Can It Get Worse?

As a parent, it seems like today is the worst day of parenting ever. Your child simply won’t grow up fast enough, and they won’t do what you want them to. You’re drowning in your own negative feelings and it seems like there is no end in sight. Many parents have these days, weeks, and months - you’re not alone. Parenting isn’t always fun. You need to find a way to get out of the negative downward spiral.

Being a parent is not the worst job in the world. It is absolutely one of the hardest jobs in the world though - you can’t get away from it at any moment, and you’ll have to go through some very difficult times. The first thing you have to do when you’re feeling like you can’t do it anymore is to hold onto anything positive that you can - find any and all of the happy moments of parenting.

That smile from your child, a word that they say, or them finally falling asleep after a long day. Whatever it is, you have to find a way to stop focusing on the negative and focus on anything positive that you can. When you’re in the middle of it, it can feel overwhelming to do, but if you don’t find something positive, then you’ll just continue in your downward descent that doesn’t end well.

If you’re in a place where you want to do harm to yourself or your child, then you need to seek help. Don’t let yourself get to that state, and if you have, then don’t wait to get some help. There are plenty of people out there that want you to be safe and your child to be safe as well. Reach out to them as needed to be able to get over whatever negative feelings are consuming you at the current time.

Assuming you’ve been able to overcome some of those feelings, you need to step back and look at the bigger picture. You may be in a tough situation, but there are far worse situations you could be in. There are thousands of people out there that are living on the streets without the food or shelter they need to properly survive. You need to focus on the good things that you have in your life.

As you focus on the positive, you need to figure out the best way to avoid thinking about the negative - yes, there are negative parts of parenting. You can’t get around that. However, you need to find ways to help yourself enjoy the good parts of parenting and how to get a break from parenting as well. If you’re not taking time for yourself, then figure out how you can do so - a break from parenting is necessary.

Your kids know how to push your buttons and boundaries. They know what you do and don’t like. They are going to make your life hard (especially as they get older) as they try to work on different ways to get the things that they want. You may feel like they want you to be miserable - that’s not true, but it will feel that way sometimes. They’re simply learning to grow up just as you’re learning to be a parent.

Find anything and everything positive you can about parenting. Then figure out how you can take time for yourself and not focus on the negative. Make parenting as good as you can make it.