tomatoes. I wonder if there’s something else you could use instead?’
Miss 3 suggests a ball and Miss 1 goes outside to look for it. She comes back in when she discovers the grass is wet though.
It’s the moment Miss 1 has been waiting for, my breakfast is ready. She excitedly runs and grabs a seat at the table, big sister following, shouting ‘Me too! I want some!’
I always make extra because this happens every time. I once made her a bowl of her own and she wasn’t interested. She only wants them off my plate. That’s fine with me. I leave some on the side for them and feed them both in between mouthfuls.
They’re eating a lot, but I’m hungry! I eventually tell them that’s enough and I want to eat the rest because I’m hungry. They say they still want more and I offer to get them something else when I’m done. Now they ask for water. I tell them I will finish eating and then get their drink bottles. They are happy to wait. Respectful parenting doesn’t mean you never say ‘no’. It means that you focus on your personal boundaries and communicating them, instead of using arbitrary rules to control behaviour.
I clean up the kitchen and do some washing. Miss 6 comes out for breakfast. The little ones ride their bikes around the house. I know. Gasp. We’re not into rules. Bikes in the house is fine as long as nothing is getting damaged.
The girls are still playing Minecraft. I can hear so many giggles coming from the study. People often ask about my views on screen time. I find it hard to explain. Personally, it would challenge or concern me if they spent all day every day on screens. At the same time, I don’t believe that’s cause for control. We don’t have any screen time limits in our house. If I had any problems with their use I would just communicate honestly with the girls and hear their opinion. I don’t have any concerns though. They are interested in many things. At the moment I expect screen time to be high for this week as they are super excited about joining their friends in playing this new game. If I reacted negatively to that or tried to limit it, I am certain it would cause them to want to play it even more because of fear of it being taken away. Control is never my answer, unless I am reacting unintentionally.
I do, however, have to talk to them about getting off the computer this morning! We have plans to go out. I go in and try to talk but they are in the middle of something. I wait a minute and then ask them to pause the game. I let them know what time we will be going out and suggest Miss 8 has breakfast and they get dressed and ready now so that we’re not rushing when it’s time to go.
They are not keen to go anymore. They are having too much fun.
I tell them that I would like to go because I’m worried that we would disappoint our friends if we didn’t turn up. We have committed to something (it was the girls own choice) and it’s a small group so our absence would make more of an impact than it would at a bigger event. They listen and agree. I empathise with their feelings of disappointment and eagerness to keep playing. They go and get ready.
It’s time to go! Everyone is ready! Bodily autonomy is respected! Everyone picks their own clothes most days. Miss 1 is currently keen on mismatched shoes. We hop in the car and have to wait 5 minutes for Miss 1 to consent to sitting down. She thinks this is a hilarious game. I try to make sure we get in the car earlier than necessary so that I’m not feeling frustrated and pressed for time. She wants to know she’s in charge of her own body, and I want her to know that too.
Today we’re meeting up with some homeschoolers for a book club. Everyone, of every age, is free to join in as they please.
Miss 6’s choice of pose to listen to a book, ha! They are always free to move their bodies however they need to. We are not part of any groups that restrict children’s movement or force participation. Everything is voluntary. The only thing I have to remind the girls of is if they are sitting and listening to a book another child is reading then it is respectful to not be too noisy. But they are free to move away if they please.
After we’ve finished reading and talking about the books, the kids run off and play. Miss 3 is having a hard time. She wants a breastfeed and I am not feeling like it. I’ve said no. For a while, she was having many feeds a day and I was finding it tiring. We talked about it and I told her I’d be comfortable with two feeds a day. We decided on her favourite times of morning wake up, and nap time. She’s pretty understanding but occasionally asks at other times. Today I don’t want to though. Miss 1 woke up a lot last night and I just really do not feel like it. I apologise, explain, and empathise. She is angry. She cries for quite a while. I hold her and hug her and empathise. Miss 1 comes over for a cuddle and Miss 3 tries to kick her, which I stop. She eventually stops crying but continues to cuddle for a while. Then she asks me if I will take her over to where the other kids are playing. I do and she joins in.
