I'm a parent and I'm not perfect. I make parenting mistakes like anyone else does. What I'm trying not to do is beat myself up over them! For example, one morning my daughter wouldn't eat her cereal. She threw a complete fit in the middle of the kitchen floor because she wanted spaghetti for breakfast. What did I do? Well, I cooked her spaghetti at 8:00 in the morning! Call me crazy but if that's what it takes to get her to stop screaming, then so be it. There's nothing worse than starting off your morning on the wrong foot. It really makes for a heck of a day if you ask me!

Here's where my dilemma about being a parent comes into play. Why I see nothing wrong with eating spaghetti for breakfast if that makes my child happy, I see everything wrong with the way the situation was handled. Instead of me getting her to the point of a meltdown by telling her this isn't a good idea and that I didn't want to cook spaghetti this early, I should have come to grips with the decision myself first and then addressed her. In other words, if I knew I was going to give in and cook her the darn spaghetti, I should have told her so in the first place. I think we as parents rationalize too much about certain situations. We "over think" them. I should have probably handled it like this: "If I make you spaghetti for breakfast, will you promise to eat your cereal for lunch?" I should have made light of the situation.

Some of you may think I'm wrong and that I shouldn't have catered to my child's needs and that's fine! Every child is different and every situation is different. I think my point is that we shouldn't beat ourselves up over the little things. Parenting is hard enough seeing that there are so many opinions out there from either strangers, family or the media on the right way or the wrong way to raise a child.

So, I know I've made plenty of mistakes along this journey called "parenthood." I know that I've certainly beat myself up over the years over things I've said or done along the way too. I guess I wouldn't be human if I didn't! I say if a situation comes up where you are torn as a parent on what to do, go with your heart. Your heart never fails you. The rest will fall into place!

What mistakes have you made along the way as a parent?

Jessica

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by Jessica G