21/07/2025
🌿 When parenting feels overwhelming, you don’t have to go through it alone. 🌿
Today, we’re sharing a heartfelt message we received from a mother who participated in our recent book club. Even four weeks after the sessions ended, her words are a beautiful reminder of how powerful shared learning, emotional insight, and supportive community can be.
*******************************************************************
“I have lived the past ten years as a mother.
Raising my children in a foreign country, far from familiar support systems, was far more challenging than I ever imagined. Some days were so overwhelming that I wanted to give up everything. I even found myself angry with God, wondering why things had to be so difficult.
With two boys — one strong-willed and the other with developmental delays — I often felt lost. I constantly asked myself, "What should I do?" every time I didn’t understand their behavior. I was struggling in the dark when the book club on "Emotional Coaching for My Child" quietly entered my life and showed me a way forward.
To be honest, I had known about the book before, but I wasn’t sure how much it would help. I still remember joining the first session, half curious, half skeptical.
Then came the first question from Dr. Oh:
"Can you list the positive and negative things you often say to your child?"
That simple question hit me like a lightning bolt. I always thought I was speaking for my children’s good — but when I reflected on it, I realized just how many negative words I had been saying to them. I was overwhelmed with guilt and shame. That day, I realized I needed to change first.
From that point on, I stopped showing up just as someone’s mom. I came to each session as myself, ready to take ownership of my life again.
And then something beautiful happened: my children began to notice the change.
Instead of reacting with anger and anxiety whenever I felt overwhelmed, I started pausing, listening, and trying to understand their hearts. I began responding with empathy rather than control. Even my approach to correcting their behavior softened. And slowly, they became brighter, lighter.
My fears about the future of my son with developmental delays started to turn into hope. I stopped striving for perfection and started accepting that it's okay not to be okay. And in the comfort of knowing that I wasn’t alone, I could finally breathe again.
I’m deeply grateful to Dr. Oh and all the wonderful mothers in this journey for being part of this warm and life-giving experience. I am no longer alone. And now, I can look at my children again with love in my eyes.
To anyone struggling with parenting, I wholeheartedly recommend joining a program like this. You may just find your own healing along the way.”
*********************************************
The Bridge International Hub is always here to support parents who are feeling exhausted, burnt out, or simply in need of a safe space to pause, breathe, and reconnect.
