Spiritual Spotlight Series
Discover a world of healing, holistic, and spiritual modalities with the Spiritual Spotlight Series podcast. Every week, we introduce you to diverse spiritual practitioners, including psychics, energy healers, life coaches, spiritual thought leaders, and witches. Each episode offers inspiration and enlightenment through the unique journeys, experiences, and divine abilities of our guests. Perfect for those on a path to spiritual awakening, this podcast blends science and mysticism to expand your understanding of spirituality. Our mission is to open your eyes to the world around you, making complex concepts accessible and enlightening for anyone seeking spiritual growth. Whether you're new to spirituality or looking to deepen your knowledge, the Spiritual Spotlight Series is your go-to resource for awakening and transformation.
Spiritual Spotlight Series
Navigating Childhood Trauma and Astrology: Insights from Maria Riegger on Parenting
Have you ever wondered how childhood trauma can shape one's approach to parenting?
Join us as we sit down with Maria Riegger, a corporate attorney, best-selling author, astrologer, and trauma-informed parenting expert, who shares her deeply personal journey.
Maria opens up about how her Gemini energy influences her legal career, and how her experiences with a narcissistic parent and the loss of her father have fueled her passion for supporting parents who face similar challenges.
Learn how astrology can serve as a powerful tool for self-understanding and conscious parenting, offering a fresh perspective on emotional regulation and breaking negative cycles.
In an era where authenticity is often sacrificed for polished perfection, Maria discusses the real value of being genuine, especially in content creation. Hear her insights on why unpolished moments resonate more with audiences and the importance of prioritizing what truly matters, like family and self-care.
Drawing from her personal experiences and astrological expertise, Maria offers valuable advice on understanding each child's individual traits and creating nurturing environments tailored to their needs.
She highlights the benefits of authoritative parenting, which fosters open communication and mutual respect—an approach supported by studies linking it to healthier adolescent behaviors.
Discover how to build a trusting relationship with teenagers, ensuring they feel safe to approach their parents with any issues.
Packed with personal anecdotes and practical tips, this episode offers a comprehensive guide to conscious parenting and emotional growth.
We hope you found the episode to be enlightening and insightful. Our goal is to create content that not only entertains but also helps you grow spiritually and connect with your inner self.
If you enjoyed listening to this episode, we would greatly appreciate it if you could take a moment to like, subscribe, and write a review. Your feedback is incredibly valuable to us and helps us to improve the quality of our content and reach a wider audience.
We believe that by sharing knowledge and insights about spirituality, we can help to inspire positive change and personal growth. So, if you find our podcast to be meaningful and informative, we encourage you to share it with your friends and family.
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Hello everyone, welcome to our Spiritual Spotlight Series. Today I'm joined by Maria Rieger. She is a corporate attorney based in the Washington DC area. She's a best-selling author, speaker, astrologer and trauma-informed parenting expert. Maria, thank you so much for coming to Spiritual Spotlight Series. I'm so happy you're here.
Speaker 2:Thank you, rachel.
Speaker 1:I'm really excited to be here, so Maria can you share with us a bit about your background and what led you to become a corporate attorney by day and a best-selling author and astrologer by night?
Speaker 2:I know those things are so incongruous. It's like people kind of look at me strange sometimes. So I, yeah, so I'm the Gemini sun. So people that study astrology, you know the Gemini's, we love to, we love dialogue, we love written and verbal expression of language, we love to argue. Uh, we're good negotiators. My kid, who has a lot of Gemini energy in his birth chart, like he negotiation, is like breathing to him. Um yeah, so we're kind of it's pretty easy for, like a person with strong Gemini energy to make that transition to be an attorney for those reasons, just as an aside. But yeah, so you know I, like many of the parents I work with, am working on healing and reparenting myself after childhood abuse and a lot of us who have diagnosis of complex PTSD.
Speaker 2:We have a lot of challenges because we are working on recovery ourselves and learning how to be good parents, because we had very poor relationship models for parent-child relationships but also for, like, adult romantic relationships. So it's a lot of work, it takes a lot of energy. So kind of one of my main missions is to support those parents because that can be a very lonely endeavor, frankly. Yeah, so one of the great things about social media is that can connect more people that way, right, so we feel less alone. So I got into astrology interestingly enough, I've been into astrology my whole life and I started out as kind of something fun. And when I started to explore the energies more in detail, I came across a lot of patterns, like patterns with similar types of energy and similar placements, and I eventually came to the conclusion that there is merit in studying this. Even though we may not necessarily know why the positions of the planets, the moment of somebody's birth, may have an effect on their approaches to life or their personality or how they pursue their goals or what they need to, like, you know, for emotional safety, even though we may not know exactly why that's the case, there is merit in studying this. So that's what I started to study it.
