My mom friends and I talk about wanting to break cycles from our own childhoods, but when my daughter acts up in front of them I feel this shame that makes me react exactly like my mother did, and then I feel like a fraud for all the things I've said about doing better.
More people experience this than they realize.
A parent finds that social pressure activates the same parenting responses they experienced in childhood, despite their conscious intention to parent differently.
“Where Are You with The parent's inner life — what children bring up?”
If this sounds familiar, the Library can help you find the bigger picture.