Make it Matter...The Kids
Where does all this start? When does all this start? How does it all start? All of what? Sorry, I got ahead of myself. Should we spell it out, again? It’s called T-R-A-U-M-A and most of it starts at home…when we are kiddos. Stay with me - I am not saying that every child has a traumatic life at home and I think it is safe to say that there are plenty of children that have a happy-go-lucky life, from the day they are born until the day they open their wings and fly into this less/than/bright big world..
What I am saying, is that it doesn’t take much of anything to cause “trauma" in a child’s little brain. Kids don’t have the same brains and pathways that adults have built. Think of it as a muscle - which it is. You gotta work it the same way in order to expand the growth.
Roll with Me
How many of you remember falling off your bike as a kid? How many of you remember at least ONE kid hurting your feelings when you were an itty-bitty little squirt? How many of you remember losing something very, very important to you and it crushing your heart? How many of you have some rough experiences from your childhood that you still find yourself thinking about? How many of you have experiences from your past, especially your childhood, that still affect your life and the choices that you have decided to make every single day since?
Look - you don’t have to go to war to end up with trauma or PTSD. I know that word, the word trauma, seems so big and so scary. Let’s define it, strictly to defend our youth.. Trau-ma is nothing more than a deeply or disturbing experience. How many times do we tell our kids to ”Shake it off” when they get hurt? How many of us punish to discipline rather than TO TEACH?
To give the kiddos a chance, I’ll break down the word discipline for y’all too.
Dis-ci-pline: training to act in accordance with rules, drill.
I am going to take a step back. I want to give you all a heads up that I am not perfect by any means. In fact, I am the worlds best-worst momma in the world. And that is a fair statement because I try my damn hardest, and I do a very good job [most of the time] taking care of my babes but we, and I, all make mistakes - especially as rents. Be honest with yourself - have ya’ll ever yelled at your kids for being s-l-o-w as all get out, when you all are already running behind, strictly because your own-ass is the one who woke up late? It almost makes me sick how many times I have done this…and still do, regardless of how much I try to control myself and my own anger issues. The end game with this kinda S.H.I.T - my less/than/perfect/momma/moments? My kids, their feelings, and their itty-bitty brains take the hit for it.
I truly hope my imperfections can help improve your life…or at least your kids. At minimum, I get to heal a little from sharing...But we do gotta start taking a closer look within ourself, as adults, to change our own lives, so in return we can change & impact our kids lives. It starts with making our-individual-selves happier, kinder parts of society, so our kids will and can have a safer and happier future. It starts with us as adults. Let’s do this together. Change the world with me. Start with YOUR-OWN-DAMN-AMAZING-AND-SO-DAMN-WORTH-IT self.
Be who you r. And be Brave.