I’ve Never Told my Kids they Were “Too Sensitive”

I want my children to have access to all of their emotions and feelings.

If they are sensitive, that’s a parenting win for me. It shows that I’ve taught them how to freely express their feelings without fear of reprimand. I am relieved that my boys feel safe enough with me and our environment to emote, especially within a society that still praises the toxic masculinity trait of repressing feelings for the sake of looking tough. 

Labeling children as too sensitive can actually show us more about the parent’s emotional reserves than the child’s. 

Children who are deemed too sensitive often have parents who don’t have the resources to help their children emotionally regulate themselves. So, they try to shame their children out of emotions by labeling them as too sensitive in an attempt (usually subconscious) to stop emotional expressions that make them, as parents, feel uncomfortable and inadequate because they do not know how to respond, nor do they have the proper emotional resources to do so.

If you were ever labeled as too _________ (fill in the blank) as a child, I recommend reading, Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents: How to Heal from Distant, Rejecting, or Self-Involved Parents by Lindsay Gibson and The Highly Sensitive Person: How to Thrive When the World Overwhelms You by Dr. Elaine Aron.

Being too sensitive can actually mean being incredibly empathetic, which can be a super power in today’s world. 

Embrace your inner empathy as the strength that it is, and know that if someone tries to label you as too anything, it’s telling you much more about them than you.

Be Well,