Podcasts > Raising Boys & Girls > Episode 169: Parenting Through Limitations with Sara Hagerty

Episode 169: Parenting Through Limitations with Sara Hagerty

By That Sounds Fun Network

Dive into a reflective conversation on 'Raising Boys & Girls' where Sissy Goff, David Thomas, and special guest Sara Hagerty unpack the challenges of parenting during times of adversity. Sara Hagerty shares her personal struggles with letting go of expectations and the journey to find contentment amidst life's uncertainties, such as illness and hardship. The episode delves into the hard-earned wisdom of trusting in a higher plan and the peace that comes with accepting life’s divergent paths, emphasizing the need to release the predetermined milestones we set for our children.

Amidst the discussion, the importance of surrendering control as a parent takes center stage. The speakers explore the emotions parents face when confronting unmet expectations and limitations. From processing feelings of disappointment and anger to embracing life's realities versus personal ambitions, this episode offers insights into finding growth through surrender. Sara also shares her battle with infertility, challenging the conventional notions of productivity and self-worth, as she opens up about finding value beyond achievements. Listeners are invited to appreciate the enchantment of youth through the eyes of children, as the podcast underscores the significance of preserving innocence and joy in the early stages of life.

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Episode 169: Parenting Through Limitations with Sara Hagerty

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Episode 169: Parenting Through Limitations with Sara Hagerty

1-Page Summary

Finding God and Contentment During Seasons of Illness or Hardship

Sara Hagerty discusses the difficulty in letting go of the expectations parents have for their children, particularly during their teenage years. She addresses the need to release the predetermined paths envisioned for them. Emphasizing the importance of trusting in God's plans, Sara highlights that accepting divine plans, especially when they deviate from personal hopes and dreams, is crucial for finding peace during challenging times, such as illness or hardship.

The Concept of Surrendering Control as a Parent

In conversation with David Thomas, Sara Hagerty dives into the emotional complexities of parenting when confronted with unmet expectations and the necessity of surrendering control. They touch upon the importance of naming and grieving disappointments and limitations, as well as processing difficult emotions like anger. Acknowledging that limitations can be both a source of grief and a gift, they consider the significance of reconciling personal dreams with the reality of a child's life circumstances. Through this process, parents can find transformational growth and an opportunity to meet God within the struggle.

Productivity and the Desire to Feel Valuable Through Accomplishments

Sara Hagerty explores the internal conflict between productivity and self-worth, particularly when accomplishments are elusive. She shares her experience with infertility and how it revealed to her the risk of becoming 'soul sick' from focusing too much on unfulfilled desires. She describes how hardship led to a deeper understanding that self-worth is not dependent on constant activity. Sara experimented with a "productivity fast" to discover contentment outside of achievements, ultimately finding that her value in God's eyes remained unchanged, even without a list of accomplishments.

The Beauty and Innocence of the Early Childhood Years

Sara Hagerty expresses her appreciation for the beauty and innocence found in the early years of childhood, filled with curiosity, wonder, and simple joys. She reflects on how children engage with the natural world, with activities such as collecting acorns or climbing trees, encapsulating their innate enthusiasm for life. Hagerty emphasizes the importance of valuing and protecting this innocence before the complexities of adolescence and adulthood take hold, portraying these years as a unique time of exploration and enthusiasm.

1-Page Summary

Additional Materials

Clarifications

  • Surrendering control as a parent involves accepting that you cannot dictate every aspect of your child's life. It means letting go of rigid expectations and embracing the uncertainties that come with parenting. This process requires acknowledging your limitations, allowing your child to navigate their own path, and trusting in a higher power or greater plan beyond your own desires. Surrendering control can lead to personal growth, deeper connections with your child, and a sense of peace amidst the challenges of parenting.
  • When someone becomes 'soul sick' from focusing too much on unfulfilled desires, it means that their inner being or spiritual self is negatively affected by the constant longing for something that remains out of reach. This can lead to a sense of emptiness, dissatisfaction, and a lack of peace within oneself. It highlights the importance of finding contentment and value beyond material or unattainable goals to maintain a healthy and balanced spiritual well-being. Focusing excessively on unfulfilled desires can disrupt one's inner harmony and connection to deeper sources of fulfillment.

