Let’s be honest, parenting gets hard sometimes. Even when you’re doing all that you can do and giving your absolute best, it still isn’t good enough. You have these standards in your mind of what type of parent you should be, and when you don’t meet those standards, you tend to beat yourself up about it.
Here’s something that all parents need to remember… You’re not perfect! You never have been, and never will be. And guess what else, it’s okay! Even those that seem to have it all together mess up too. Some of us miss important events. Some of us spend too much time at work when we’d rather be spending it with our family. Or how about when everything around us is going horribly wrong, and we don’t have any energy remaining to give our children. These are just a few things that make us feel like our parenting sucks. We all have our moments of defeat, but it’s important to know that it’s not the end. When you’re feeling crushed and nearing your breaking point, try these things.
Take a time out. There are moments when all you need is a minute to breathe. When you’re in the mist of the problem and you feel like you’re about to explode, find a quiet place to calm down and collect your sanity. Reflect on the situation and figure out how it could have gone better.
If it’s an ongoing problem like not being able to spend enough time with your children, then change it. You know how that saying goes, “If you don’t like something then change it, if you can’t change it then don’t complain.” Take a break from whatever is keeping you away. Leaving work a few hours early probably won’t affect you as much as you think it will. You’d be surprised how everything didn’t fall apart while you were gone, your boss didn’t get upset that you had to leave early, and you still picked up enough hours to cover your bills. The world won’t fall apart if you take a break every once in a while.
Learn from the situation. No parent is perfect, and we all have room for improvement. Let’s learn from our mistakes and get better.
Stay positive. It’s so easy to get lost in all of the things that went wrong, but what about the things you did right? Focus on the good that can come from the situation rather than focusing on the bad.
Regardless of what books and “experts” may tell you, there is more than one way to parent your child and it’s okay to completely mess things up from time to time. Sometimes we have to make mistakes in order to grow.