Speaker 2:This is years ago. I started to study it more in depth and it's so helpful for people who are kind of coming from that place of childhood trauma to like reacquaint themselves with their authentic selves. It's a great modality for that studying their own birth chart, and it's also a great modality for studying the dynamics and relationships, including parent-child relationships. So that's primarily where I use it. Now I have a parenting coach clients who are open to astrology and there are many, interestingly enough, because you know, the more I talk to parents about this kind of, the more validated these parents feel like yes, you've explained my child how they behave exactly based on kind of the energy prevalent in their chart. So, yeah, it's just a great. It's a great way to for self-understanding but also to understand your kids, and it emphasizes that point that our children are separate, sovereign beings from us, not extensions of us. The parents right With their own kind of energy blueprint.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think it's hard for some people to understand that we just have to model right behavior for our kids and they're not like our little models of us. And they're not like our little models of us. So your childhood experiences seem to have profoundly shaped your journey. How did the loss of your father and being raised by a narcissistic parent influence your path towards?
Speaker 2:self-improvement and conscious parenting. There were a lot of things I needed as a kid that I did not get. I had no support, nobody, not at school. Um, therapists failed me. Um, you know, my parents failed me, unfortunately.
Speaker 2:So I I feel very profoundly like what I needed that I didn't get, and I was determined to make sure that my own child gets those things. And it also kind of gave me an idea of really what's really important, and it's not my kid making me look good by achieving right, it's about me guiding my child on their own journey, whatever that looks like for them, right? So, um, yeah, and I think about that all the time, and it's a lifelong process is process of kind of getting over and getting past that negative conditioning that you have from childhood. So when I find myself kind of going back into like, like recreating and and engaging in a dynamic like my parents would have engaged in that was negative, I catch myself and I stop myself, and the more you do that, the easier it gets, yeah. So, yeah, that's helpful and I'm I'm proud of myself. I'm able to like regulate myself emotionally and not lose my stuff and not, you know, and not invalidate my kids' feelings right, even over something that me, as an adult, may think is trivial to a kid. It's not trivial because they don't have the sophistication that an adult has yet. So, yeah, it's made me definitely. This is why I say, and I speak on this topic In fact, just a few days ago I gave a talk at a summit on this topic.
Speaker 2:I talked to a lot of parents with these backgrounds who are afraid to have kids or afraid they're going to pass on this negative condition to their kids, and I impress upon them, actually, this background, your traumatic background. Once you recognize it for what it is and once you make the decision to heal from it, that's a gift you're giving your kids and you're actually very well positioned to be a great parent not a perfect parent, because nobody is, but you have the potential to be a great parent. It's because of that past, it's because you know what you needed and didn't get, and you're determined that your kid is. You're going to give those things to your kids.
Speaker 1:That is such a good point, and I love the fact that you can speak about that on a topic point, for you know parents or people that maybe are thinking about becoming parents but are resistant because of their past circumstances, so I find that that's amazing. So, as a trauma informed parenting expert, what are some key of some of the key lessons you've learned about creating healthy parent child relationships?
Speaker 2:Some of the key lessons you've learned about creating healthy parent-child relationships. Some of the key lessons number one would be, above everything else, make sure you have a good connection with your kids, and I think it's a worthwhile exploration of what exactly is a connection when your kids clearly understand that you love them, no matter what. That, even if they engage in quote-unquote bad behavior or do things they shouldn't do or do things you would disapprove of, which all kids will do at some point, that does not change how you feel about them, that you giving them attention, love and affection does not depend on their behavior. That's very important because otherwise they risk growing up like I did, trying to do things for people to get love and attention in return, and that's clearly not a healthy relationship dynamic. So when you connect with your kids, you want to make sure that you're having way more positive moments than negative. We're going to have negative moments Everybody does in every relationship, that's just given but you want to make sure you have exponentially more positive moments than negative moments. You want to make sure there are moments of connection where you are concentrating on your kids when they need you, not distracted by other things, and when you are communicating to them, whether through words or actions. I see you, I understand, even if you don't understand exactly what they're going through, because I cannot fathom what it is like to be a teenager right now. I can't pretend to fathom that 100%, but I can empathize and I can say I may not understand 100% what it's like for you right now, but I know you're going through a tough time Like I. Get that Right. That validation is key because when you're, you know, when the parents dismiss the kids' feelings and kids feel invalidated, kids feel like they don't matter, right, and that's heartbreaking to me. So, yeah, so those are some of the key things I would think.
