What a week. Introverted Parenting Week was indeed a hit, receiving well over 2000 visitors. Thanks to all the guest bloggers and everyone who participated. Let's sum it up:
On Monday, the 3rd day of a 3-day weekend, Chad Jones kicked us off with a heartfelt post about the agony and God-inspired hope of an introverted parent.
On Tuesday, Shelley Batdorf and Sarah Winfrey introduced the idea of parenting as a spiritual discipline, focusing on the practices of community and hospitality.
On Wednesday, Helen Lee explained why good, healthy parenting, especially for introverted parents, involves "not giving my kids my all."
On Thursday, Kristi Cash White introduced us to the gifts (the superpowers, even) that highly sensitive parents bring to their children.
On Friday, Susan Cain gave us 10 tips for parenting an introverted child, leaving many people to wish she was their mom.
And on Saturday, Pastors Joe Smith (that's not a pseudonym) introduced us to the rhythms of parenting can be incorporated into a monastic life.
Let's draw this series to a close with a few questions:
1. What are the most meaningful things that you are taking away from Introverted Parenting Week?
2. How have you been challenged to embrace your introversion, rather than try to fix it, in your parenting?
3. How can parents encourage introverted children to be themselves?
4. What are some strategies you have learned for caring for your extroverted children without losing yourself?
5. What are some future posts you would like to see on the subject? What questions were answered and what questions remain?
I'm not a parent, so hopefully this comment's not invalidated on that ground.
ReplyDeleteI think my answers to both (1) and (2) stem from Helen's post about not giving her kids her all. I know that in my relationships and my job alike, I tend to feel guilty if I need to stop interacting with people. Ex: it took me a few months to get over myself enough to ask for the vacation that I needed to keep from burnout; of course, said burnout happened because I kept putting off the break. Helen's post both encourages and challenges introverts to apply the "say yes better by saying no occasionally" mentality in parenting too, which I think is unintuitive but definitely important and helpful.
As an introverted child of a fairly extroverted parent, I can echo Susan's first point for (3) and say that not much drives introverted children to isolation faster than being sent the message that their natural tendencies are worth less because they're different from yours.
Thanks for this series :-) Helpful and thought-provoking even for non-parents.
A huge thanks for this final post that sums up the week and shares some questions to help us pull it all together!
ReplyDeleteThis series has helped me to understand myself better and to toss out those old "tapes" that told me that I was a "less than" parent back in the day when I raised my kids. It brought a fresh perspective and some healing.
And you've enabled me to offer some hands-on tools to the parents I come in contact with! How encouraging for the introverted parent to know that they are not alone. And what a powerful gift to help them understand the little introverts in their homes who've baffled, perplexed, and filled them with love ... and exhaustion.
I'll be linking this post to my blog ...
I'm not alone - other people who think and feel as I do actually exist! That's what I take away from this week. I'm not a psycho or a wimp or a bad mother. Thank you so much to everyone who took the time to write each of the inspiring posts. So which of you is going to write the book on introverted parenting, hm?
ReplyDeleteI'm not a parent, so hopefully this comment's not invalidated on that ground.
ReplyDeleteI think my answers to both (1) and (2) stem from Helen's post about not giving her kids her all. I know that in my relationships and my job alike, I tend to feel guilty if I need to stop interacting with people. Ex: it took me a few months to get over myself enough to ask for the vacation that I needed to keep from burnout; of course, said burnout happened because I kept putting off the break. Helen's post both encourages and challenges introverts to apply the "say yes better by saying no occasionally" mentality in parenting too, which I think is unintuitive but definitely important and helpful.
As an introverted child of a fairly extroverted parent, I can echo Susan's first point for (3) and say that not much drives introverted children to isolation faster than being sent the message that their natural tendencies are worth less because they're different from yours.
Thanks for this series :-) Helpful and thought-provoking even for non-parents.