My tone becomes their inner voice

 My tone becomes their inner voice

The way I speak to them now
Becomes the way they speak to themselves later

So I choose softness
Even when I’m tired
Even when I’m frustrated
Even when I was never spoken to that way myself

Because I don’t want their self-talk to sound like yelling
Or shame
Or silence

I want it to sound like
“You’re doing your best”
“It’s okay to make mistakes”
“You’re still loved”

So when I mess up
I say I’m sorry
When they cry
I stay
When they’re overwhelmed
I slow down

Because one day they’ll grow up
And I won’t be there to walk them through the hard days
But my voice will still be in their head

So I try to make it a kind one