Speaker 2:When, when you're really, when parents are really struggling with what to do or what action to take, I tell them first, make sure the connection is solid. Maybe just do an activity just the two of you, where there's no pressure to do anything, you're just occupying the same space and enjoying each other's company. Or maybe it's as simple as saying, hey, I'm so glad we're doing this together, I really enjoyed your company, or I'm so glad to be your mom. You know, those things like mean a lot to kids, even adolescents and teens. They won't tell you that necessarily. Or they may be like oh, I'm embarrassed, yeah I know, but that's, that means a lot. They still want you to fight for them. They still want you to make the effort at the connection with them.
Speaker 1:I 100% agree with you and I'll even say, even as a young adult, like I have a young adult, a 25 year old, my son, and it's an I make sure to tell him I'm proud of you, I'm thinking of you. If you need something from me, like I want to know, let him know that I'm there for him, even though he's, you know, has his own job, his own career, his own life. But as his mom, I want to make sure that he knows that he's loved, valued, respected. It's, it's it's so, so important, especially for children, and we'll probably get more into that when we talk about some of your books that are really a little bit more sensitive than others.
Speaker 2:Absolutely.
Speaker 1:Yeah, go ahead.
Speaker 2:You had a thought no, no, you're fine, I was just going to say that, yeah, even you know it's never too late to you know, work on that relationship with your kids, even when they're adults, even when they're out of the house, because they still need you. And kids, even adult children, as you know, they want the connection with the parents. They want that very much.
Speaker 1:I mean, I'm in my forties and I still want that connection with my parents. You know, and it's like you know, when I went through trauma, I just like you did and it's like, um yeah, but you and I are similar in the fact that we've broken these patterns and I like that you help others do that as well. So procrastination, people pleasing and defense defensiveness are common issues that hold individuals back. How do these themes tie into your work with both parenting and professional growth?
Speaker 2:Right. So those themes I find to be, and I'm not a medical licensed medical professional or mental health professional, so I'm speaking as a coach, right, and a speaker and a parent, so somebody's somebody with complex PTSD, so I know something about that.
Speaker 2:But yeah, those, unfortunately, the things you've mentioned are some of the legacies of adult children with complex PTSD and complex trauma who had these experiences as kids. They felt the need to be perfect. So that's where the procrastination comes in. If I can't do this perfectly, I'm just not going to do it at all, but then you don't accomplish anything. You have to be okay with being perfectly imperfect. One of my speaker friends who's a mom too, she says do it, just do it, but do it janky, do it imperfect, like.
Speaker 1:I don't care, just do it.
Speaker 2:So true, but it's true, and it's like you know she's actually writing a book about it, which I think is fantastic, cause it just just do it Like the book you write the course you do. It's not gonna be perfect the first time out of the gate it rarely is but you can't get there and perfect. It breaks my heart when I see adults who are clearly intelligent individuals with a ton of potential not live up to the potential because they're afraid to act because they're afraid of not being perfect, and I see it a lot and that yeah, yeah, it's very, very tough.
Speaker 1:And I'll say you know somebody like myself who's in the spiritual realm, and I have a lot of spiritual practitioner, friends and whatnot, I can't even tell you and they're gifted healers. They're gifted, they're talented. How many of them will say I just don't want to get on video, I just don't feel comfortable? And it's like man, if you just got comfortable with being uncomfortable, it won't even matter. Once you do it, it's like it's. But I will say I struggled with the same fears myself, so I'm not diminishing anyone's fears by any means, but it was just like you make a decision and then you shift, and I think that's that's part of what you coach on is kind of helping people to shift out of that, you know, limiting beliefs and breaking patterns and generational trauma. Can you maybe and I think that's maybe what you consider reparenting in a way Can you maybe and I think that's maybe what you consider reparenting in a way Can you maybe explain why that's essential for personal and professional success?
