Have you ever been surprised by how strongly you react to something your child does?
Maybe they refuse to get dressed.
Ignore you.
Shout.
Push back.
Have another meltdown over something that seems tiny.
And suddenly your reaction feels almost as big as theirs.
Sometimes I think we are too quick to assume:
“I’m just stressed because of what my child is doing.”
But what if the moment is also touching something older in us?
A fear of losing control.
A feeling of being ignored.
The belief that we should be coping better.
An old sense of not being good enough.
A fear about our child’s future.
That doesn’t mean every reaction comes from our past.
But when the same emotional charge keeps appearing in the same kinds of situations, I think it is worth getting curious.
Maybe the question isn’t only:
“Why is my child reacting like this?”
Maybe there is another one:
“Why does this particular moment have so much power over me?”