Down In The Jungle: Parents Impact On Emotional Wellbeing #2

The only way I properly express myself  properly is through writing. Having worked with children I come across a lot of stories with talking animals, wizards, witches and other magical fantasies. So that's how I'm going to express myself.

Down in the jungle where nobody goes, there was a ...

super strange family, with bright and shiny clothes.

Picture this: the dad was a bear, the mum was a princess, the brother was a bird and the daughter was a fairy.

Once upon a time... oh no that sounds like a fairy tale! This is far from a fairy tale.

To start the story let's set the scene, it was raining heavily in the jungle so... green. When there's rain in the scene that usually means it's going to be sad right? Perfect. In this jungle it rains 95% of the time. Must be really sad.

Papa bear is our main character. He was strange. When he was in a good mood, everybody else had to be in a good mood. If he was in a bad mood, you could sure bet he would put the rest of the family in a bad mood too. I don't think he meant to be mean but there were times where his words were so painful. So cruel. There were times when his actions were spiteful. Then at all times he just loved to be in control. Of his surroundings, of the princess, the bird and the fairy. Dare to have an opinion that didn't match with Bears? Uh-oh! Dare to have a vision that he didn't have for you? MEGA UH-OH!

One person who was seriously affected was fairy. It had reached the point where she couldn't even use her magic anymore. Her spark had dimmed. Her wand was droopy. Many nights she cried herself to sleep dreaming of ways to escape the forest. But every time she went out to fly, she felt papa bears paw on her wing dragging her right back down. She feared him. Feared his words. Deep down she just wanted his approval but it was a losing battle because she wanted to just be herself. Be the magic that she knew she was. Her emotions were hazy and she was most certainly going crazy down in the jungle...

- I've written about parents impact on the emotional wellbeing of their children before. I highlighted the fact that parents tend to forget that their child is not them. Their child is a whole human. As a human that child needs love, quality time, words of reassurance, patience, understanding. If not from their parent, many turn to seek in the wrong places. It's a blessing when they begin to grow and see their worth and learn to reparent themselves but this shouldn't be the case.

My biggest thing is the way some parents talk to their children. I promise it will leave deeper emotional scars than you can ever imagine. Just being around isn't enough. The things you say have knock on impacts on their mental health. I think the worst thing is when a child gets the courage to speak up to their parent and they are gas lighted and told that they're just too 'sensitive'???? IMAGINE. Then it leads to them being afraid to open up to others. Am I too sensitive? Do I tell people if they've hurt me? Those boundaries don't ever get formed. The self-esteem is destroyed and the soul is crushed.

I won't lie, I don't know how to end this. I just know that life is already hard, so why make it harder for the person you should love the most?

Ps. The breakdown - Jungles are full of wildlife and amazing creatures but also deep dark scary things so this represents our world

The family being different creatures represents the different personalities and individuality

Thanks for reading x