We do not raise children to go out into the world and be perfect and build perfect relationships with perfect people. That would be impossible. We raise children to be good enough to build good enough relationships with other good enough people. Therefore, good parents are, by definition, not perfect. It’s our imperfections — deftly handled — […]
The Myth of Good Parents Read More »
If you’ve got kids, I bet there have been times when you don’t like them very much. Maybe you feel guilty about that but you know I’m an anti-guilt crusader so I’m here to tell you that I haven’t met a parent yet (and I’ve met a lot of parents) who likes their children 100%
When You Don’t Like Your Kids Read More »
I see you over there, avoiding friends, avoiding Facebook (or staying up late reading Facebook like a punishment, because you think you deserve to feel bad about yourself). I see you at the grocery store with the tantruming 3-year old, trying not to cry or scream or completely lose it yourself. I see you at
To the parent feeling like a bad mother Read More »
So many of us have internalized the idea that if we want something or if we need something it is, by definition, unnecessary. If we want it, it must be superfluous, right? Or maybe we are trying to win points (with who? our partner? our kids? the universe?) for denying ourselves so that we will be rewarded
Ask for What You Need and Want Read More »
Parenting is already plenty hard; there’s no need to make it harder.
The Lies of Suffering Read More »
It takes practice to separate on both sides. It takes practice to say, “I end here and there you begin.”
It’s not suffering that does the damage Read More »
Our children need us to matter. They need us to matter so that they get to matter, too, someday when they have children.
