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I have a friend who is a single mother to her two daughters. She is kind, sensitive, very funny and more than able to raise her girls into confident women.

In the past couple of years this friend has faced challenges and stresses that would leave many people in a quivering heap on the floor.

In fact, at times she has been a quivering mess on the floor.

Lucky for her, and those that know and love her, she also has a determined spirit to continue on and prosper.

In part, this is human nature but, in another way, it’s almost like an act of defiance to get up out of bed every morning when your heart lays in pieces all over the floor.

Yet despite all this, my friend wavers at times about whether she is doing a good job at parenting or whether she’s (in her own words) a “s&%@ mum”.

Sadly, she’s not alone in this pondering. I have had this conversation many times with other friends and also with myself.

It’s a constant assessment: am I doing this parenting thing right?

Am I doing it ‘too’ right and making my child’s world an unrealistic one? Are they going to end up needing years of therapy because I just got grumpy at them throwing flour all over the kitchen floor? How do I stack up compared to other mums? Once you start with the questions, it’s hard not to stop.

Recently I was trying to dress my little man after his afternoon swimming lesson.

He was so tired and erratic after refusing his day nap that it was almost impossible to get any clothing near him. Arms and legs were flaying round and he was twisting his torso towards a poster with an ambulance on it. I was considering letting him go back to the car in just a nappy but even the concept of me putting on his nappy was clearly too offensive for him.

In frustration, I placed my flat palm on his chest and spoke slowly into his face to get his attention. I chose the scrisper (a scream that is a whisper) to tell him that he needs to lie still for the love of god or…pause for dramatic effect… I’d take his Peppa doll off him.

On the change table next to me was a boy around the same age who was laying very peacefully while his mother dressed him. She sang the alphabet and played with her little gem’s toes while I seethed in internalised mummy rage at my rebellious charge.

In that moment, I felt like the most terrible mum alive.

Why couldn’t my son lay there so peacefully? Why couldn’t I sing the alphabet song and twinkle his toes? What is so wrong with my parenting style that I ended up with a cranky contortionist on the change table? The more this woman sang, the more terrible I felt.

And then later that same day my friend texted me, saying how she worried she was a s^%@ mother after a rather testing rainy day inside with her two daughters. “No!” came my response, “you’re a great mother”.

It is funny how quickly I can back a friend but be so merciless in my own assessment.

In my response I also realised where I myself had gone wrong. I am a great mother too but sometimes I have moments that I’m not particularly proud of.

But hey, that’s life. The part doesn’t define the whole. Besides, if all my son ever encountered in his life were perma-happy people who bent to his every whim without challenge then his view of the world would be very one-dimensional.

Despite a maternal reflex in me to give my son everything he wants or needs, I also have to accept that he has to see the ‘less perfect’ world and learn how to deal with it.

He needs to understand that people can sometimes get upset at his behavior because this helps to define his boundaries.

And he also really needs to see his parents express all kinds of emotions – disappointment, sadness, anger, joy, anxiety, and boredom – in an appropriate way so he can have an idea of how to handle those emotions in himself and other people he interacts with.

I’m sure the fellow mum at the change table has her own terrible parenting moments too.

No child can be permanently placid and happy all the time. So why do we expect that of ourselves as parents?

It’s good to question ourselves as parents and make changes where things aren’t working but the end goal shouldn’t be perfection – that’s just not reality and nor should it be.

We all have bad hair days, even Super Mums!

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  • It’s so easy to think other mums are the bees knees in our moments of vulnerability. You just have to try and remember your little one is thriving and happy, in huge part because if their parents!

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  • Great article, I can relate but we just have to do our best.

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  • I think we can all relate to bring perfectly imperfect parents. Such a great way to describe us. We all try and do our best fir our kids, sometimes that causes guilt and second guesses, we just need to remember we are doing our best!

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  • If you want to know guilt, become a parent. “I’m letting them get away with too much” ” I’m being over disciplinary ” lol

    There is always something to second guess.

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  • No mum is perfect and every mum is simply trying to do the best they can. We all compromise in some way, like career, education, money, travel in order to raise our children. It’s about being kind to ourselves and just enjoying our children while they still are children.

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  • I think we have all been there where we question ourselves particularly when the children and being let say a little trying :)

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  • Almost like you’ve aired my private thoughts. The hardest job, no rule book, but incredibly rewarding. We all need to step off the deprecation pedal and stop being so self critical.
    If your child is healthy, happy you know you’re doing something right.


    • lol we all experience the same thing pretty much

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  • Falling short is part of life. It happens to everyone. Yes even the super mums

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  • JUST BE YOURSELF

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  • yep we know what you mean! some days i am the one with the upset child at the supermarket and some days i am the one with the angelic child! lol

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  • move this it is so cool

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  • Healthy and reassuring article to support all those Mums out there in their moments of weakness! Thank you.

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  • My experience a couple of weeks ago. I was looking after a toddler who is toilet training. She needed a change of knickers. She her his favourite patterned ones. After a massive tantrum, she finally calmed down and told me she didn’t want them. I got another pair and she put them on herself. It was cold weather but she didn’t want her long pants on and was pushing them down as fast as I could pull them up. She is so strong!!!

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  • Thanks for sharing this article; parenting can be a tough jobs at times.

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  • We’ve all been there. We’re all learning as we go cos that’s just how life is.
    None of us are perfect, we’re just doing the best we can :)

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  • I’m constantly saying to people that it’s a work-in-progress in our family. Some things work one day, and not the next. And yes, we’re always questioning ourselves. But some days are great, and everything works. We can just keep chipping away at it and aiming to do the best we can.

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  • Interesting article. It is frustrating at times.

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  • Kids can be very frustrating at times

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  • totally agree we can not get it right all the time like every thing else in life

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  • This is a great article, you hit the nail on the head for me and I’m sure for most other mums & dads out there. No matter how illogical it is I know I’ll probably keep doubting and questioning myself, although now I’ll try to remind myself that this is how I learn….and I’m not alone!

    Reply

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