marina reggiani smith

In my many years of teaching and caregiving, as well as in my work as a doula, parents are always apologizing to me on behalf of their babies and kids.

And here is what I tell them and what I want you to know too:

It is okay for babies to be fussy!

It is okay for toddlers to cry!

I promise! They are not doing anything wrong. And neither are their parents; neither are you.

I understand. I am parent and human too. And our guilt makes sense because most of us have spent our whole lives learning to be uncomfortable with our feelings and the feelings of others.

And working to shift that discomfort will help immensely with parenting, and human-ing. Slowly, we can learn to tolerate discomfort. We can begin to remind ourselves: my feelings are in my body, yours are in yours. These feelings are messages from our bodies and we can allow them.

So please do not apologize for your baby’s fussiness or your toddler’s tears, or your preschooler’s meltdown, and even your older child’s moodiness.

Together, we can all slow down and allow our little humans to feel their feelings. And we can feel ours too. ❤ marina