Do No Harm

“We go into parenting, and we discover that we don’t have the answers. We are at a loss.”
Julia Cameron

I like this quote because I feel that Julie Cameron is being really honest. And sometimes as a parent it is really hard to be honest and admit that you don’t have all of the answers.

Just an FYI – no one has all of the answers. Most of us don’t have any of the answers and are just stumbling around hoping to do our best. I imagine that might sound a bit odd coming from a Parent Coach. It would appear that I have all of the answers but I don’t. Even with grown children I am still stumbling around because every stage of parenting has its own unique characteristics and no one can really be totally prepared for what is to come.

My mantra has always been “do no harm”, the same credo that doctors use.( If you can’t cure them at least do no harm.) If I could not be a perfect parent I hoped that I would at least “do no harm”. I figured that as long as what I was doing caused no harm then I was ahead of the game. And it worked for me. When I was at my “witch on a broomstick stage” I realized that I was doing harm and so I sought out someone wiser than me to help me get on the right track and get back to “do no harm”. “Do no harm” took the pressure off of me. It helped me to realize that I did not have to have all of the answers. That I could stumble around and still be a good parent and that if I needed help I could just ask for it.

So… Parenting is a journey, and a long one at that. You will never know all of the answers. Keep working at it, keep learning, reach out for help if you need it and continue to “do no harm”.

Have some fun today!

peggy