Speaker 2:As far as the procrastination or no, but like breaking, like limited beliefs.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, because if you believe it, that's what's I mean. You are what you believe and you accomplish what you believe. It's like that quote whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're right. And I get asked all the time how do you do that? I can't believe you. You did that. I'm like well, I did it because, like, the cost of not doing it was too great. I didn't want to think about later like, oh, I wanted to do this and I want to do that, but I didn't and I was too afraid to do it, so I didn't do it. Yeah, it's hard to put yourself out there. I have a YouTube channel and I publish regular content and I have over like a thousand subscribers. And even now when I do like a live, I just own it and I tell people you see me in all my awkward glory. Now, if I'm doing a live, like there are no edits here.
Speaker 1:Right, Right, I mean people appreciate that authenticity Like people don't resonate necessarily with this perfect, polished version of yourself. That's not true that you know that you may put out like people truly resonate with the authentic Maria and what she's talking about. And you're owning the fact that this isn't perfect. It's like this podcast to be very transparent. I don't edit it because it is what it is Like. You know, what I put up is what I put up. I have a pre-roll, post, post-roll and your stuff goes in the middle. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly, and to your point, rachel. Like you know, you can't make people take action, like whether you're a coach or a therapist, and you're telling them well, here's what I recommend, or maybe try this, and then, if they don't do it, they don't do it. You can't make them take action If they don't do it they don't do it.
Speaker 2:You can't make them take action, so true, but like I do tell parents. I'm like, look, I mean, if the discomfort of not doing this is too much right, it gets too much, then you're going to take action. It depends how badly you want something. Yes, Right, If you're the discomfort of not doing, it is enough enough to get you on your feet and doing it. And like when you're a parent I mean, it's so tough because you know time is a premium and you have to really decide what you're going to focus on, what you're going to give your time and attention to to use that law of attraction language, Right, what you're going to give your time and attention to. To use that law of attraction language, right? What?
Speaker 1:you're going to give your time and attention to and it's like this.
Speaker 2:I recently got an interview quoted this movie. I saw Vengeance, which I love, and like one of the last lines of the movie was life is all regret, so make sure your regrets count. So when you choose something, you're giving something else up, so make sure the regret of what you gave up is worth what you chose to pursue. I like that.
Speaker 1:I like that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I love that line. It really stuck with me. Like you're going to when you choose to do something.
Speaker 1:you're going to give up other things. Yeah, absolutely, You're 100% correct. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Like my kid comes first, I'm going to concentrate on him and if that means some weeks work, you know is secondary and I don't get to accomplish what I wanted to, that's my choice, cause I also have to take care of myself. Like those are primordial take care of myself, take care of my kid, make sure the bills are paid, whatnot. We have food, all that stuff. Everything else is kind of secondary.
Speaker 1:I mean, it's so true. It's so true and it's almost like you know what are your priorities and what is meaningful to you and what matters to you. You know, and what matters to you as your son, yourself and everything else. We'll get to it when we get to it. Yeah, exactly yeah exactly.
Speaker 2:And there's no point like beating yourself up stuff. You know that's a. It's kind of a waste of energy to kind of beat yourself up over stuff that you did not get to do. It's just a waste of energy. Just as best you can keep. You know, eyes, eyes ahead, one foot in front of the other.
Speaker 1:So true, so true. So you've written a lot of books, and the two books that I found to be really fascinating was handling Gemini and Scorpio children. What inspired you to focus on these specific signs and what unique challenges and strengths they present in a parenting context?
Speaker 2:Okay, wow, I could talk all day about this stuff. So let me I'm going to try to give a high level spiel here. So Scorpio energy I cannot avoid these people. My dad was a Scorpio son. My mother has more as a Scorpio. My mother has a mars a scorpio. My sister has a lot of scorpio energy in her chart. I have a north node in scorpio which is the uh. If you guys follow astrology and study the birth chart, you'll know that's kind of where your kind of destiny, cosmic fate, directs you. Uh, and my son is a scorpio sun. So I cannot avoid these people.
Speaker 2:It is a misunderstood energy which I go into detail in my book. We just don't have time to go into it all here. But it is a very sensitive, reserved, private, hard-to-get-to-know energy. It is an energy that is slow to trust. That's one of the first things I tell parents of Scorpio kids. Your kids are not going to trust you just because you're the parent. You have to earn the trust right For all kids. But Scorp is a very suspicious by nature energy for a lot of reasons. So you have to work to get the trust. So you have to just recognize that about the energy but it's an energy that is hard to get to the bottom of because it's so reserved and private. So a lot of the times parents find themselves having to spend this extra time and extra energy kind of getting into, like, what's going on with the kids. And I recommend doing that by making sure, again, the connection is strong, making sure the parents creating the space that the kids Scorpio kid eventually will feel comfortable enough with sharing deep things. And they will eventually, if the parents take the time to create their relationship and create the space where there's safety to do that.
