Am I getting it right?
Am I getting it right? A question we all ask ourselves repeatedly from the moment we take our precious bundles home. We put so much pressure on ourselves to strive to be ‘the best’ parent– in inverted comma’s coz the best is merely subjective and usually implanted in our brains by beautiful pictures on social media. We believe that we should be up and dressed at the crack of dawn, have a spotless home, go to every
baby group going and basically look as though we have all our shit together!
In reality, and now even with a 2-year-old, we are not all like this. My house is messier than it has ever been, my child can now run away when I want to get him dressed and still wakes up at night. I am still tired, still stressed, still bogged under and still not the ‘perfect’ parent. What I am is human. I see the mess but there is only one of me and I still only have 2 hands. I get worn out and frustrated chasing a child around the house and pinning him down just to put some clothes on. I get wound up when I am so tired and all I want to do is crawl back under the covers and sleep for a week. I curse under my breath just to let out some of the tension- swear boxes are not permitted in this house! And each day has its different ups and downs.
Look down at your child. Are they fed? Are they happy? Are they in clean clothes (or pyjamas if you have admitted defeat in the dressing battle)? Do they have things to stimulate them? Do they have toys? Do you get out and about most days? If yes, you are nailing it! They only need the basics and the main factor they need is a happy, healthy, caring, loving parent taking care of them. The rest can go to the back of the queue… just keep on top of the bits and pieces around the house and instead put both of your happiness first.
We are all hiding something that gets on top of us, it’s just some are much better at disguising it than others. We all have that cupboard or drawer we chuck all the crap into, we all have days where we don’t get dressed, we all have our moments where we cry for absolutely no reason except for the fact we are bloody exhausted and not one of us has the definitive answer for getting the balance absolutely right.
BUT we are all giving it a go, we are all trying our best and most of all, we all love and care for our children.