Growing up in our generation was a completely different ballgame. Raising kids today takes on a fundamentally new dynamic. I often find myself listening to my 4year old daughter, trying to understand how at her age she has such a strong, opinionated personality. How at her age, she understands what the bodily organs do and how important it is to take care of our bodies and eat correctly. Of course knowing this and practicing this as a 4 year old is highly unlikely but she understands the concept of taking care of her body. Despite me teaching her how to be good and kind, her bouts of mean behaviour still exist and it does drive me insane most times. However, when she realises that she has been behaving badly and apologises on her own, that makes me aware that she is listening and that maybe I’m not doing such a bad job after all.
Parenting is difficult and trying to ensure that we aren’t damaging our kids in any way, can cause great anxiety on a daily basis. I look back at when my son was 4 years old and how different my thought process was then, but I was much younger, so that’s a good reason for that particular mindset. I suppose as he was growing up, I was also discovering who I was at the same time, so it didn’t leave much room for me over thinking my parenting do’s and don’ts. However, today I’m always questioning myself in terms of my methods and the routines I put in place. I’m so pedantic about everything when it comes to both my kids now, especially my daughter, since my son is an adult already. I can’t sweat the small stuff with him, but I still find myself sweating the small stuff with my daughter. I suppose I too, will change as she grows older and that since she is my baby and I wont be having another, the little things that matter so much to me are important as I wont be able to do this again. Within a blink of an eye, she will be all grown up and not needing me much anymore and with that comes a whole different set of parenting styles and routines that I don’t think I want to think about just yet. Parenting is a blessing that many people don’t get the opportunity to do as much as they may want to, so realising how blessed we are despite all the difficulties we take on in this role is something we should always remember ❤
