stressEven though you love and adore your child/ren, it can be really really hard to be the parent you want to be …

When you’re exhausted, unwell, or your child is unwell,

When there’s a lot of tension between you and your partner,

When there’s the threat of, or you’ve been through a recent, separation,

When you’re worried about how to pay the mortgage or rent,

When you don’t have enough money to cover all the basics,

When there’s serious health issues in your world, or even the fear of,

When you live in compromising conditions,

When you suffer from high anxiety, addictions, compulsions or other effects of trauma,

When you experience postnatal depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, an anxiety disorder or other mental health imbalances,

When resentments, anger, fears and worries build up between you and your child,

When you lose someone you love,

When your life situation lacks safety or security,

When your life’s fears and unresolved emotional pain manifests aggressively,

When you feel alone, isolated, misunderstood and lacking of support,

When you lack confidence as a parent and constantly harshly doubt or judge yourself,

When you live with guilt, shame, loneliness and fear of harsh judgment because of any of the above.

For any or many of these reasons (or any other stressful factors not listed), you need and deserve empathy, support, and encouragement.  You deserve to be seen, heard and understood.

You wouldn’t be reading this if you weren’t committed to bringing more love into your child’s life, let’s all work just as hard at cultivating compassion for ourselves and each other no matter what our struggles are.  Yet remember compassion for ourselves often means getting very strong and clear with our boundaries.

Acceptance of the shame and aloneness that a person carries can heal shame and aloneness.  It’s difficult to resolve and recover from that which we deny and refuse to accept.  The first steps often involve becoming much more real with ourselves and our closest people about our challenges and difficulties.  Then take the steps you need to take to move one more step in the right direction, including accessing the personal or professional help and support that you need.

Believe that there are people, lots of people, who do have the wisdom, compassion and emotional capacity to accept you as you are, your big self and your small self, keep putting it out to Spirit, God, nature or wherever you place your faith to attract more of these people into your life, they’re out there seeking authentic connection just as much as you are.
You can also read: Debunking the “perfect parent” myth

Genevieve Simperingham is a Psychosynthesis Counsellor, a Parenting Instructor and coach, public speaker, human rights advocate, writer and the founder of The Peaceful Parent Institute.  Check out her articles, Peaceful Parenting eCourses, forums and one-year Peaceful Parenting Instructor Training through this website or join over 90,000 followers on her Facebook page The Way of the Peaceful Parent.
1 Comment
  1. […] Parenting is seriously hard work! Shifting into silly mode when stressed and under pressure is hard, but regaining cooperation is great motivation! […]

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