The Parent Traps
The hidden patterns parenting leaves behind — and the quiet ways they shape our children and ourselves.
Parenting doesn’t just shape our children — it exposes the patterns, fears, and unhealed stories we carry with us.
None of us get a manual. We inherit patterns, expectations, and wounds from our own families, then do the best we can with what we’ve got.
Most of us never set out to fall into subtle traps that appear. Traps that shape how we parent, how we show up for our children, and how we judge ourselves when we fall short.
I call these parenting traps.
This series is about naming those patterns — not to shame parents, but to bring compassion, clarity, and possibility. Because when you can see the trap, you can stop passing it on.
These reflections come from both sides: my experience being parented under rigid systems, and my own journey raising four children while unlearning what I never want to repeat.
The Traps We’ll Explore
🔗 Part 1: The Parenting Guilt Trap
Why parents feel like they’re failing — even when they’re not.
🔗 Part 2: The Manipulation Trap
When love becomes leverage used against you.
🔗 Part 3: The Comparison Trap
When measuring yourself against other parents keeps you from seeing the child you actually have.
🔗 Part 4: The Projection Trap
How unhealed wounds spill into parenting and burden children with battles that aren’t theirs.
🔗 Part 5: The Burnout Trap
When giving until there’s nothing left robs you of patience, presence, and joy.
Why This Matters
Parenting isn’t about perfection. It’s about presence.
These traps thrive in silence — but they lose their grip when they’re named. When we bring them into the light, we free ourselves from repeating what we never meant to pass down.
And that freedom? That’s the real inheritance our kids deserve.
Disclaimer
I am not a licensed mental health professional. The insights I share in this series come from my lived experiences and the lessons I’ve learned through several years of therapy and reflection as both a daughter and a mother.
If you are struggling, please seek support from a qualified mental health professional. Parenting is hard, and you don’t have to carry it alone.