This post brought to you by New York Life. All opinions are 100% mine.

I watched this video of My All-Star Daughter 3 times this morning, all the while thinking about my two little girls, and in particular, my oldest, whose strengths are becoming more and more apparent by the day.

Strengths-Based Parenting

Tim and I have been talking about honing in on our children’s strengths since we learned all about our own strengths (it is such a powerful thing to know about yourself! Much more powerful than focusing on your weaknesses, trust me!). It is our intention to do everything we can to nurture and support our children’s gifts and talents, and help them turn those gifts into powerful strengths that will serve them well in life, both personally and professionally.

The trick (and it’s a true challenge!) is to see your child for who they are, and not who you imagined they would be. I don’t know if Darah is going to want to get involved in sports like the child in the video above, or if she is going to develop a true passion for dance, or long to get lost in books. But I do know this about her without a doubt: she LOVES to talk about her feelings and she processes information quickly, but carefully, and values having a sounding board so she can verbalize her thoughts. She sometimes tells me, “I need to feel my feelings,” and that often means that she needs to be near someone who can love on her and also listen to her so that her feelings can not only be seen, but also heard.

It is my great privilege to be the set of eyes and ears she needs on her while she “feels her feelings” and it is my obligation to teach her that her feelings are valid and worth being heard. I want her to never forget that, and to never allow others to shut her down, because I already know that when she gets to be her true self and when she gets to process everything around her in a way that leaves her feeling comfortable and safe, then she soars. She’s simply a marvel, folks. I have seen her in her element and it is a truly beautiful thing. My job is to create an environment where she can be in her element any time and all the time. And as she makes her own friends and forms special relationships with other people, it is also my job to help them see her strengths and support them so that she can be the very best version of herself and let her light shine.

Learn more about how New York Life can help you and your family Keep Good Going

I’d love to hear how the video makes you think of your own life lessons that you have acquired once you became a parent, or more about the strengths you see if you own children. How do you keep good going for your family?