Haley Pennock Smith’s Reviews > Good Inside: A Practical Guide to Resilient Parenting Prioritizing Connection Over Correction > Status Update

Instead of labeling, provide a generous interpretation of your child’s behavior, especially if someone else slaps on a label.
If a family member says “Aisha why are you being so shy?”
Take a breath. Jump in, and share:
“Aisha isn’t shy. She’s figuring out what feels comfortable her. And that’s great! She’ll share more about her day when she’s ready.”
…Let her know you’re on her team

“Our kids will always respond to the versions of themselves we reflect back. When we label kids, saying things like “oh, she’s shy!” We lock them into roles with the type of rigidity that makes growth difficult.”

Can I go on a two-year mission to preach this book to the world?

“Remember: our feelings are forces. The feelings we don’t permit ourselves to have, are more likely to catapult out of our bodies as behavior.”

“The more connected we feel to someone, the more we want to comply with their requests. Listening is essentially a barometer for the strength of a relationship in any given moment.”

“Our ability to talk with our kids about important, vulnerable, hard truths is dependent on our ability to tolerate the emotions that come up for us during these moments.

Which is only one more reason why working on ourselves as parents is more critical than any single parenting intervention.”

“Parenting is really an exercise in our own development and growth.”

This book is incredible. Absolutely life changing. Thank you Alisa

Restarting this on audio (bc I’ve learned I do better with self help type stuff when it’s on audio) and I’m pretty much writing down ever single thing in my notes hahaha

“our goal is not to shape behavior. Our goal is to raise humans.”

“Many parents see behavior as the measure of who are kids are, rather than using behavior as a clue of what our kids need.”