What Your Child Can Tell You About Yourself

Are you actively working toward being the person you really want to be? Are you living your life in a way that suits you — and in a way that reflects who you want to be as a mother?

One way to check in on this is to keep your child’s being — voice, actions, and reactions — in mind. Because what your child is — or isn’t — doing can tell you quite a bit about your own self, as well as about your needs, and whether or not you’re meeting them.

Here’s how.

Children are magical in that they are walking, talking, feeling mirrors that reflect back our actions, reactions, coping methods, and spoken thoughts. The way they speak to us may be how they perceive us speaking to them. The way they react to life could be learned from us. If your child is responding positively to everyday life, it could be that you have the right idea of how to nurture yourself through challenges, growth, and actualizing dreams. If you think they are negative — no, this doesn’t mean you’re a bad parent — it could be that your mind, body, and/or spirit needs support. If this is the case, reach out for help, build a tribe, and make time for yourself if you are not doing these things already.

I believe that having children is challenging because there’s an overabundance of opportunities for us to sacrifice and compromise as we put others before ourselves. However, I also believe that children can be a big advantage to our personal growth and awareness. Directing more focus to our children’s posture at home can uncover a great deal about the areas we can improve on for our own health.

I would love to hear about your thoughts and experiences in regard to children being an advantage to our health instead of a disadvantage. —Jasmin