Parenthood remains the greatest single preserve of the amateur.
Alvin Toffler
Good Morning!
As far as I know there is no such thing as a professional parent. We are all amateurs. One of the differences being that, as amateurs, we don’t get paid – at least in dollars and cents. 🙂
Another difference is that professional and amateur athletes practice anywhere from about 2-6 hours a day. Maybe sometimes a bit more and maybe sometimes a bit less, but as parents, we are all practicing our craft every minute of every day, 365 days a year. Also, athletes have all sorts of help. They have teams of people who make sure that they are well fed, that they get enough rest, that mentally they are prepared, and that their body is in tip-top shape. They also have coaches that watch them every day and give them advice on how to improve. For most of us there is no team to make sure that we are well taken care of. That is our responsibility and one that we very often don’t do very well. Also, for most of us, we do not have a coach who helps us improve our parenting skills. Most parents are learning on their own by trial and error, hoping that it all turns out ok in the end. In fact, not only do we not have coaches but it seems that people who do hire a coach are embarrassed, as if asking for help is in some way wrong or shameful.
I was lucky to have found a person in my life whom I considered to be my coach. I worked with her for a few years and her insight, her wisdom and her suggestions were invaluable. She helped me to decide what kind of parent I wanted to be and then she helped me to get there. In fact, as you know if you read my blog, I give her all of the credit for helping me to get out of my “witch on a broomstick” phase.
There is nothing wrong with asking for help in parenting. None of us are born with the knowledge of how to raise children. Parenting is not taught in high school or college or anywhere for that matter. One day we just find ourselves with a baby in our arms and from then on we muddle through as best as we can. Most of the time, most of us do a pretty good job, considering the lack of education. But…just think how much better we would be if we worked with a coach.
So…if you find yourself struggling with your parenting in any way, please reach out for help. There is no shame in asking for help and there are a lot of very competent people out there just waiting for the chance to walk with you on your parenting journey. If you don’t want to do it for yourself, then do it for your children.
Have some fun today!
peggy
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