How to upset a mom in 10 seconds or less? It is when someone tries to tell you how to raise your child.
A daughter once asked her mother: Every profession requires a license to prove one’s qualifications—so why is parenting, perhaps the most serious profession of all, exempt? It may sound like a silly question, yet it carries truth. How prepared are you, really, for the role of parent?
My name is Sheron. If you met me, you might see a clever, rational, optimistic woman. That’s how I liked to describe myself. But behind that picture was a winding path—stumbles in my career, heartbreaks in my relationship. It wasn’t until I turned 50 that I realized something deeper was always at play in my life: my inner wounded child had been quietly shaping my subconscious mind, keeping me stuck in the same patterns, like a groundhog darts in a looping, puzzle-like circle, repeating the same pattern over and over.
I’ve often been a pushover—quick to settle, eager for approval from authority, and deeply sensitive to criticism or blame. Over time, I began to examine my childhood more closely. Through research and my years of teaching in schools, an idea lit up in my mind. If I could step into a time machine and visit my 30-year-old self—the young mother raising a toddler—I would share with her the parenting wisdom I’ve gathered since then. Gentle tricks, precious insights, the kind of guidance that would have eased her burdens and enriched her child’s world.