In today’s world, parents face a lot of pressure. It’s easy to feel bombarded by images of perfect parents, they’re everywhere.
Social media is a highlight reel of other people’s lives that tells us other parents have it all together. They are relaxed, their homes are immaculate, and their children’s clothes perfectly kept and coordinated, that they have it all figured out… ALL the time. It can be hard to resist comparing yourself to that.
But the truth is no parent is perfect. And that’s ok.
As parents, we’re expected to have all the answers when it comes to raising a caring, conscientious, strong and resilient child. But this simply isn’t possible. Being a parent is a wonderful and special part of who you are as a human being. And as we all know, humans are flawed, ever-evolving works of art.
We fail. We are fallible. It’s all part of the journey, and if we give in to the idea of the ideal parent and try to hide those less-than-perfect parts of ourselves from our children, we’re truly doing them a disservice.
“We come nearest to the great when we are great in humility.” Rabindranath Tagore
Teaching your child that it is ok to make mistakes, that failure is part of becoming an authentic, successful and happy person, means allowing them to see you fail sometimes. Disappointment and failure are part of life. Modeling the emotional skills required to bounce back after failure is an essential part of raising healthy, resilient children.
As parents, how we react to adversity and triumph– the passion, curiosity, and resilience we demonstrate during tough times– are our chance to model some pretty incredible life skills for our children. The sort of emotional skills that have the power to guide them as they grow into intelligent, confident and compassionate individuals, poised for the future.
