I Don’t Like My Kid Right Now: Honest Truths for Tired Christian ParentsÀpẹrẹ

This Child Is Triggering My Childhood

Nobody talks about how parenting can rip open old wounds you thought you buried. You’re not just reacting to your child’s behavior, you’re reliving things you never healed from. Maybe it’s the way they talk back that sounds like someone who once made you feel small. Maybe it’s their anger that mirrors yours, the anger you weren’t allowed to express growing up. Maybe it’s their neediness that reminds you of the love you didn’t get when you needed it most.

And suddenly, it’s not just about your kid’s attitude, it’s about your unspoken story. Parenting has a way of exposing what’s been hidden. That’s not to shame you, it’s to free you. Because unhealed wounds leak. And what you don’t face will eventually spill into your home, your discipline, your words.

God’s not surprised by the triggers. He’s not condemning you for being set off. He’s inviting you into a deeper place of healing. Your child may have exposed the wound but Jesus wants to heal it so it doesn’t keep shaping how you parent. You don’t have to repeat what you lived through. You don’t have to be hardened by what hurt you. You can become the safe place you wish you’d had. And that doesn’t happen by pretending your past didn’t happen, it happens when you let Jesus touch what you’ve spent years avoiding.

The truth? You’re not parenting just for your child, you’re letting God parent you. One trigger at a time.

Reflection Questions:

1. What moments with your child have triggered old pain from your childhood?
2. How have you been coping with those triggers, stuffing them down, exploding, ignoring them?
3. What would it look like to let Jesus into those hidden places instead of parenting around them?

Prayer:
Father, thank You for loving me in my brokenness. Show me what my child’s behavior is really stirring up in me. Heal what still hurts so I can parent from freedom, not fear. Help me break cycles by facing what I’ve avoided for too long. Make me the safe place I always needed for my child and for myself. Amen.