People tell me I’m parenting the wrong way

 People tell me I’m parenting the wrong way.

That I’m too gentle.
That I need to be tougher.
That this world will eat them alive if I keep letting them feel everything so deeply.

But I won’t change.

Because I know what it’s like to grow up thinking softness is a flaw.
To carry pain quietly because no one ever asked how I felt.
To believe that staying quiet made me strong.

My child will never have to wonder if love should hurt.
They’ll never question if they’re too emotional or too much.
They’ll grow up knowing that real strength is kindness.
That tears are nothing to be ashamed of.
That feeling deeply doesn’t make them weak.
It makes them human.

They want them to be tough.
I want them to be whole.