Speaker 2:It's a sensitive energy, it's an energy that's easily triggered, it's an energy of intense emotional experience and it is a very soul directed energy. It is an energy that looks for soul fulfillment. So part of the parents job, I find, is like introducing the scorpio child to all these things the world, everything the world has to offer, and then guiding the kids to figure out, you know, what makes them eventually, what makes them feel fulfilled in life, right, eventually, as they get older and eventually live on their own. I love that. I love that, yeah, but it's a very interesting energy. It's really like you're always, especially with the scorpio moon placement, because moon energy tends to be like more hidden. Um, you're always learning about them and to me it's fascinating because I'm a gemini, so I love learning and I like I need intellectual stimulation, so you're always learning about the Scorpio person. Like that never stops. It's like peeling back the layers.
Speaker 1:I love that. I love that. So your work involves speaking and writing extensively. What messages do you hope to convey to your audience through your talks in your books?
Speaker 2:Yeah, Um gosh. So parent the child you have that's in front of you, not the child that may have been easier to parent or the child that may have been more like you, or the child maybe you kind of theoretically wanted to have you parent the child you have. You have that child for a reason. The universe gave you that child with that energy for a reason. So that's the child. You've got a parent.
Speaker 2:So their energy may be different from yours, their communication style may be different from yours and if it's very different energy from yours, you may have to. You know it may be more of a challenge to understand that energy. That's fine. But parent the child you have right and and like a lot of what I teach is child focused meeting look at you know how the child, their preferences, their, you know characteristics, character, all those things and obviously go into other things like boundaries, limits. Those are all important too. But but you really need to understand the kid Because when children feel understood, the connection is better, the connection is stronger and they are much more likely to take guidance from parents. When that connection is strong, is there to protect them and loves them unconditionally and accepts them unconditionally. You know imperfections and all, they will be much more likely to take guidance from the parents. It's really interesting because I really quick.
Speaker 2:I came across this study recently, a 2020 study, a Lebanese study about different types of parenting styles, like authoritative versus authoritarian versus permissive parenting and they define authoritative parenting which is kind of the parenting that I practice as one of open a relationship, of open communication, where the parents explain the reasons for the rules, where there's dialogue with the kids, right? And kids aged 15 to 18 out of the study, the ones that came from authoritative parenting households were much more likely to stick to a healthier Mediterranean style diet and had lower alcohol consumption, suggesting that they followed the rules of the parents because of the relationship and the dialogue the parents engaged in with them, not because the parents just set rules that you have to follow this or else right. So it is very much, you know, the more respect you give kids, especially as kids get older. I mean, a teenager is almost an adult, so they need age appropriate respect from the parents and age appropriate independence. So, yeah, that was a very interesting study and one that, yeah, validating.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I find that interesting and it's so true about, like, treating your kids with respect. Yeah, like we make mistakes and there's times that we're going to have to own up to our mistakes and apologize and redirect and that didn't work the way that I planned it to and whatnot.
Speaker 2:And I will say that my.
Speaker 1:I have two kids, a 15 year old. He'll call me out. He's like get out of my room with that attitude, mom. I'm like, okay, I'm sorry, and then I'll come back Like but. It's like, but I want that and I'm sure you do the same thing with your and that's how you teach. It's like I want that dialogue If I'm coming across to you a certain way that you're not vibing with and I need to redirect and I need to re-approach.
Speaker 2:Right, my 14 year old will tell me why are you irritated?
Speaker 1:right now, you seem really irritated.
Speaker 2:Why are you irritated? Right now I'll be like, yeah, I am irritated, and I'm irritated because I'm tired and you're not doing what I told you to do, but you will do it eventually. It's just that you're not like doing it right now, at this second. You know, and I've you know, I am not always the most consistent parent. That's like the bane of the gemini parent is. We're not always consistent and I know that about myself, like I know that some days I just don't have the energy to argue about stuff or negotiate stuff.