It’s time to go home. When we get to the car the big girls ask if they can play the computer again when they get home. I predict that the little girls will be sleeping and I don’t want them to play in the study which is right next to where they will be. They want to use the laptop in another room but are arguing over who gets to use it. I tell them that we can work it out while we drive home. Ten minutes later they say they’ve worked out a plan where they take it in turns having 20 minutes each while the other one draws plans for what they will do when it’s their turn.
Miss 3 says she doesn’t want a nap today but falls asleep 5 minutes before we get home. She wakes up when we arrive and is still adamant she doesn’t want a nap. She looks tired to me and I tell her that, but it is ultimately her choice and I let her know that too. Miss 1 asks for a feed so I assume she is sleepy now. She doesn’t fall asleep. She finishes, sits up, and tells me she doesn’t want to sleep. This is the second day in a row and is unusual. She also hasn’t slept well at night. I figure something is going on and go with it. We don’t force sleep at any age.
The big girls continue with their drawing and minecrafting plan. I make some pasta sauce for dinner, and the little girls do some painting outside. Including some consensual body painting. There’s a few arguments over paint, but they work it out themselves as I watch from the kitchen.
The rest of the afternoon passes without incident. They girls play happily inside and outside.
After dinner the girls have showers, except Miss 6 who doesn’t want one today. I notice Miss 8’s hair is quite knotty and suggest she washes it. She doesn’t want to. I tell her I’m worried that if she doesn’t wash it, it will be increasingly hard to brush each day that passes. She probably hasn’t brushed it all week! She agrees and decides washing is a good idea after inspecting the knots in the mirror.
We get all the knots out and she asks me to braid her hair so it can stay knot free and she won’t have to brush it for a few days.
Miss 3 is very tired. I empathise… ‘You’re so tired. It was such a big day and you haven’t had a rest. Your body is tired and it doesn’t feel good’.
Miss 1 asks to ‘goodnight everyone’ which means she wants to go to bed. I feed her to sleep. The other three want to go to bed around 8pm and their Dad lies with them. We all sleep in the same room because everyone likes it that way. We don’t force sleep or bedtime. Everyone chooses when they are tired. Because it is not forced they don’t feel the need to try and gain control by staying up late. They are free to listen to their own bodies, from birth.
And that’s it. A simple and typical day. It doesn’t feel like much, but it’s all the little choices that matter. There are always arguments to help with, feelings to empathise with, and negotiations, but we are able to work anything out. When children are respected and know their freedom and autonomy is valued, they are much more willing to hear what you say. They know that we have no arbitrary rules and that there must be a reason for anything I am suggesting. They also feel free to disagree or say no, knowing that anything is up for discussion. It makes for a much more peaceful family life.
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This post is part of a series documenting everyday respectful parenting moments. Reading real life parenting examples inspires me. I also find it helpful to look back on situations and think about what went well or what didn’t. Maybe you will too!
Comments
I love this so much. Its really helpful to read how you work out disagreements etc as I struggle with this a lot.
Also my youngest who is 2.5 yesrs old is very into running off at the moment. I let him be free most of the time yet it’s a struggle whenever we are outside as he runs and keeps on going. I try to engage him wherever we are and encourage him back. Any advice? Thank you x
We had a similar experience with our almost two year old. It took us completely by surprise. Our first two kids had the advantage of growing up near college campuses. Consequently, they got lots of time in large grassy areas where they could roam as far as they wanted with no danger of wandering into traffic. I think that for them, that might have made wandering off less of a novelty.
Our third kid though… At about 1 1/2 she started heading for open doors everywhere we went. Lots of following her towards the door and redirecting ensued. Our four and five year olds helped by keeping her occupied. No one thing seemed to do the trick, but after a few nerve-wracking months she was content to stay off the street without the rest of us in tow.
