Wanting to be a more level headed parent? Today I am sharing some of the best visible child RIE quotes and mantras for parents of toddlers and kids.
Parenting the Visible Child (VC, RIE) way has made a huge difference with my kids. But by no means is it easy! Here are a few of the words and phrases and memes I keep on hand for those times when I need the reminder. All full of golden information when it comes to RIE parenting. And all meant to help you reframe, go upstream, and/or quite frankly just plainly get through tough times.
The best RIE and VC parenting quotes for those days you need backup:
- “Talk to children like the humans they are.”
- “Would I talk like this/behave this way towards another adult?”This is a HUGE one that I repeat to myself every day and to anyone else who questions this approach and attempts to make me feel like I am “spoiling” my kids by“letting them get their way all the time”. It forces a lens shift in a big way.
- “Connection first.”
- “Connection over correction.”
- “Connection over control.”
- “Love is always the answer.”
- “Children do well when they can.”
- “Get curious, not furious.”
- “My child is not giving me a hard time, they are having a hard time.”
- “Sloooooooow right down.”
- “Kids don’t want your power. They want their own.”
- “No one wins a power struggle.”
- “There are ways to give power to a child without losing any of your own.”
- “See a child differently…see a different child.”
- “It’s not misbehavior, it’s stress behavior.”
- “Not everything has to be a lesson.”
- “Hold space. Be a safe space.”
- “Children are not easily damaged. They are resilient and forgiving.”
- “You could always say nothing.”
- “What if you just said nothing?”
- “Your silence provides the soil in which the child’s solutions can grow.” – Elaine Mazlish and Adele Faber
- “Pick your battles. Nope, that’s too many battles. Put some battles back. Pick fewer battles.”
- Remember that “I prefer not to” or “not today” are complete answers.
- “Approach with inquisition, not acquisition.”
- “Model graciousness.”
- “This will not ruin him for life.”
- “Don’t parent in fear of the future.”
- “My highest priority is the relationship.”
- “WAIT – why am I talking?”
- “That’s a perfectly reasonable thing to do with a…” (fill in the blank here, straw, toilet seat, cup, etc)
- “DROP. THE. ROPE.” (a great explanation is here).
- “All behavior is communication.”
- “TRUST. Trust your kid. Trust the process. Trust your process. Trust their process. Just, trust.”
- “Parent the child *in front of you* ” (i.e., not the one you worry they will become in the future).
- “This is not an emergency.”
- “What you resist, persists.”
- “It depends. Every time.”
- “Have you asked them yet?” Meaning the child, it will come in handy more and more as your child grows.
- “Where is my child developmentally?” Because even if you have a great connection, there will be behaviors that make you as the parent uncomfortable. However, they are developmentally appropriate. That frontal lobe isn’t developed, and they are still learning to be integrated.
- “Your parental authority rests in you” No need to arbitrarily flex it!
- “When their storm meets our calm co-regulation occurs.”
- “What does it say about me that my child…” Hard stop. Generally, it says very little if anything. Don’t make it about you. Keep your ego and identity out of it.
- “Be the parent you needed.”
- “You don’t have to tell them what they did was wrong. They already know.”
- “Go upstream.”
- “Improvise!” Because improvisation is taking all that you already know and ignoring what is not essential and creating something that responds to the need of the moment (often in an artistically pleasant way). So I remind myself to improvise so that I don’t go with the default answer, but be in the moment.
Favorite Representation of Visible Child RIE Quotes:
“What do I do?”
“Build connection.
“I know. But what do I DO in the moment?”
“You do your best, and focus on building connection.
“I get that, in the long run. But how do I respond NOW?”
“With empathy and compassion.
“But how does that teach them it’s not okay?”
“They already know it’s not okay.
“Then why do they do it?
“Because they’re children.
“SO I just have to accept that they won’t listen?”
“No. You don’t. You can focus on building connection so that they will choose to listen and cooperate”
“But what do I do NOW when they don’t listen?”
“You hold limits and boundaries calmly and resolve to spend more time and energy focusing on connection.
“Why do you keep talking about connection when I am asking you what I should actually DO?”
“Because when your connection and relationship is strong and grounded in trust, you won’t need to ask these questions anymore.”
– ©2018, Robin Einzig-Visible Child
I hope this list of quotes has helped open your mind to a different way of positive parenting that will lead to both you and your child feeling happier with hard moments.
For more parenting advice, check out these posts:
Hey, you. It’s okay to not love every minute of parenthood.
How I get “me time” as a mom, and why it’s so important.
Our ‘Perfect’ Morning Routine + My #1 Tip for Stay At Home + Work From Home Moms
Lisa Gerber says
As a RIE Associate who studied with Magda Gerber, founder of RIE, I can tell you that Visible Child is NOT RIE, and none of these quotes represent the RIE philosophy. Additionally, some of these quotes should actually be attributed to other people. Robin E. of Visible Child has a way of coopting other people’s ideas and presenting them as her own without attribution. For instance, “What you resist, persists”, should be attributed to Carl Jung. Magda Gerber said, “It depends.” “See a child differently…” is Stuart Shanker. Just thought you should be aware.
Shannon says
Thank you so much for bringing this to my attention! I have been following Robin for so long that I definitely have my “blinders on” when intaking, processing, and sharing what she has said. It sounds like although I’ve gotten great information and advice, I need to look into more experts, particularly Magda Gerber, who I have recently started reading more. She has such a wealth of information! Do you have a website I can follow along with? Thank you 🙂