6.11.2012

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

Raising a child is an exercise in patience and perseverance. Raising a toddler takes this test to a whole new level. One day you spend the whole time thinking, "Man, my kid is a freakin' genius! I must call Mensa!", and the next day, you're huddled in a corner, rocking back and forth, just praying for escape as you are being screamed at by a very short, angry human whose language you suddenly do not understand. I know the cliche is just to take it day by day, but I must say, that it is very difficult to remember that some days. A big challenge is when you try something new, hoping to reach a new milestone, and you soon realize that your child may not be as ready as you thought. These things are not setbacks, and going back to what you were doing is not a step back. But sometimes it is easy to see them as failures because, as parents, I think we put too much pressure on ourselves to do everything "right" because what parent doesn't want to see their child succeed? Society places so much emphasis on the success of the individual and some of the people to feel it most are parents--it is their responsibility to raise motivated, useful and intelligent members of society, and you can see this in magazines, on  TV and all over the internet. I think it is important for us, as parents, to not always take this responsibility so seriously because it can may you crazy from the pressure. Every kid has their own timeline and do things at their own pace, and just because they aren't quite ready for something doesn't mean you've failed in some way. It just means you get to try again later. Besides, every experienced parent will tell you--enjoy every moment because it goes by too quickly and you can't get those moments back. 



1 comment:

Deborah said...

Great post.