I think parents these days put immense pressure on themselves, to be perfect beings in the eyes of our children. But we shouldn’t want our children to strive to be perfect, it’s an impossible goal and totally unrealistic.
For me being a mother is a constant juggling act to be efficient and ready for anything and keep up with the roles of everyday life.
This morning was no exception:
I have spent the last week out in the sun every day with the boys, keeping them busy and providing them with a brilliant fun school holiday that they wouldn’t want to end.
Yesterday after a few hours at Birmingham airport plane spotting we made sure all the homework was done. Pump bags were filled, school bags sorted, uniform out and ready for the morning.
Then the morning came and that feeling of organisation was totally changed. The boys were back to their usual “selective hearing selves” and our eldest was acting up because he was worried.
He’d remembered this morning that he “might” have to have his assembly costume for today. He hadn’t written it down and he was over thinking it all and we were all in the firing line, especially me, for not reading his mind and knowing the answers to everything.
I wished I was perfect, I wished I was a mind reader. I could see his face changing from angry, to worried, to the brink of crying.
I tried to solve his problems, but he wasn’t in a clear enough headspace to even listen, that’s when I could feel myself going through the same emotions as him. I turned my back on him and silently cried into the lunches I was packing for them.
Once they’d finished breakfast, and the younger two were lounging on the sofa, our perceptive 9 yr old came back to me and asked me to help him and burst into tears, we both stood there crying into each other.
You see nobody’s perfect, it’s ok for our children to see, that life isn’t easy for us either and that we have the same feelings as them.
It’s in those moments of comforting that our bonds grow stronger.
Needless to say I have spent the morning making sure tomorrow the assembly costume is ready.
At The Harveys 