Speaker 2:But we have a set of very firm, like no bargain rules, very few, because, as I tell my kid, I don't like rules, I don't like limits, I like freedom, I like to do what I want and I have morals and I can make healthy choices. What's right and wrong? Right, yeah, but you know, my teenager, teens have poor impulse control and I explain all this. The teen brain is like this. That's just how the teen brain is. Doesn't mean you're bad or anything, but this is where this is why you need you still need guidance. But yeah, but so I'll. I'll make those really strict rules about certain things which are usually to do with, like, health and safety, but almost everything else is kind of up for negotiation, depending on the context of what we're talking about. So that's kind of how I deal with that. That way I give myself the freedom of like well, I know, and he knows, that we have very firm rules, this set of rules, but everything else we could kind of talk about, depending on you know what's going on.
Speaker 1:So yeah, I love that. I love it. Boys are interesting. I will say that boys are interesting and they're very. I love that. I think that's perfect. I like I'm having a moment in my brain. I'm like, yeah, brain's the same way. Yeah. So before I ask your last question, if anyone is interested in learning more about you, what is the best place for them to go to?
Speaker 2:Sure, so I blog on lawschoolhereticcom and you can also find links to my books there, and I'm on Amazon under Maria Rieger and I publish regular parenting and astrology content on positive parenting with astrology with Maria Rieger on YouTube and I have all my social media stuff there. But yeah, that's the best place to start with. Youtube is probably the best place to start on the kind of parenting and astrology topic.
Speaker 1:I love that. I love that. Lastly, based on your extensive experience and journey, what is one piece of advice you would offer to our listeners who are seeking to improve their relationship with their children and themselves?
Speaker 2:Definitely give yourself grace. I would definitely say that. But I would reiterate when, when the parent really is not sure about what action to take and is kind of on the fence or feeling a lot of anxiety, um, work on the connection and attach it with your kids just, maybe just take a day or two and spend like one-on-one time with them.
Speaker 2:That may be hard if you have multiple kids, depending on what's going on with them. Make sure, yeah, maybe take a day and do not just a fun activity where you're enjoying each other's company, but work on the connection before correcting or worrying about any behavior. Right, work on the connection and if there's anything you need to talk to them about, you can start by asking them questions or telling them. I'm honest, I'll say I am concerned about this particular social media app, yes, and then I find that when I do that, instead of like you're not going to use this anymore, is when I open it up, like that I have concerns about this. I read this article today and frankly, it was kind of terrifying.
Speaker 2:We can have my kid and I can have a back and forth discussion and I will get way better results that way. And he's even said to me you know what, if you're really concerned about that app, I'll delete it from my phone. That's actually happened and it's like I didn't have to be like you're not doing this or blah, blah, blah, or I'm going to monitor your phone all the time, which I don't have the time or energy to do anyway. So so when I engage him, and also because he's like almost 15, like you said, like I can talk to him. He's not an adult yet, but I can talk to him more frankly about these things when I, or when I tell him I am concerned about some stuff you may come into contact with online and I'd like to talk about. You know how I can screen some of this stuff on your phone. We can do this or we can do this. Like he's much more willing to work with me on that stuff without resistance if I approach it that way.
Speaker 1:So I love that. That's a great piece of advice. I will say that I probably do the same thing with my son. It's more like we just have an open dialogue about. You know you may be exposed to marijuana at school or that. What do you think about that? Is this something you're thinking about doing, like? What do you think about it? No, I've been exposed. You know it's. It's much more than don't do that.
Speaker 2:Right, right. Don't do that or else. Well, but then what happens if they do it? They may not come to talk to you about it, because now they're afraid, and I would want to know if my kid's doing that. I want to know and we'll figure out what to do, but if you don't know if they're, if they're not going to that's, that's a really great point. To leave on too, Like if your kid nothing's going gonna matter if your kid does not feel comfortable talking to you.
Speaker 1:It's so true.
Speaker 2:All the restrictions on the phone, everything else, the rules, they will not matter if your kid is not gonna talk to you. It is impossible for parents to monitor 24 7.
Speaker 1:It is impossible it is because you bring up a good point like ultimately we want them to safe, but ultimately they're gonna live their lives and they're to find a way around you if they don't feel comfortable coming to you.
Speaker 2:Right, yeah. And then when they're 18 or whatever, whatever age, and they're living on their own, you're not going to be around and monitor them anyway. So they have to be able to make these good decisions for themselves.
Speaker 1:Right, right. And then you bring up another good point Like we also want them to be independent members of society and how are they going to function? You know so true. Oh my goodness, oh great advice. Maria, thank you so much for coming to Spiritual Spotlight Series. It's truly been a pleasure to speak with you today. Thank you, rachel. Thanks for having me on.
