Lately, I’ve noticed what seems to be an intensified backlash against the term “gentle parenting” , particularly within Afro-Caribbean communities and it has been landing on my timelines across social media spaces. The term is often mocked, dismissed, or framed as a soft, permissive approach that produces “spoilt” or “undisciplined” children. I want to share some reflections, not to condemn, but to invite a more nuanced conversation. Because language matters. Context matters. And so does how we understand children.
This year, I’ve found myself carrying three words with me. Not as goals to strive for, or intentions to perform well at, but as states to return to, again and again. Regulation. Restoration. Rootedness. They have become orienting points in a season shaped by responsibility, transition, and change. Less about doing more, and more about being differently .
