# @thesharonmoms on Instagram

- **Type:** Video
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DcMYxcKyDcv
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/69161295-thesharonmoms-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/25f177f464.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-08-18T20:07:23.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Brit & Sydney Sharon (@thesharonmoms) — https://gondola.cc/thesharonmoms

## Caption

Anyone else’s 7-8 year old suddenly running a two-tier justice system in the house? 😅

Here’s what’s actually going on developmentally: around 7-8, kids are just starting to build the brain skill (executive function, specifically impulse control) that lets them stop a behavior mid-motion. In other words, not just know a rule, but actually catch themselves before breaking it. That skill is genuinely still under construction. So when your kid says “I can’t help it,” there’s often real truth in that.

BUT, this is also the exact age they start testing power and control, especially as an oldest sibling. Enforcing the rules on a younger brother or sister can feel like the one place they get to be “in charge.” So you end up with someone fully capable of holding a 3-year-old to a rule, while weirdly unable to hold themselves to the same one.

Our go-to move to separate “can’t” from “won’t” →

→ Ask directly: “Was that your body not able to stop, or did stopping just feel really hard?”

→ Don’t argue the answer — just naming the difference builds the self-awareness muscle.

And here’s the part we try to stay mindful of: hold space for the struggle without suffocating the behavior. That means naming what’s hard (“stopping something fun mid-way IS hard, I get it”) while still holding the boundary (“and the rule still stands”). Not excusing it, not shaming it, just walking next to them while they build the skill.

Anyone else living in the world of double-standard enforcement right now? 👇

#parentingwithpurpose #parentingwithlove #childhooddevelopment #raisethemright #consciousparenting

## Stats

- **Views:** 2,596
- **Likes:** 61
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- **Comments:** 2

## Tags

consciousparenting, raisethemright, parentingwithpurpose, childhooddevelopment, parentingwithlove

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