Parenting Is Hard

They say parenting is hard, but until you’re in the thick of it, you have no idea. My biggest fear with parenting is doing something that will damage my child. Not in the sense of physical harm (because mama bear will guard with her life), but psychologically and emotionally.

You hear it all the time, don’t give them everything they want or they’ll be spoiled. Don’t say ‘No’ to everything or they’ll resent you. Geez, what’s a mama to do?

Being a mother is tough – like really tough.  I’ve been a little reluctant to really share my mommy journey because of all the judging going around on social media.  No one wants to be judged for their parenting style but at the same time, not all children are the same and respond to the same type of
parenting.

Parenting Journey

I absolutely love being Olivia and Ava’s mommy.  It’s not always rainbows and sunshine and sometimes I want to rip my hair out in frustration, but I wouldn’t change it for anything! I remember my very first blog post was about motherhood.  I wrote it when Olivia had just turned 1 and I remember having all these emotions inside — I had to let it all out.  My goal was to let other new moms know that this is their journey, no one else’s.

No one is going to have the exact same experience, similar maybe, but not the same.

When I first became a mother, I swear everyone had an opinion.  Everyone had the ‘best advice’ and was quick to call me out if I was doing something wrong.  My Hispanic heritage didn’t make it any easier.  Do I really need to wrap my baby up in a blanket in 80 degrees?  Now don’t get me wrong, I’m all for suggestions, but any form of judgment can stay at the door.

Ultimately, you are the ones who know your children, know their learning habits, know their behaviors, and know what will and will not work.

Every Child Is Different

For instance, in my home, timeouts for Olivia do not work, but taking away YouTube Kids viewing time will.  Olivia is allowed 20 minutes of You Tube on non-school nights and she looks forward to it.  So she knows if we have to correct her more than once, that is her punishment.  Ava may be different, and that’s fine, we’ll adjust our parenting style with her when we get there.  Funny thing, she actually puts herself in timeout when she gets scolded.  She’ll just walk to another room, sit on the floor and cry.  She’s a lot like me when I get upset.  We give her a few minutes and then she’s back, with a smile and ready to go.

If you have any similar stories you would like to share, comment below.  I’d love to have some contributors for this series, so if you are interested please email me at lunaandisabellablog@gmail.com

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