There is no sugar coating this, parenting is amazing, messy, fun, challenging and my favorite people in my world are my kids. I have to remember every day that I am a work in progress and so are my kids.
We parents forget that. I need their forgiveness, patience and grace everyday just like my four kids need mine. No child can be parented the same, they are all learn differently, and they all mature differently. So why is that so hard to remember when they drive us crazy, don’t listen and leave their crap everywhere? It’s like I need a sign taped on the fridge for me to “chill out”. Right? Making memories instead of making daily check lists and going through household logistics should be the priority.
There is something to be said about this though…”you are a product of your parenting”. That holds true with me as I had exceptional parents who instilled unwavering work ethic, unconditional love and I know that I can come to them with anything. I only hope and pray that I am half as good of a mom as my mother was and still is to me. She is the most selfless, amazing, patient woman I know. It’s her that spends hours on facetime with my son to guide him through algebra and geo-trig, not me. The way she is able to teach and explain is a God given skill I wish I inherited from her.
My kids will be a product of my parenting so I try every day to be the best nurturer, teacher and leader to my kids as I can. But like I said, there is no such thing as perfect parenting. I make mistakes every darn day. It’s so much different today and we hear this a lot. Kids used to read at the table in a restaurant after eating and now they watch an ipad or a phone. I picked up sticks and made forts outside instead of making forts on Fortnite. I shoveled snow and cut grass and now it is tough sometimes to get our kids to go outside. Chaos is always certain when trying to go on a family vacation or even taking a family photo!
Parenting always had challenges and each generation faces different ones. One thing that stays consistent though is that we need to teach our kids to be so grateful and kind. Always take the opportunity to teach them to be better people and respect each other always. I didn’t always listen to my parents, that’s for sure. However, I did hear them. As I got older, I definitely had the voices of my parents in my head helping me make the right decisions. I learned so much from them and at the time I didn’t even know it. I do now. Our kids are learning from us every day and they will remember these things throughout their lives.
You will never be the perfect parent, but keep being the best parent you can be. Your kids will be better kids and better adults from all the hard work you put into them. Maybe, just maybe, someday when they score that winning goal, graduate from college, get the huge promotion they wanted, they can look at you and say “thank you mom”. Or it just might take them having their own kid that turns out just like them before you get the “thank you” you so deserve!! J
