Honest, vulnerable, authentic, human – these are all aspects of being real. It also means honoring your past, knowing your experience and figuring out the meaning it has for you. Making sense of the highs, lows, joys, triumphs and failures of your past as a child and as an adult honors and pays tribute to those experiences because no matter what, they have meaning. The “real” parts of this blog discuss research and practice behind being vulnerable, authentic and human. It is my belief that the more authentic we become as parents, the more open we become to our children, the more present we are with them allowing them to become more of who they are – which is often a parent’s deepest desire.