There is a sacred space where a parent’s best work is done. It exists between a child’s action and a parent’s reaction. 

This space prompts a question: will you mirror your child’s energy? The chaos of their being told no more screen time, the meltdown caused by their Lego tower breaking: those small, unassuming events that are somehow nothing-else-matters headlines in your child’s life.  

Or will you choose a different path? A calmer path – one where you vow to help them make sense of their big feelings, where you don’t shout; you listen. You don’t mirror and match; instead, you reflect a different perspective, one of reassurance.  

It’s a space that can be hard to find at times – impossible if you don’t look for it. I should know; I’ve failed to access it more times than I’d care to admit. I’ve erupted. I’ve reacted poorly. I’ve made situations worse.  

But that space is there. And the more you look for it, the easier it is to find. 

The next time your child is moments away from erupting, look for that space. Find it. Enter it. Exist in it for a few seconds. Take a deep breath. Take two if you must. Take as many as you need, and then decide how you will react. 

There is a sacred space where a parent’s best work is done. That space is a choice. And it’s available to us all.