- Your identity doesn’t have to be “Mom”, or in my case “Step-Mom” in order to be a good parent. You are allowed to have your own identity outside of your children/step-children and still care for them deeply. Parents wear many hats and once I realized that and began to accept that my “Step-Mom” hat had to be put aside every once in awhile and that it wasn’t the same as the “Mom” hat, life became a little less stressful. I felt like I was able to breathe fully again and allowed to have my own personal interests and goals outside of parenting and worrying about my step-child’s interest and goals.
- Always wake up before the children do. This is something that has become especially critical for my sanity during this pandemic, and even more so being that the three of us live in a tiny house. Waking up even 30 minutes before my step-child is so beneficial for me. It allows me time to ease into my day and the day’s plans. It gives me peace and quiet, time to revel in whatever I feel like in that moment, be it a good book, a cup of coffee, my quiet time, or a combination of different things (that nearly always include a cup of coffee or two).
- Your children are NOT “mini-me’s”. Realizing that despite behavioral or appearance similarities, that children truly are their own person seems redundant (every parent has probably heard this already), but parenting a miniature replica of yourself would be boring and unexciting. ha. But really though, parenting with the realization that one day this child will grow up and most likely won’t mimic the same path that you took yourself (whether good or bad) is scary but can be exciting at the same time. No one ever said that parenting/step-parenting was easy, right?
– em
What parenting revelations do you have to share?
Comment below.