Bored Panda spoke with Samantha Scroggin, aka Samantha Taylor of the 'Walking Outside in Slippers' blog, about parenting and its challenges. We asked her about the most memorable things that her kids have done. Here's what she had to say: "Kids are always hilarious, so it’s practically impossible to choose one funniest memory. I started blogging and Tweeting so I’d have a place to type out the funny things my two kids said before I forgot them."
"Just a few days ago my, my 8-year-old son said he was going to grow up and move to Vegas and send me a postcard everything few months because they have 'lots of photo booths there.' A few days before that, my son complained that his watermelon had too much melon and not enough water in it. One day in church a couple of months ago, my 4-year-old daughter yelled out 'God doesn’t have a son!' So truly, kids are always entertaining."
We also wanted to know what parts of parenting Samantha find the hardest, as well as the most rewarding. "For me, the hardest part of parenting is accepting that we’re going to face challenges as parents no matter how 'good' of a parent we are. Our kids are their own people with their own quirks and strengths, not some little extensions of their parents. It’s been a work in progress for me to accept my kids as they are, behavior issues and all, and move forward positively to help them grow into the best versions of themselves."
Samantha also gave new parents (who might be feeling a tad overwhelmed with everything) some friendly advice: "I would urge new parents to trust their guts when it comes to raising their kids. When my kids are sick, I find that my instincts are usually right about when to take them to the emergency room or just try some Tylenol at home."
"We can get caught up in parenting advice books and worrying about every little thing, but we already know much of what we need to know to be awesome parents. Parenting has been built into our DNA from our past generations. We’ve got this," she encouraged other parents.
"I think we parents do our best when we choose to see parenthood as a piece of who we are, and not our entire identity. Being parents is a huge, important undertaking, but kids benefit from us being well-rounded people."
Even if you’re a superhero in disguise, sooner or later you’ll feel the brunt of what’s known as parental burnout. That’s when you’re completely exhausted. Drained. When you feel like your world is upside down. Like you have no foundation. Like everything’s chaotic. And how you have no energy left to raise your kids right.
It’s a similar feeling of being physically, mentally, and emotionally overwhelmed when you start a new job or begin to completely change your lifestyle: you feel small and powerless and scared. Fortunately, there are means and ways to fight against burnout, restore your hit points and mana, and turn that frown upside down.
Erin Schlicher explains that parenting is not about doing things perfectly. Instead of trying to “do it all,” we should aim to be “good enough” parents. Why? Because that’s realistic. And if we let go of unattainable expectations of providing the “perfect” childhood for our kids, we can instead focus on, you know, actually spending time with them.
Besides, this gets rid of a lot of pressure when we realize who we’re trying to do things perfectly for (hint: it’s not always for the kids). After all, what matters more: playing with your kids in the park or forcing them to play the violin just to impress the other neighborhood parents?
Beating burnout also means never going it alone. Turn to your grandparents, other family members, friends, and friends of friends when you need an hour or two alone time. While they’re babysitting your kids, go get some sleep, watch a movie, build a boat in your workshop. Whatever it is that you need to do to feel like you’re back at 100% again.
