Quote for the day:
Today, professionals are preoccupied with the “dysfunctional family.” But to some extent all families are dysfunctional. No family is perfect! We may be tempted at times to imagine the family as full of innocence and good will, but actually family life resists such romanticism; any attempts to place a veil of simplistic sentimentality over the family image will break down. [From Care of the Soul by Thomas Moore.]
Be Proud To Be A “Good Enough” Parent!
Particularly in today’s world, parents receive hundreds of messages about spending “quality time” with their children, saying all the right things at the right time so that their children won’t be damaged for life. Here’s the good news-there is no such thing as a “perfect parent” who always says and does the right thing; and children survive just fine.
Be proud: Write down a situation where you weren’t a “perfect parent” but a “good enough parent.”
Trying to be perfect all the time can erase all the joys of parenting.
Once upon a time, there was this mother of 3 children. She wanted so badly to be a perfect parent. With her first child, she was so determined that the child would read by age 4 that she turned books and stories into no fun at all. Her oldest child learned to avoid books like crazy. So, with her second child, she decided to wait until he was 5. With her third child she decided to make books and stories fun and not worry at all about when her third child learned to read.
MORAL OF THE STORY: Her third child learned to love books and reading!
Write down a situation where you just want to have more joy and fun with your child and worry less about being “perfect.”
Daily Reminder
Be proud to be a “good enough” parent! Start a “good enough parent” revolution!
© Parent Trust for Washington Children