Emotional maturity can help you be a much better person and parent your children need. If you want to live a content life that makes you proud of how you show up, you must find ways to better deal with the world around you. Being emotionally mature means helping model how your children will show up in their lives emotionally. If you’re not emotionally mature, self-awareness is the first step, as you can always learn to be a more emotionally mature parent.
What is Emotional Maturity?
Emotional maturity is often described as a person who’s calm amid a storm. An emotionally mature person is not easily perturbed by something that may go awry. These people know that life can be uncertain and difficult, yet they have the tools to manage themselves. Emotionally mature people can rely on other adults for support but also oversee themselves with grace and strength when another requires it.
Emotionally, maturity involves holding space for your emotions while validating other human beings.
Ways to be an Emotionally Mature Parent by Matt Teeple
1. Focus on the Self
Even if you have children, there should be a focus on yourself. Many parents, especially mothers, tend to lose themselves when raising children. However, it would help if you kept some distance from your child once you see that they are out of their formative age. When you focus on yourself, you are less likely to project your insecurities onto the child. Having a life separate from your child’s will give you perspective and fulfillment. When parents have an easy time focusing on their needs, they feel less overwhelmed by their children’s needs.
2. Set Healthy Boundaries
There are many ways that boundaries can help your children. For one, when you set these boundaries, you will have the energy to respond to your child calmly. If your children don’t respect your boundaries, they may require further elucidation from you, which is where gentle parenting comes in. Matthew Teeple says gentle parenting can discipline children without them feeling like they’re unsafe.
3. Be Flexible and Accountable
As an adult, you are the one in charge. But with this responsibility, you also must teach children that you can be wrong. If you ever make mistakes, you must take full responsibility for them in front of your child so that they can see your humanity. It also helps children feel that they have more room to make mistakes and how they must react. Many older parents had the mentality of always being right but learning to acknowledge when you’re wrong is a huge way to be emotionally mature.
4. Notice Your Triggers and Respond Instead of Reacting
There will be situations that trigger you even as a parent. Children are quite impulsive, so they can be harsh and mean. However, the way to act when faced with a triggering situation is by responding to your child instead of reacting to them. Matt Teeple says that responding requires you to pause when you’re talking to a child so you don’t say something that might harm them eventually.
Final Thoughts by Matthew Teeple
Emotionally mature parents are difficult to come by. If you want your child to be emotionally mature, you must practice emotional maturity in front of them.