This is how a child loses trust in their parents; - Asks a genuine question. Gets dismissed. - Shares excitement about something. Gets mocked. - Comes home with a problem. Gets lectured instead of heard. - Cries. Gets told to stop being dramatic. - Fails at something. Gets compared to someone else. - Achieves something. Parents barely look up. - Tries to talk. Parent is on the phone. - Learns that home is not a safe place to be honest. - Starts hiding things. - No quality time. Only correction. - No "I'm proud of you" without a condition attached. - No listening without an agenda. - No apology when the parent is wrong. - No curiosity about who the child actually is. - Child raises themselves emotionally. - Grows up. Moves away as fast as possible. - Calls home out of obligation, not love. - Becomes a stranger who shares blood. And the parent wonders why their child never opens up. To raise a child who actually trusts you, do this; - Put the phone down and look them in the eyes when they talk. - Ask questions about their world without judging the answers. - Apologize when you're wrong. They're watching everything. - Celebrate who they are, not just what they achieve. - Make home the safest place they know. - Listen to understand, not to respond. - Show up to the small moments. Those are the big ones. - Tell them you love them without them having to earn it. - Be the person they run to, not from. NON-NEGOTIABLE.

Just because a man is a good man does not automatically make him good enough for you. Just because it's the best you've been treated by a man so far, does not mean that's the best treatment you can ever get from a man. Never settle for good enough.

One thing about God, He’ll let the scene play out. He’ll let them mock, lie, & gossip. Then bless you in a way that makes them choke on their own words.

The IRS really hates single people with no kids😭