Lemon Drops 10.0

A brittle mind; Pushing our children

This week’s drops:
🍋 A brittle mind
🍋 Pushing our children out of their comfort zone

1. The more rigid your mind the more brittle it is

We all understand that flexibility is important for the body—if we fall, flexibility can help protect us from injury. But we don’t always appreciate how the same concept applies to the mind. A rigid mindset—one that insists on control, predictability, or perfection—is more likely to break under pressure. A flexible mind, by contrast, adapts and absorbs the unexpected. Just like a yoga pose deepens not through force but through breath and softening, our mental strength grows when we loosen our grip and learn to bend.

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2. Pushing vs. Respecting Boundaries

This past week I took my older two kids to Canada’s Wonderland, and my 8-year-old, who’s been on rollercoasters before, was unsure about going on the Behemoth—a towering monster whose angles barely make sense. I didn’t know what to do: push him to try or respect his hesitation? In the end, I nudged him to go. During the ride, I worried I’d made a mistake. He said afterward that he was done with rollercoasters for a while, and I quietly carried the guilt. But yesterday, he came to me and said, “Mama, I’m so glad I went on it. I’m ready to go back on next time.” Parenting is hard—we often act before knowing the full impact. We don’t always know whether a push will open a door or shut one. But sometimes, we only see the benefits in the rearview mirror.

With love,