Toddlers Can Thrive in Flexibility

          I read in The Aware Baby that parents can have flexibility in rules with their toddler with aware parenting, because toddlers need to be given more independence in their life to feel confident. Therefore, a parent can have certain rules that the child learns to obey such as not coloring on the walls or other extreme things, but with less in-stone rules the child can feel more important in making impacts in his life. I like this idea because it means that children are smarter than we realize, and they can pick up when we are being too rigid and untrusting of them to listen. I notice that I can feel this need to do things in certain orders that are too rigid, such as singing with her in the morning, and I get annoyed when I don't continue it, but now I see that I can be more flexible and she understands. She can pick up on my moods and that is the main thing.