Boxed In

Fckitmum - 27 Oct 16

So I spent 3 hours yesterday at work in a room full of people learning about what color blocks I was. You know, those exercises that no matter where you are in your career where they go all Jung on you and tell you that you are a ISPT or Driver or High Priestess or some other stuff like that (OK maybe not High Priestess but you get the drift). So while I was sitting there really thinking HARD about what colors I was and what colors I should be to ensure that I am seen as a good person, ’cause you know that pretty much is all that they are designed to do, I was thinking about the different labels we get as parents and how they can kind of box you in and how that type of stuff really annoyed me.

The lists of the ‘mum friends’ that you all have….. the hippy one, the safety one, the knowledgeable one, the crafty one…. kind of like the spice girls for your #mumsquad –  to some extent I get it. It’s nice to feel that you have an identity, a purpose, something that you are perceived potentially good at, but is it healthy or just another box that you find yourself in that comes with being a mother? Is it pressure that we just don’t need?  I’m inclined to think yes.

Setting out on this journey there is so much pressure already in trying to keep little people alive, so why let ourselves be caught up in trying to be something or watching others in awe of their XYZ abilities? We are complex things and just because one day you see a mother with a perfect yumbox and their child eating carrots doesn’t mean that they are the ‘healthy organized mum’ – just that the stars aligned and for that brief moment she was winning.  And the ‘super mum’ with the strict routine with their kid from birth, naps, meals and play time scheduled to an inch of their lives resulting in a perfect well rested and calm family? Well that probably wont last forever and she’ll have to learn to just go with the flow at times to get through the day when the toddler decides that it isn’t nap time but its time to jump on the bed and try to refine their back flip.

Being a parent is a journey – totally cliched but true. No amount of colored Lego blocks, #mumsquad names or random alphabet bath letters are going to be able to fully capture who you are as a parent, or who you are going to be as a parent.  You are you, and as long as you don’t try to be something else, I reckon you will be doing alright.

Fckitmum

Gin expert I Little person keeper alive-er I Master of #fckitparenting I Occasional blogger

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