Loving Yourself & Your Clingy Toddler
outh cannot know how age thinks and feels. But old men are guilty if they forget what it was to be young… Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
As parents we know what it is like to have our children cling to us one hour and reject us the next. The beginning stages of self awareness and attachment can be so wearing that we at moments doubt our ability to parent. The behavior of our clinging child at times seem irrational to us. How did we forget how vulnerable we felt as children.
It is this vulnerability that causes our children to cling precisely when we need the most space. If we are sick or emotionally unavailable we may find our little ones acting out or holding on. This experience led Melinda Wenner Moyer, of Slate, to investigate what it means when our lovely little ones hold on tight.
To read Moyer's article about clinging children and healthy attachment bonds, please click on the title below: