Last year, my daughter bought my first ever Mother’s Day present herself. I still have the flowers (now dried) on my kitchen window sill and will likely keep them for a long time… so sentimental 🤗.
I’m not the most natural person at parenting. I work hard to offer my daughter what she needs. Sometimes it’s hard, sometimes I can’t cope. I suspect every parent feels that, though some don’t admit it. I am definitely not perfect, but I would do anything for my daughter.
The thing is, I often feel that I’m not quite doing the parenting thing right. There’s not really a guide book, there are many guide books! All give different advice. Which to choose? What is right? How on earth to navigate this role? There’s just no map…
Finally, when she was about 2 years old, I realised that no one else knows exactly what to do either. Ha ha 😅. Such a relief. Everyone is making it up. It’s just some people feel more confident in winging it. I fly by the seat of my pants with most other things, I just figured parenting could not be done like that, that it was somehow a more exact science. It’s not. In fact, it’s pretty much the least prescriptive role.
The decisions each parent takes will depend on their personality, their child’s personality and needs, the circumstances, finances and the environment or even culture they live in. There are so many variables that nothing is predictable and winging it is the only way to get through. Using intuition and a bit of guesswork. You make decisions based on whatever experience you have mixed with gut instinct. That’s it. Not rocket science at all.
My favourite quote, I came across today is:
“Before becoming a parent, I didn’t know I could ruin someone’s life by asking them, to put their pants on…”
https://images.app.goo.gl/izYgHTurmUbH5x3C8
As you probably realise already, I love my daughter to bits. I would not give her up for the world 🌍❤️🌞. I just wish I had more confidence that I am doing OK at this parenting malarkey.
Thinking of all the parents or would be parents today.
Love Ruth x
Well Thought Through 