As Maya Angelou, American author, poet, and self-described Renaissance Woman, wrote, “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know b… - L.R. Knost

They say that music
soothes the soul.
I think that's true.
Sometimes.
But other times music
stirs the soul,
reaching deep and
digging up pain
we need to process,
thoughts we need to
wrestle with, fears we
need to work through,
sadness we need to sit
with, loss we need
to lay to rest.
Music is powerful
because it can reach past
the guardhouse of the mind,
taking on those dragons
that jealously hoard the
glittering treasure of
the human spirit,
and set the tortured soul free.

It is helpful to remember that the most strong-willed children tend to be the ones who identify the most strongly with their parents. So instead of viewing their seemingly constant challenges as defiance or attempts to thwart authority, work to parent from a place of understanding that your strong-willed child is actually on a discovery mission and is doing endless 'research' on you by testing and retesting and digging and chiseling to discover all of your quirks and foibles and ups and downs and strengths and weaknesses.

Learning together to live well in an imperfect world, loving each other despite or even because of our imperfections, and growing as humans while we grow our little humans, those are the goals of gentle parenting. So don’t ask yourself at the end of the day if you did everything right. Ask yourself what you learned and how well you loved, then grow from your answer. That is perfect parenting.