Do you recognize this moment? A long day is behind you, and you’ve promised your child to play with them for half an hour. You plan to rest afterward, but as soon as you sit on the couch, they’re back at the door: “Mom, will you play with me some more?”
You feel a nagging sensation in your stomach—after all, you’ve been working a lot lately and haven’t spent as much time with your child as you would have liked. The break you were about to take suddenly feels wrong. You’re lying there, but you can’t really relax. And the challenge of setting boundaries as a parent becomes all too apparent.
Or consider this: Your child comes home beaming from a birthday party—the second one this month with a professional unicorn cake and a trip to the amusement park. As they recount every exciting detail, you hear: “Mom, I want a party like that too!” You force a smile, but inside, anxiety rises. How can you keep up? The Instagram-perfect celebrations of other kids feel unreachable, and the shame about your limited financial means grows stronger.
These small everyday moments show why boundary setting is not just about rules—it’s deeply emotional.