“Finding the good inside can often come from asking ourselves one simple question: ‘What is my most generous interpretation of what just happened?’”
“Being a parent is like folding a fitted sheet: no one really knows how to do it.” That line will preach. I currently have a four-year-old and a one-year-old, and I feel as if I’m taking one step forward and two steps backward…on the daily!
Enter Dr. Becky Kennedy. You may know her from her infamous Tik Toks and Instagrams about how to set healthy boundaries with your children. But did you know that she’s written a parenting book? With her lifetime of knowledge, Kennedy’s Good Inside focuses less on shaming parents and more on informing them about understanding children through connection. Her central premise revolves around the simple belief that all humans—children, parents, caregivers, any human out there—are good inside. That’s it! Simple and straightforward.
Dr. Kennedy’s book was both informative AND uplifting. The part I found most applicable was about building “Connection Capital,” a currency in which you earn your children’s time and trust. As parents, we are the biggest spenders of this capital because we are constantly asking them to do things that they don’t want to do—like leaving parties or playdates, stopping a behavior, transitioning to another activity, and other stuff they don’t enjoy. (It’s hard bein’ in charge.) Because parents spend so much of this currency with their children, they, in turn, must be the largest earners. I felt like that was a terrific metaphor to underscore the emotional work that parents have to put in with their children on the daily grind.
While Dr. Kennedy gave many options for building connection, I wish she would’ve broken it down like Nelly Furtado a little bit more and talked to me beyond just Sayin’ It Right. (A little shoutout to my Millennial readers right there.) Some concrete examples on how to set boundaries and deliver consequences would’ve been helpful for a novice parent like me. Four out of five stars for this book and some really solid parenting advice.