Before you discipline, you should always pause and ask yourself, “Why do I feel the need to discipline in this moment?” If the answer is anything other than “Because I would like my child to learn that what he has just done is not appropriate, or that there is a better way to do it,” then you should not discipline. It doesn’t matter how many people are looking at you or what the voice inside your head from your own childhood is saying (“I would have got a smack or been sent to my room if I’d done that”). Gentle parenting is not about settling scores, being right, or maintaining the “upper
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