Know Your Parenting Story

I couldn't take my eyes off the mom and sweet baby girl waiting in line behind me at the grocery store.
Mom was on the phone gossiping about Mr. Cheater and baby girl was doing all she could to even get a glance from her mother. Baby girl couldn't even be two yet, so her little developmental instincts encouraged her to reach out and grab that candy that looked so appealing!

Mom was aggravated over her conversation about Mr. Oh no he didn't cheat again being interrupted, so she beat slapped Baby Girl on the top of her arm twice and once on her back......continued her conversation while Baby Girl wept with mom's red hand prints covering her little chubby arms.

My heart dropped to my stomach and I froze, along with the cashier who said, "I better bite my tongue before it gets me into trouble!"

I didn't know what to do......

Cry

Hug Baby Girl........Lord knows what she has to go through at home if her mom wasn't  ashamed to be so cruel in public

Tell her about Attachment Parenting Meetings in Jackson and pray she might attend

Express to her...... THERE IS A BETTER WAY

Inform her that she is hacking away at her future relationship with her Baby Girl and destroying her self-worth

ask her the question, "what if someone forcefully slapped you three times when you make mistakes......would you feel loved, respected, cherished??????

What did I do?

I froze, walked away, and took my groceries along with my stomach ache, and returned to my car.  I prayed for mom, Baby Girl, and their future. I was disgusted at Mom's behavior, but I also prayed for her past pain and healing. She was probably parented the same way and it's all she knows. Cruel parenting is a vicious cycle, unless an individual makes a conscious decision to make a change.


The healing process starts with knowing your parenting story....








After praying, I thanked God for allowing me to be a part of starting Attachment Parenting in Jackson, Ms. It will provide support to so many moms and allow God to plant a seed in so many hearts.

You never know.....

maybe someone will invite that Mom to a meeting and Baby Girl's life will be changed forever!

That's what Attachment Parenting is all about! No matter what your parenting past is, you can use AP principles and end the parenting cycle you don't won't to repeat!

If your interested in API meetings, visit....API of Metro Jackson!

The essence of Attachment Parenting is about forming and nurturing strong connections between parents and their children. Attachment Parenting challenges us as parents to treat our children with kindness, respect and dignity, and to model in our interactions with them the way we'd like them to interact with others.