My wife continues to use Reddit and the german counterpart to this community. A user got in touch and asked what you could do if you had become listless and anxious as a result of your interaction with the child. The key question was probably: “Where do you get your strength from?” There were many answers that were aimed at constructive assistance, leisure time compensation, physical problems, or depression were considered in the comments and an offer of options on how to proceed.

But my wife was bothered by a comment and I think she was right. A user replied, her love would be enough. This is absolutely condescending and presumptuous because it assumes that the desperate parent who is trying to get better would love their child less or that it is their own fault.

I just wanted to get rid of that, because due to my job as a kindergarten teacher (or is it educator?) I am often confronted with thoughtless statements that may even have been meant nicely, but don’t bother to take a foreign position or to find a sustainable solution.