Counterarguments

  • Trusting in God's plans may not resonate with individuals who hold different religious beliefs or are non-religious; they might find peace through other means such as personal reflection, therapy, or secular philosophies.
  • Surrendering control as a parent could be seen as too passive in certain situations where active guidance and intervention are necessary for a child's well-being and safety.
  • While naming and grieving disappointments is important, some might argue that it's equally important to focus on positive psychology and resilience-building strategies to cope with parenting challenges.
  • Processing difficult emotions like anger is essential, but it's also critical to ensure that such emotions are expressed in healthy ways that do not negatively impact the child or the parent-child relationship.
  • Reconciling personal dreams with a child's life circumstances is important, but it's also necessary to ensure that children are given enough space to develop their own dreams and aspirations.
  • The idea that productivity does not determine self-worth might be challenged by those who believe that accomplishments and contributions to society are important aspects of individual identity and self-esteem.
  • While infertility can lead to a deeper understanding of self-worth, it's important to acknowledge that it can also lead to prolonged grief and a sense of loss, which might require professional support to navigate.
  • Finding contentment outside of achievements is valuable, but some might argue that setting and accomplishing goals is a healthy and fulfilling part of life that should not be entirely dismissed.
  • The romanticization of early childhood innocence might overlook the complexities and challenges that young children face, and the importance of preparing them for the realities of the world.
  • While valuing and protecting childhood innocence is important, it's also crucial to equip children with the skills and knowledge they need to navigate the complexities of adolescence and adulthood.

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Episode 169: Parenting Through Limitations with Sara Hagerty

Finding God and Contentment During Seasons of Illness or Hardship

The challenge of surrendering control as a parent

Sara Hagerty talks about the difficult realization during her children's teenage years that she had unconsciously mapped out a predetermined path for them. The challenge she discusses deals with releasing that vision.

Letting go of predetermined outcomes for our kids

Sara reflects on the struggle any parent faces when confronting the fact that their unspoken plans for their children's lives might not align with reality. She acknowledges that as parents, letting go of these predetermined outcomes is tough but necessary.

Accepting God's plans when they differ from our hopes and dreams

Through her experiences, Sar ...

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Finding God and Contentment During Seasons of Illness or Hardship

Additional Materials

Clarifications

  • Surrendering control as a parent involves acknowledging and accepting that you cannot dictate or guarantee the outcomes of your children's lives. It requires letting go of the desire to micromanage every aspect of their journey and embracing the uncertainty that comes with their individual paths. This process involves releasing preconceived notions of what their future should look like and trusting in their own choices and the guidance of a higher power. Ultimately, surrendering control allows for a more open and supportive relationship with your children, fostering independence and personal growth.
  • When a parent unconsciously maps out a predetermined path for their children, it means they have preconceived ideas or expectations about how their children's lives should unfold without being fully aware of it. This can lead to a rigid mindset where the parent expects their children to follow a specific trajectory or achieve certain milestones based on the parent's desires rather than the child's own journey. It often involves projecting the parent's unspoken hopes and dreams onto the child, potentially limiting the child's autonomy and individuality in shaping their own future. Recognizing and letting go of these preconceived notions is essential for fostering a more open and supportive relationship with the child, allowing them the freedom to explore their unique path without feeling pressured to conform to predetermined expectations.
  • Letting go of predetermined outcomes for children involves parents releasing their fixed expectations and plans for their children's lives. It requires accepting that children may choose paths different from what parents envisioned. This process can be challenging but is essential for fostering independence and allowing children to pursue their own unique journeys. It involves embracing flexibility and trust in the unfolding of each child's individual story.
  • Accepting God's plans over personal hopes and dreams means being willing to trust in a higher power's guidance and purpose for one's life, even when it may not align with one's own desires or expectations. It involves surrendering control and acknowledging that there ...

Counterarguments

  • While Sara Hagerty emphasizes the importance of accepting God's plans, some individuals may not subscribe to a particular faith or may have different spiritual beliefs that do not involve a divine plan, and they may find contentment through other means such as personal reflection, therapy, or secular philosophies.
  • The concept of predetermined outcomes for children can be seen as limiting their autonomy and individuality; some may argue that children should be encouraged to forge their own paths without the pressure of fulfilling parental expectations from the outset.
  • Trusting in a divine plan might not always provide comfort to everyone, especially during extreme hardship or illness; some people might find more solace in taking actionable steps or seeking support from their community rather than relying on faith alone.
  • The idea of surrendering control as a parent is not universally applicable; some parenting philosophies advocate for a more structured approach to guiding children's d ...

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Episode 169: Parenting Through Limitations with Sara Hagerty

The Concept of Surrendering Control as a Parent

Sara Hagerty and David Thomas delve into the complex emotional journey of parenting—particularly when facing unmet expectations and the need to surrender control.

The importance of grieving unmet expectations

Parenting often comes with a set of dreams and expectations for a child's life. However, life can present unforeseen limitations and challenges that require a reevaluation of these expectations.

