How I want to help parents with my blog

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I started this blog because I want to help parents. I realised that parents can feel so isolated in their little family bubble. The reality is that when the 6-8pm window rolls around, all across our towns, cities, and the world, we’re all trying to get our wee ones to eat dinner, get ready for bed, and fall asleep.

This blog is my way to reach out to parents who are struggling to stay calm in a storm of tantrums. Like myself, I want to help parents who wrestle with the idea of being a perfect mother or father. I want to help parents (and myself) find ways to stay present, engaged and supportive of their children. And keep an open mindset when there are bumps in the road.

Disclaimer; I’m not a doctor or medical professional. The words in this post are only my thoughts and opinions and if you choose to act on any suggestions those are your own decisions and responsibility.

Let’s dive in to how I hope to help:

1) Empower parents with fun and calming strategies for dealing with messy moments:

One of my favourite stories that my wise mother-in-law shared about when her kids were toddlers, is about a time when they were baking a cake and someone knocked the flour over, spilling it all over the floor. EEEEEK!!!

In that moment she realised she could react two very different ways; either get annoyed and tell the kids off, OR, embrace it and PLAY.

She said something like “Oops, oh well. It’s on the floor now. Let’s play with it before we clean it up.”

She chose to let the kids indulge in the sensory moment of finger drawing shapes through the flour. It’s not as if they could have swept it up and used the flour anymore. She also used the moment to model light disappointment and shift that into being present with the situation.

The kids stayed happy and engaged, plus she didn’t get frustrated. I’m not recommending we all empty our food stuffs all over the floor to occupy the children for 5 minutes, but I love this story because it highlights that moment before a parent reacts. Our day as parents is filled with these moments.

There’s a lot going on for all of us, but I hope to shine light on how to turn such moments into opportunities to model and create fun.

Related post: 7 secrets to baking with kids

2) Provide easy to follow guides and ideas to have fun with the family:

When I was new to this parenting thing, I was blown away the day I realised you can make your own play-dough. Even better, you can make it smell like pineapple! I’m constantly looking for new ideas to keep my kids occupied. The easier the better.

Here you’ll find easy and affordable activities to enjoy with your children. I love sharing craft ideas, both for indoor and outdoor. Also, I’ll be looking into the benefits and learning opportunities of these different activities. Who doesn’t enjoy a bit of pop-psyhcology?

Related post: Tree climbing benefits for kids

3) Help parents develop their own sense of Self Care:

It’s so easy to forget about ourselves. Especially when our children are so little. I learnt the hard way, that I’m not helping anyone if I’m a frazzled, tired, shell of a parent. I’m still learning how to be better at taking care of myself and my needs.

I want to bring voice to ways parents can support ourselves and each other when things are tough. It really does take a village to raise children, but we’re allowed to lean on that village too.

I’ll share ideas of how to make time for yourself and how to build that into a busy family life. Hopefully letting our children see and understand that taking time for YOU is good for them too. Plus they’ll start to understand for themselves what self care means.

Related post: 50 self-care ideas for busy parents

4) Recommend helpful Parenting Strategies, Tips and Ideas:

Quite often I’ll hear people refer to parenting as a job. It’s not a job, you don’t get paid money, and it shouldn’t be transactional.

I’ve come to think of being a parent as the deepest, most loving and exhausting relationship possible. I find the most effective strategies are based on this mindset. The developmental stages and phases that children go through is both constant and unique to the child. We have to develop our own toolkits as our kids develop.

I’m no way near perfect as a parent, but I’m constantly trying to learn to do better. As I discover useful parenting tips I’ll share them here, whether it’s about how to get your baby to sleep, your child to eat vegetables or how to have more fun with your kids.

And I’d love to hear any of your ideas too!

Related post: Top parenting strategies to stay sane

5) Write a regular blog post to help parents on their journey

it would be great to build a community of parents who feel they can share, not just the struggles, but also their joy and proud moments.

I plan to post regularly to share some of these stories. We’re on this journey to grow the next generation together.

This blog is also my way of keeping accountable and documenting my own journey to be a better parent. Of course we all want to be the best parent we can be. But what does that mean? And what does it mean in this era of such huge change?

As the name Not So Perfect Parenting suggests, I’ll be focusing on ways to stay present, how to enjoy the messy side of this journey and not stress about the bumps in the road. I hope you’ll check back in and see if there are useful ideas here too.