I was that a-hole. Before I had kids. I had parenting aaaaaall figured out from the sidelines. I judged mothers who let their babies crawl on dirty floors, who seemed to tune out their kids who said, “Mom, mom, mom, mom, mom,” on repeat, who forgot things because they couldn’t seem to retain and remember anything since having kids. I was CERTAIN that would not be me. Then, I had my own kids…
Now, what I’m about to say does NOT apply to the parents who willfully neglect and abuse their children. Those people should not be caring for young humans and should be getting help so they can live up to their potential as the parents their children deserve. But for the rest of us…
Listen, we all want to believe we would never leave our children alone all night in a corn maze, but let’s face it! Parenting is NOT predictable, it’s not easy. In fact, it is the most humbling, exhausting, at times humiliating, rewarding, scary, joyful, heartbreaking endeavor any human can strive to do! So cut those parents some slack! I’m sure they are torturing themselves with feelings of guilt, shame, inadequacy and self-loathing. They don’t need us to do that for them. Instead, let’s offer the poor guys some support. Let’s offer a hand to help them out of the shame spiral they are in and say, “it’s ok. I’ve had bad moments too.”
I always tell my kiddos to repeat this phrase after they mess up: “I’m a good kid. Sometimes I make mistakes, but I’m still a good kid.” To the parents navigating through this unfortunate incident, I encourage you to say this to yourselves. I tried it earlier today and trust me, it’s a lot harder than you think. We all beat ourselves up so much, don’t we? Ok, repeat after me (ahem), “I’m a good parent. Sometimes I make mistakes, but I’m still a good parent.” Repeat whenever necessary, or on the really challenging days, say it to yourself on a loop. Deep down, all parents know they have no right to judge. I got your back!
I wanna hear your bad parenting stories. Share your ‘corn maze’ incidents in solidarity! Leave them in the comments. I promise not to judge.
