I’ve worked with families for over three decades and this I know for sure - parents are pretty good at showing up for their kids. They are keen to keep track of what is going on for their children and passionate about helping them out when they are going through hard times.
Sometimes, however, this loving ‘help’ ends up not actually being that helpful and a child can feel misunderstood or that their parent is not listening to them. Parents’ well-intentioned responses to their children can sometimes come with a side order of judgement, advice or criticism.
There's a risk that in our quest to help our kids feel better sooner, we can dismiss or even disapprove of their feelings.