Parents, what do you think you should care about?

Ask yourself:

Do you really care if your child makes his bed, or do you THINK you should care about it?

Do you really care that your child has B's, or do you THINK you should care about it?

Do you really care if your child is "pretty" or "handsome," or do you THINK you should care about it?

Do you care about piano/soccer/Mandarin/art/baseball practice or do you THINK you should care about it?

Our culture has us SO twisted that we have forgotten to tap into our intuition.

And our own children.

Stop being a sheep.

Lead your family with confidence and don't apologize for it.

I wrote the above in 2016, and with a 12 year old, a 9 year old, and a 6 year old, I no doubt felt pulled in every direction humanly possible. Ballet, soccer, gymnastics, school, the undiagnosed issues pulling at us, not to mention my business! I had just finished my training as a Neufeld Institute Facilitator which, to my surprise, was more challenging than most of my undergraduate and graduate degrees! My writing for the Washington Post was doing very well, and my coaching roster was full. Life was full-on lifeing with all the good and hard of it all.

And still.

I was fifty pounds heavier, deeply insecure, and using wine as a reward for all the shuffling and going and doing and hustling. I had always prized myself with “going with the flow” of life, but the flow had become an undertow and, rather than getting my own shit together, I (kinda-sorta) blamed my children’s schedules. I mean, yes, I live in a busy city that just keep kids going…not to mention that living in our American parenting culture will keep us trapped in a “your child is about to be kidnapped, so keep them busier than hell” fear cycle, but still.

When I read my above post, I see a forty year old mom struggling to find a center. I could feel myself getting dragged around by my own life, but my parenting intuition was actually in good shape. I have never really been the type to care about outside standards or activities or keeping up with the Joneses, so when I was worried about being a sheep? I was writing about myself, not my parenting. What was I trying to prove?

How do you know where you are standing, in your own life? Here are some questions to get you thinking: