One thing I wish I had learned before my daughter was born, but have since taken up practicing is responding to her elimination cues. Instead of relying on diapers, I've learned to tune into her nonverbal communication so I can provide an appropriate place, a potty, for her to pee or poop in when she needs to. This may sound like a far-fetched idea at first, but it's how babies' elimination needs are met in cultures where diapers have never been used.
I've chosen to approach parenting in a way that is different than the way many parents in our society do because I wanted more for her than the social problems that are often taken as normal by Western parents such as toddler tantrums, rebellion, insecurity, and attachment to products.
Our children are social creatures, and as such, they want to please us. They want to fit in. It is only when we attempt to control them that they rebel. We teach them how to fit in by showing, not by forcing or manipulating them. Too often in our society, children are expected to behave as miniature adults, with a restraint and self-control that they may not be developmentally capable of.
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