Naming disappointments and limitations

Sara Hagerty shares her emotional voyage from dealing with infertility to parenting seven children, four with traumatic backgrounds, and grappling with her 10-year-old son's Lyme disease. Throughout these experiences, she's faced numerous limitations, and like many parents, she faced the internal struggle of reconciling her dreams for her children with the reality of unexpected limitations.

Hagerty and Thomas discuss the unrecognized barriers that stand in the way of dreams, in Hagerty's case, the dream of motherhood. Hagerty's story highlights the universality of encountering such barriers, and Thomas adds the perspective that while limitations can be seen as a gift, they require a grieving process to appreciate their value fully.

Processing anger and other difficult emotions

Hagerty discusses the difficult emotions that come with parenting, like fear and anger, especially when a child is ill or a parent is faced with their limitations. She underlines the importance of acknowledging and naming these limitations to begin to see them as a gift.

David Thomas recounts the story of a mother who adopted a child under difficult circumstances and found herself feeling angry with God when faced with challenges despite doing something as profound and difficult as adoption. Hagerty suggests that feeling ang ...

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The Concept of Surrendering Control as a Parent

Additional Materials

Clarifications

  • Parenting involves navigating a range of emotions and challenges, often leading to a need to let go of control over outcomes. Surrendering control as a parent means accepting unexpected limitations and unmet expectations, which can trigger a grieving process. This emotional journey involves acknowledging difficult emotions like fear and anger, and finding ways to process them to foster personal growth. Ultimately, surrendering control in parenting can lead to a deeper connection with oneself, one's children, and a higher power.
  • Dealing with infertility involves struggling to conceive a child due to various medical or biological reasons. Parenting children with traumatic backgrounds typically involves caring for children who have experienced significant adversity, such as abuse, neglect, or other challenging life circumstances. These experiences can impact both the children's behavior and the parents' approach to caregiving. Parents in these situations often require additional support and resources to navigate the complexities of raising children with traumatic pasts.
  • Understanding limitations as a gift in the context of parenting involves recognizing that challenges and constraints can lead to personal growth and deeper connections with others. It suggests that limitations can offer opportunities for reflection, resilience, and a shift in perspective, ultimately leading to a more profound appreciation for life's complexities. Embracing limitations as a gift involves acknowledging the lessons they bring, fostering empathy, and finding strength in vulnerability. It encourages individuals to see beyond immediate struggles and view limitations as catalysts for transformation and spiritual growth.
  • In parenting, processing difficult emotions involves acknowledging and naming feelings like fear and anger that arise from challenging situations with children. It's important to recognize these emotions as a natural response to stress and uncertainty, allowing for a deeper understanding of o ...

Counterarguments

  • The concept of limitations as a gift may not resonate with all individuals, as some may view limitations strictly as obstacles rather than opportunities for growth.
  • The grieving process is highly individual, and not all parents may find solace or transformation through grief; some may require alternative coping mechanisms or support systems.
  • The emphasis on meeting God in moments of chaos may not align with the beliefs or experiences of non-religious or differently religious parents, who may find strength and growth through other means.
  • The idea of surrendering control and acknowledging limitations might conflict with cultural values that emphasize resilience and proactive problem-solving in parenting.
  • The narrative that feeling anger is a natural step towards deeper grief could be oversimplified, as people experience and process emotions in diverse ways, and anger may not always precede grief.
  • The focus on personal g ...

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Episode 169: Parenting Through Limitations with Sara Hagerty

Productivity and the Desire to Feel Valuable Through Accomplishments

Sara Hagerty explores the internal struggle related to the desire to be productive, and the challenge of finding self-worth and contentment outside of accomplishments.

The discomfort of an unproductive lifestyle

Sara Hagerty speaks candidly about her own internal struggles when her life wasn't stacking up to others, particularly during her period of infertility, which brought about feelings of limitation and discontent. Hagerty introduces the concept of becoming 'soul sick' as a risk when one focuses excessively on unfulfilled desires. She contemplated how her self-image, and even how God viewed her, was linked to her productivity, highlighting the uncomfortable realization that our self-worth is not inherently tied to tasks and busyness.

Realizing our self-worth is not tied to tasks and busyness

Hagerty delved into her history of working hard to overcome or sidestep difficulties and revealed that hardship can sometimes be as unavoidable as "summer school." She discovered that during challenging times, she found a deeper connection with God and herself, reminiscent of the sense of freedom and fun from her childhood. This led her to the idea that true contentment goes beyond focused outcomes or accomplishments.

