I am so annoyed with these perfect parents on social media.

My friend posted this on FB in disagreement, so parents cannot raise their voice on their children now and they are supposed to apologize for it? I don't recall my Mom ever raising her voice on me, but my Dad does, and when he does naninigas na ko sa takot. HAHAHA! Ilang beses na ako nagulpi but I love and respect my Dad more than any man in my entire life! I asked my friends and almost all of us experienced corporal punishment (born 70s and 80s).

Some kids feel things so deeply. Catalina tends to feel her hurt a lot longer than my other kids. This doesn’t mean that my other children don’t get affected or disappointed, but they usually don’t do the post-cry...The one where the situation has been over for a while and then when you bring it up again, Catalina will cry again like she is feeling everything for the first time.

Here she is hugging Edric who apologized for reacting to her when she accidentally ran into him and physically wounded him. He slightly raised his voice when he responded with a, “Catalina! Be careful!”

She ran to me and started to bawl because she’s a sensitive one. About an hour later, when I mentioned this to Edric, he called her to our room and asked for forgiveness. Even though she had gone back to playing and getting ready to go out, when Edric spoke to her, she cried again. Edric embraced her really tightly and gave her time to cry, and then she was okay.

We need to keep short accounts with our kids when it comes to emotional wounds. Some children harbor negative feelings, others may seem to easily get over them. Yet, all of them need to see us humble ourselves when we make mistakes, even if these mistakes may not seem like a big deal to us. Having six kids has shown me that all children are fragile in their own way — big or small, young or old.

Our children do not feel peace when they feel like we aren’t happy with them, when they feel like we are angry. When we apologize this teaches our kids to do the same, and they will carry this into their future relationships.

Last night, our study for our couples’ group covered this passage: “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord.”
**Ephesians‬ *6:4

I know it addresses fathers but all of us, including us moms, can apply this passage as we raise our children. We need to avoid words and actions that wound them, and do our best to repair and heal the hurts we cause. Children are so tender. When we sincerely own up to our mistakes and try our best to change, they still trust us with their hearts. ❤️ #teachwithjoy