Thank u. My older 2 are very helpful and always try to round him up and encourage him to play near us all. I think he senses my stress and makes running off more fun! I try to go places that he can run as far as he wants but i feel like I spend most of of the time ‘chasing’ him x
Thanks for providing examples of how you actually implement all the concepts you discuss. I know it helps me to have examples of how to carry things out. Even when I know exactly what you mean as you talk about respectful parenting in other posts, it’s nice to have a reminder of what the concepts look like in practice.
Thanks, nice to read a walk through of a day.
I would love to hear how you or others work out ‘tidying up’,
🙂
Sara, I think this may be my favorite post yet! It’s so helpful (and comforting) to me to see the nitty-gritty of an ordinary day. I’m also relieved to see how many times a day you are involved in working out problems together (sorry! :-)). I think it’s easy to imagine the writer of a beautiful blog like yours sitting placidly by while your unnaturally mature children manage themselves in the background, so thanks for sharing the real parts as well!
Two questions:
– How do you manage lunch and dinnertime with so many kids (I have four and am always looking for ideas!)? Do you just pick the time and menu and they can come and eat if they want to?
-When do you find time to write during this busy day???
So comforting to read! Some of our days are like this as long as I am mindful and not projecting my own junk onto my kids… great to read actual examples of respectful personal boundary setting- I have really struggled with this ( swinging between martyr and selfish person quite a lot instead!) Thanks so much!
This was incredibly helpful. Thank you!
I’d love to see more posts like this! My biggest struggle is the fighting and arguing. They also hurt each other a lot while I’m out of the room (usually accidental). But they are not being gentle. I find it so hard to keep my cool and talk it out, when it keeps happening over and over. So hard!
Agreed! I would love to see more about handling fighting and arguing too- my two hurt each other but not usually by accident – my oldest has a hard time with self control when mad and also often hurts or taunts my youngest when he’s not out-of-control mad; my youngest has just now started fighting back and sometimes even antagonising. I tell them I need to keep them both safe and separate them and listen and narrate, but they will often just start right up again, and my oldest will wait until I’m not looking and then go and hurt his brother if he feels he deserves revenge. Its superstressful and I hate seeing them hurt each other :/
Thank you SO MUCH for this post. This was the most helpful post I’ve read on the topic of respectful parenting – and believe me, I’ve read a lot 🙂
I have been struggling with respectful parenting now that my oldest is almost 5, and we have multiple children now to consider. I’d love to read more posts like this.
Wow I want to be part of your family. I love reading about how respectful parenting actually works out for a family. In my mind I want this for our family. But putting it into practice is hard
This is lovely. I’m inspired!
Well In modern days, everyone has their on style of parenting. Some love to care their kids own and others like to hire a nanny to care for their kids. But according to me, it’s necessary for each parent to connect with their kids. It does not only show love and affection, but it’s an opportunity to know your kids deeply from inside. And a good parent is one who is a friend more than parent to their kids.
Parenting is a responsible task, its the parents sole responsibility to inculcate good values in their kids and to teach them everything as they themselves don’t know whats good or bad that is the reason why parents involvement is necessary. nice article keep sharing
Why do you call your kids miss 6 and miss 3,haha,any way great family management skills.
Because I don’t use their real names online.
Hi SAra, how did you manage sleep autonomy since birth? My baby really seems to need my help with sleeping and I notice that if I let him, he can go on for hours awake and become very fussy. How can I make sure my baby gets the rest he needs while not overriding his self-refulatory system?
I woul love to hear from you as what you say really resonates but Im just not sure how it looks like with young babies.
With gratitude!
Tanya
Hi Tanya! I always helped them to sleep and still do 🙂 I just never forced it when they clearly weren’t ready. Never kept to a schedule or anything. Just listened to them and helped them sleep when tired. Mostly by breastfeeding or babywearing 🙂
This is one of the best articles I’ve ever read, it’s so comforting and makes me feel how much I should be responsible as a parent, as I am intending to give birth soon.
Thank you for writing that, and I would like to read more like this one
This was an extremely helpful read! It takes some of the big ideas in the articles and shows how it actually works in real life. Thank you!
Lovely piece! Parenting is a full time job that is tiring but at the same time rewarding