Perfectionism and the Journey



I caught myself thinking this morning - Why is this parenting stuff so hard? Why didn't I read everything I needed to know before my kids were born and get it all figured out long ago? (As if that were even possible.)

Then I realized how I let myself learn about any other subject as I go - while writing a book, keeping chickens, gardening. I don't see it as a failure, but a journey deepening into something I value. Somehow learning to parent as I go feels like a failure. And into my mind popped the image of my daughter (age 7) melting into a pile of self revulsion because she can't draw or play piano or spell a word perfectly the first or second or third time. Hmm, I thought - while my response is less dramatic, it's the same pattern. Expecting myself to be beyond perfect from square one.

Time to let myself grow as I go, even as a parent, and to show my daughter my process. I've tried to show her my mistakes and learning in other areas - sewing, cooking, my career - but never my biggest project of all, parenting.

My daughter is an amazing artist. And she has a lot of room to grow. I guess maybe I can say the same about me as a parent - the former can be true, and the latter is okay, too.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Math for the Reluctant Artist

Big Kids Need to Play with Clay

Kinesthetic math: Regrouping