I have recently been learning how to give myself grace, particularly when it comes to my daughter. I’ve inherited a trait from my dad that I’ve only just noticed: impatience. I am very impatient with a short temper when it comes to my daughter. And it doesn’t take long before I start to feel how I did at the peak of my postnatal depression.
So for me, learning how to give myself grace is becoming something I really need to pay attention to. I need to have more patience, more grace and put a lid on my temper. Some days I’m a super mum, other days I’m not.
A lot of this has come about because one of my biggest fears is being judged as a parent. And I’m really starting to feel the pressure of toilet training at the moment. I feel like I need to explain to total strangers why she isn’t toilet trained at two and a half. And the crazy part is that nobody has ever asked or mentioned it. But here I am almost every day coming up with an excuse ‘just in case’.
The same thing happens those few times that I let YouTube Kids entertain my daughter while she is in the trolley at the supermarket. I feel like I’m being judged by all the other people in the supermarket. And sure, some of them probably are judging me. But no one has said anything to my face about it. Even if they did, I would tell them, with a clear conscience that this is a rare occurrence.
Life doesn’t always go as planned, and sometimes I need to be reminded of that. So I also give you permission to give yourself grace.
