Choose to be a Happy Parent

First of all, wow I am loving this new look! So much more professional and pretty! Huge thank you to the team at Envye for setting it up for me!!

Now, on to something that’s been weighing on my heart a bit.

I was shopping a couple days ago, looking at journals, and I came across one about parenting. Of course I was interested. I love journaling for recording memories, venting, and being able to look back and see how far I’ve come. It’s something I highly recommend, especially as a parent. This was sort of a prompted journal, and I definitely love those as well. So I opened it.

On every page was a prompt to write about what I had done wrong as a parent that day.

I get it, it’s a joke, a space to vent. Those things are totally necessary. Especially when your two year old wants the fruit with the yogurt just the way you always fix it, except plot twist! This time she doesn’t want it mixed. And you just started your day by using the last of the yogurt incorrectly. It doesn’t matter that you don’t read minds. To your two year old, you should have known.

Being a parent is hard some days. Even a lot of days. It is hard and sometimes talking about it or writing about it makes it easier. But are those the things you really want to spend your time writing down and reflecting and remembering?

Being a parent is definitely not always a walk in the park, but that same tiny human who throws enormous temper tantrums is also capable of SO MUCH LOVE. And kindness. And wonder. And amazement.

Those are the moments to reflect on. Those are the ones worth writing down. Yes there are hard stages and phases, but I promise they pass. And when they do, you fall even deeper in love with the tiny human who finds the world to be an incredible place, and gives love so readily and willingly, and hasn’t been hardened yet by all the demands of society.

If that journal works for you, go for it. You know yourself best. But I challenge everyone to try keeping a journal of quotable moments, and happy memories, and the things that make you so grateful to be a parent. Invest just as much time investing in that, and see if your outlook on parenting, and maybe even life in general changes.

I know that journal is not meant to hurt anyone. But it really does deeply sadden me when I see so many parents talking about all the things their child does to drive them crazy and constantly thinking about the next break they’ll get. Those are completely valid things, but it is so sad to think that another parent has the opportunity to go on this journey that I am so in love with and they don’t cherish it in the moment.

Hug your babies tight and think about why you love them and why they are so special to you. Cherish your time as a parent of little ones, and at every stage. You certainly don’t get it back, so why not choose to be happy and parent with a grateful heart?

xoxo,

Katie