12/09/2026
LETTER TO OUR DEAR PARENTS
I have to be honest here because there is no point writing this orderwise, honestly….
For years I used to think that if my child became calm the moment I entered the room, voice dropped, fake sleep, then no wahala that was respect and maybe good training because I was so proud of it actually.
But then I realized that I was wrong, very wrong all along.
What I built was fear dressed up as respect. I only saw it clearly the day I noticed what happened when I was not in the room. They behaved entirely differently I mean completely different, louder, freer, sometimes doing exactly what I would have corrected if I was there
So that is not respect but a performance for an audience And the audience was me.
Real respect the kind that follows a child into adulthood is not built on "if I misbehave he will deal with me." But it is built on trust. A child believing you are there for them even when you are saying no to them.
This is hard to admit Because it meant some of what I was calling "good parenting" wasn't really working. It was just being tolerated Quietly Until the child either grew brave enough to stop tolerating it, or grew distant enough that it stopped mattering to them either way.
I am not saying remove corrections or Remove boundaries I am only asking what is actually driving your child's obedience right now? Fear of you, or trust in you? One follows them as wisdom. The other follows them as something they will spend years and maybe therapy sessions trying to untangle.
With love and care
The Immanuel flourish foundation -IFF