The innocence of adults 🪶

It’s easy for me to see the innocence of my childrens’ behavior. They’re too young and inexperienced to have many options, and their outputs are more obviously the result of my inputs. This doesn’t always stop me from being frustrated by my son (eg: his refusing to wear pants, running toward the street, saying he’s tired but playing with cars instead of sleeping), but it helps me stay calm and loving despite my frustration. It helps me remember that whatever’s happening is happening in me, and if I want a different experience I need to look for more root causes inside of myself, instead of trying to change him.

Why do I hold adults any differently? 

Clearly most develop more choice than toddlers. We evolve developmentally in a variety of domains (cognitive, emotional, moral, identity) including self-responsibility. And yet who amongst us chooses our thoughts, our triggers, the emotions, the events that happen to us day to day? We are obviously more self-responsible than children, and yet have so much more potential… more self-responsibility is what this whole reflection is about!

With love, Jordan