Becoming a parent is widely lauded as one of the best experiences you can have in life, but not many people tell you about how difficult it can be. Sure, you’re ready for it to be hard and messy, but you’re sure you can get used to it in no time. The little person you’re bringing up in the world is all the reward you need for this long-term task ahead of you.
While the latter point is surely true, raising a child is difficult, and sometimes you’re not ready for the reasons why it can be difficult. Imagine it’s a Friday night and you want to go out, but you two year old can’t come with you and you’re having trouble finding a nanny in Melbourne.
There are more than just small frustrations, but there are ways to deal with the trials and tribulations of parenthood as well, and we’ve put them all together in this one, easy article for you.
Nothing Will Go As Planned, And That’s Ok
You might have shelves of books lined up that you’ll read to your kid as they fall asleep, or dreams of helping them with their math homework and seeing the look in their eyes as they finally grasp a new concept, but it won’t necessarily go that way. Maybe your child will hate reading, or maybe they’ll just stop bringing home homework because they don’t want to do it.
Your child is a person, and they’re learning their personality at the same time as you, so it’s ok if it doesn’t all align with what you imagined it would be. Just remember to appreciate them for who they are and treat them like their own person.
Learn to Relax Again
Kids are stressful, and this is an emotional state that won’t change in you until you can communicate with them what stress is and why they’re causing it without hurting their feelings. Taking time to just relax by yourself is important and achievable, and it’s ok to ask for help in achieving that goal.
If your partner isn’t around to help you, you can ask a parent or a friend to look after them for a few hours in which you can let your hair down and just breathe for a moment. You are still a person unto yourself, and you need to always remember that.
Take Time For Yourself (Where Possible)
Many new parents fall into the trap of providing everything for their children until they’re old enough to provide themselves with it, but this isn’t a necessity. When your kid is old enough to understand, explain to them that you want to spend time with them doing what you want to do every now and then.
This means you get to do stuff you want to do, be it woodwork or shopping or just going for a drive, and not have to bring a million devices and toys to keep your child entertained.
Forgive Yourself
Some things will likely go wrong when raising a person.
People adventure and they explore and they want to learn, so they’re bound to fall down sometimes and that’s not your fault. Keeping an eye on your kids within reason is all that can be asked of you.
Take A Night Off
Every now and then, hire a nanny and take the night off. As an aside from spending a few hours away from the house, a night out is what you would be doing if you weren’t a parent of a young child that night.
Go dancing, get drunk, have fun like you haven’t had fun in a while. Cutting loose and enjoying yourself unashamedly is great, and it shouldn’t stop when the responsibilities of parenthood are placed on your shoulders.
Learn From Each Other
Finally, your kids might be receptacles of knowledge and sponges for the world of information, but that doesn’t mean they can’t and won’t teach you things. The only way a parent won’t learn from their offspring is if they refuse to treat them like the intelligent, thinking beings they are, because even kids have insights that adults miss for decades.
Learn from your kids, cherish them, encourage them to be curious and independent and pick them up when they fall down, and most importantly, be yourself. With this in mind, you can be a great parents, regardless of the stresses.
