It’s 2 in the morning. Your newborn baby is crying, and you can’t seem to console your child in any way. You are tired, exhausted, and are about to hit your breaking point. All of these negative thoughts are running through your head. “You are a terrible parent”, “Something is wrong with the baby”, and, of course,”You aren’t doing any of this right”.
Every parent has been in this situation, especially new parents. Parenthood introduces all sorts of challenges that you would never think you would have to face. With all of these challenges, it can be hard to see that you are doing anything right, especially when you are dealing with a screaming kid.
Being a parent is no doubt one of the hardest things that most people will do in their lives, but it is so rewarding. And you are doing a great job at it, even though you may not always think so, and heres a few things that you may do, or feel that show you that you are a good parent.
You are stressed about everything.
And that is because you care a whole helluva lot. If you didn’t care, you probably wouldn’t stress.
You take charge.
This doesn’t make you overly bossy, or too strict, it makes you a good, responsible parent. Kids need to have limits, and if you don’t take the reigns then you are doing them an injustice.
You give your kids responsibility.
Kids need to have some sort of responsibility, especially when they are younger. They need to learn that they can’t always rely on some one for everything.
You let them take charge in activities.
Giving kids an opportunity to pick the game, and to make the rules every once in a while. It makes kids feel good to be able to be a leader, and that sticks with them.
You set a good example.
Kids absorb things like they are sponges. Everything you do, or say around them, they take that in. Being respectful towards people is a key example. If your kids see you showing disrespect to someone that may have ticked you off in traffic will say that its okay for them to act like that as well.
You don’t belittle your partner’s parental decisions.
You two are a team, and if you go behind their back on decisions they make regarding your kids, it just tells them that certain rules don’t apply, and that they may not have to listen to them.
You know how to admit when you are wrong to your kids.
If you tell your kids that they need to do something “because you said so”, and you later realize that that wasn’t such a good thing to do at the time, it doesn’t make you a bad parent. Everybody makes mistakes, and by admitting that you were wrong to your kids teaches them just that.
You let your kids cry themselves to sleep as a baby.
This does not make you a bad person at all. It actually helps your kids learn to calm themselves down and to get themselves to fall asleep, without having to depend on you to do it. It will also help them sleep longer, especially when they are babies who have trouble sleeping through the night.
You like to have some alone time.
This is perfectly normal for a parent. Kids can be super overwhelming, especially when they are young. Let them spend some time at grandmas house, or leave them with your partner, and go out by yourself, or with friends every so often. You need that break to make yourself feel better and to be the best parent you can be.
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