An actor and father shared a big parenting message with a very simple Facebook post.
Justin Baldoni of “Jane the Virgin” fame posted a photo that his wife, Emily, took in Whole Foods.
The picture shows Baldoni and his father looking down as his toddler daughter, Maiya, throws a tantrum on the floor.
Maiya, who turns 2 on Tuesday, is the Baldonis’ first child. They are currently expecting their second.
Baldoni wrote in the caption that this Whole Foods photo is one of his favorites of him and his father. “Two men, standing together in silence, forever bonded by an unconditional love for both each other and this brand new, raw and pure soul who we would both go to the ends of the earth for,” he wrote in the caption. “I can only imagine how many times I did this when I was her age.”
Baldoni said that he thinks the photo captures the reality of “being comfortable in the uncomfortable” ― something he saw his dad do repeatedly when he was growing up.
“There are no perfect parents, but one thing my dad taught me is to not parent based on what anyone else thinks. My dad always let me feel what I needed to feel, even if it was in public and embarrassing,” he wrote, adding that he believes this was crucial to his emotional development.
He continued:
“Our children are learning and processing so much information and they don’t know what to do with all of these new feelings that come up. I try to remember to make sure my daughter knows it’s OK that she feels deeply. It’s not embarrassing to me when she throw tantrums in the grocery store, or screams on a plane. I’m her dad…not yours. Let’s not be embarrassed for our children. It doesn’t reflect on you. In fact.. we should probably be a little more kind and patient with ourselves too. If we got out everything we were feeling and allowed ourselves to throw tantrums and cry when we felt the need to then maybe we’d could also let ourselves feel more joy and happiness. And that is something this world could definitely use a little more of.”
Baldoni’s post received over 90,000 likes, and the comments section is filled with responses from fellow parents and discussions about different approaches to raising kids.
“As parents, we often feel as though everyone is looking and judging, which makes us react instead of respond to our children,” commented one mom. “Sometimes they are, but more than often, people are too busy with their own stuff to notice what’s going on with us.”
