Does this sounds familiar?
My kids watch a lot of TV but…
My son still sleeps in my bed but…
My daughter still wears diapers at night but…
My kids aren’t really on a routine but…
Stop. Just stop.
No more excuses.
I’m so tired and feel so sad for all of us parents who feel the need to justify our actions. There are so many blogs (and, by the way, thanks for reading mine) that offer advice and how-to’s and what you should do to make your kid stop or start doing something. There’s TV shows and magazine articles and they’re all telling us what we should do to make our kids into perfect drones in society and that’s just silly. What’s even more silly is that so many of us read these things or watch these things and start feeling bad about ourselves. Then we go onto social media and announce how guilty we feel because we’re not doing this parenting thing “right.”
Just stop.
If an article or a TV segment is making you feel like a bad parent, stop reading or watching. If you’re not feeling motivated or exhilarated about something you can do to make a positive change in your family, just stop.
We’re raising people. We’re bringing up boys and girls with their own likes and dislikes, strengths and weaknesses, stronger personalities or more subdued ones. We’re raising individuals and no one plan will fit more than just that one person. Nothing works perfectly. That’s why there’s approximately 17,823 books on how to get your kid to sleep through the night. No one knows what really works because no one thing works for everyone
Stop making excuses. This parenting thing is tough. It’s one of the toughest jobs an individual can take upon themselves. If you’ve got something that works for you, and your kids are alive and breathing and happy, then do it guilt-free. If your friends try something and it doesn’t work for you, it’s not because you’re a bad parent. It’s because your kids are different and that’s a good thing.
Let’s all embrace the things that work in our families and stop apologizing for them. No more “but’s.”
My kids watch a lot of TV.
My son still sleeps in my bed.
My daughter still wears diapers at night.
My kids aren’t really on a routine.
Done.
Stop making excuses.