The platinum rule comes to mind when I am raising my children. Although Luca and Andre are similar in many ways, they are also unique little men with wants and preferences. Luca did a lot of heavy work in training me to parent him. Stories bore him if we linger on a page a little too long (as in long enough to read what they say) so I have abbridged versions that I speed through at bed time. Andre, on the other hand, is having to retrain me, teaching me to savor the experience with him. He touches each page and looks at each image taking it all in.
Adapting to each child also means that, while I will treat them equitably, I will not do so equally. I wonder what kind of children, young adults and adults they will become. I wonder what kind of support (or lack of it) they'll require from me and Alain. I wonder. I wonder. I hope I do it well.
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I really like that, "the platinum rule". You have a beautiful way with words.
ReplyDeleteThank, you Melissa. I can't really take credit for it since it's a term we use when training our clients to work effectively with other cultures. It does apply to parenting our children also!
ReplyDeleteYes, yes, yes! This is sooo true. This year I had to sit back and think about what I was doing. I've been trying to apply equal rules and parenting to my children, but it wasn't working so well. After all, what one finds is horrible punishment another finds is no biggie.
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ReplyDeleteI think about this all the time. I am about to have another baby and wonder how well I will fair.
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