Do We Rush Kids Too Much?

The Instagram account @mindfulmadre recently went viral with this post:

"We are becoming less tolerant of the pace of childhood. In a million ways we tell children: hurry up. Grow up. You are already behind." 

Sometimes we rush our kids because we're rushing ourselves—or because we fear our kids will fall behind if they don't keep up with the increasing demands the world has of children, even very small ones.

But who decided that precocious preschoolers are really what we should be aiming for? What are the costs to rushing children? Are there small daily ways in which we can let kids do their own thing at their own paces?

In this episode we discuss:

• how a "daily context of stress" affects developing brains
• whether small pushbacks are enough, or at least better than nothing
• the moments when we've let our kids move at their own paces—even (especially) at Disney World

Here are links to some writing on the topic that we discuss in this episode:

• Laura Markham for Psychology Today: 11 Reasons to Stop Rushing Through Life
• Alison Gopnik for The WSJ: What Children Lose When Their Brains Develop Too Fast
• Kim John Payne: SIMPLICITY PARENTING
• and these past episodes of our own:
• "Fresh Take: Michaeleen Doucleff on Raising Happy, Helpful Little Humans"
• "Pushing Kids the Just-Right Amount"
• "Fresh Take: Katherine May on Enchantment"

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