Discovering contentment without constant activity

To better understand contentment, Hagerty experimented with a "productivity fast," intentionally curtailing her activities during typically productive hours of her day. The purpose was to observe how she felt when not in the constant pursuit of accomplishing tasks. Sissy Goff adds to the conversation by reflecting on the profundity of joy after sorrow, suggesting that processing grie ...

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Productivity and the Desire to Feel Valuable Through Accomplishments

Additional Materials

Clarifications

  • Excessive focus on unfulfilled desires can lead to a state of emotional distress known as 'soul sickness.' This term describes a deep inner turmoil and dissatisfaction that arises when one's desires remain unmet, causing a profound sense of emptiness and discontent. It reflects a spiritual and emotional imbalance that can impact one's overall well-being and sense of purpose. 'Soul sickness' highlights the importance of finding fulfillment beyond material achievements and external validations to achieve true contentment.
  • Sara Hagerty's personal struggles with infertility were a significant part of her life story, impacting her sense of self-worth and contentment. Infertility can bring about feelings of limitation, discontent, and a sense of unfulfilled desires. Hagerty's experiences with infertility led her to reflect on deeper connections with God and herself during challenging times. These struggles ultimately shaped her perspective on productivity, self-worth, and the pursuit of contentment beyond accomplishments.
  • A "productivity fast" is an intentional period where one limits their usual activities during productive hours to observe how they feel without the constant pressure to accomplish tasks. It involves stepping back from the usual busyness and focus on productivity to explore one's emotions and mindset when not driven by tasks. The purpose is to gain insights into the value and sense of self-worth that exist beyond the need for constant achievement. This practice can help individual ...

Counterarguments

  • While self-worth should not solely depend on productivity, having goals and a sense of accomplishment can be important for mental health and motivation.
  • The concept of a "productivity fast" may not be feasible for everyone, especially those in demanding jobs or with significant responsibilities.
  • The idea that hardship leads to a deeper connection with God or oneself may not resonate with individuals who do not hold spiritual beliefs or who find that adversity leads to feelings of isolation or despair.
  • The notion that contentment can be found without constant activity might overlook the reality that for some people, being active and engaged in tasks is a genuine source of happiness and fulfillment.
  • The perspective that processing grief and hardships can lead to deeper contentment may not acknowledge the complex and varied ways individuals cope with sorrow, which can sometimes result in prolonged suffering rather than contentment.
  • The implication that God fills grieving spaces with joy could ...

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Episode 169: Parenting Through Limitations with Sara Hagerty

The Beauty and Innocence of the Early Childhood Years

Sara Hagerty celebrates the early years of childhood, a period brimming with curiosity, wonder, and simple joys that define the innocence of youth.

The wonder and imagination of little kids

In her reflection, Sara Hagerty expresses admiration for the boundless wonder and imagination of young children. She reminisces about how they relish the natural world by engaging in activities like collecting acorns, digging for worms, and climbing trees—acts that embody their curiosity and appreciation for the environment around them.

Appreciating the pre-teen years before innocence is lost

Hagerty speaks to the significance of these pre-teen yea ...

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The Beauty and Innocence of the Early Childhood Years

Additional Materials

Clarifications

  • Sara Hagerty is an author known for her writings on faith, motherhood, and the beauty found in everyday moments. She often reflects on the spiritual aspects of life and the importance of embracing simplicity and gratitude. Hagerty's work resonates with many readers seeking inspiration and encouragement in their daily lives. Her writing style is characterized by a heartfelt and introspective approach that invites readers to pause and appreciate the small, meaningful details of life.
  • The transition from childhood innocence to the complexities of adolescence and adulthood marks a shift from a carefree, wonder-filled existence to one influenced by societal expectations, responsibilities, and self-awareness. It involves navigating challenges like identity formation, peer pressure, and societal norms, which can impact one's sense o ...

Counterarguments

  • While the early years of childhood are often characterized by innocence, it's important to recognize that not all children experience a carefree or idyllic childhood due to various factors such as socioeconomic status, family dynamics, or exposure to trauma.
  • The idea that children lose their innocence as they approach the pre-teen years can be seen as a simplistic view of development; children often retain a sense of wonder and curiosity even as they grow older, and these traits can evolve in different ways.
  • The romanticization of childhood innocence can sometimes overshadow the need to equip children with the skills and knowledge they need to navigate the complexities of the world, including critical thinking and awareness of social issues.
  • The activities mentioned, such as collecting acorns and climbing trees, may not be universally accessible or appealing to all children, especially those in urban environments or with different interests and abilities. ...

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