Do you ever feel like a parenting failure?
As parents, we often feel like we mess up pretty much all the time……..
There are some minor parenting failures-
- Missed Appointments
- Making your child do chores when, apparently, no one else in the world does.
- Wrong Christmas Gift
- Fast Food
- Tacky Christmas Photos
And major ones-
- The time we yell at our child out of pure exhaustion and frustration
- Swatted behind when a conversation could have happened
- Talked Down to Child
- Comparisons
- Lectures
- Choosing Friendship Instead of Parenting
- Unfair Discipline
Most parents can relate to some, if not all, of these (and more). In fact, we often wonder how much their future will be determined by our mistakes.
BUT then this happens:
These cards are the ones my children handmade for me, salvage sister, for my birthday! They could have just made a card, but they didn’t. There are words of affirmation, love, and unspoken forgiveness.
“Thank you for always loving me.”
“Your present: I will help you with…”
“To the world you might be one person, but to me you are the world.”
“I love you!”
“You have truly impacted my life.”
These are the same kids I continually make mistakes on? Wow!!
These cards truly say so much more to me about who they are than who I am. They are forgivers over my parenting failures.
Children remember more of the good than the bad because that IS what you have given them….more good than bad!
They know you are just doing your best. How? Because you have shown them and ask for forgiveness when you screw up.
Yes, they see you mess up, but they also see your desire to do better.
They have BIG HEARTS that long to connect with their parents.
(The Blessing is an excellent book about how people desire to have a blessing from their parents.-affiliate link.)
The next time you feel like a parenting failure,
- Say “I’m Sorry!”
- Try Again
- Repeat as Necessary
AND always remember your kids want to forgive you!
What better lesson for them to take into their future!!!!
We have more parenting posts, like:
Leave a Reply