What if breaking the cycle isn’t about making sure our kids never experience pain—but making sure they don’t lose themselves when they do?

In Part 2 of our conversation about boundaries, I’m looking at them through a completely different lens: motherhood.

One of my biggest fears as a mom is watching my children grow up with the same things I’ve spent my adulthood trying to unlearn—people-pleasing, low self-worth, struggling to say no, tolerating disrespect, and believing someone else’s approval determines their value.

I want my sons to grow into men who are kind but strong, soft but resilient, and who fiercely protect the families they build someday. I want my daughter to know her worth before anyone else gets the opportunity to define it for her.

But that also means I have to look at what I’m modeling for them now.

Because I can tell my children they deserve respect all day long—but what are they learning when they watch what I tolerate?

We’re talking about boundaries as parents, the parts of ourselves we hope our children inherit, the parts we hope end with us, allowing our kids to experience hard things without carrying our trauma for them, and learning that empathy does not require self-abandonment.

I don't want to raise children who are afraid of hard relationships.

I want to raise children who know the difference between a relationship worth fighting for and one where they're constantly fighting to be respected.

This is Boundaries, Part 2.