Take it One Day at a Time

Being a parent is hard. Being a parent is easy. You have your ups. You have your downs. Your kids love you. Your kids don’t love you. You’re the best parent in the world. You’re the worst parent in the world. Your kids did what you told them. Your kids are running around and not listening to you at all. You’re great. You’re terrible. You don't know what kind of a parent you are.

You ever feel like you’re on this type of a roller coaster as a parent? It probably feels like that every single day. You never know where you’ll be tomorrow, and looking back at yesterday may be great or it may not. Becoming a great parent isn’t about always being right or perfect - it’s about being able to deal with the ups and downs in the best way possible.

Take every single day as a parent one day at a time. If today is bad, look forward to tomorrow, but don’t give up on today. Determine how to make it a better day - what can you do for or with your kids to get them to help? What can you do for yourself to cheer yourself up? Fixing things the best you can today will make a huge difference in the parenting experience tomorrow.

Learn from past mistakes. Were you too quick to anger or yell at your kids? Don’t be as fast to anger today, or eliminate it completely if you can. Did you spend too much time watching sports or playing video games instead of playing with your kids? Turn off the sports and video games today. Whatever it is in your life that you need to improve on as a parent, now is the time to do so. Don’t wait for tomorrow - make that change today.

If you’re becoming worn out, don’t think about what may lie ahead. Focusing on something hard ahead will make today even harder. Focus on how you can make today better. Once your todays are going better, then start to figure out how you can make your tomorrows better as well. Take the hard days one day at a time, and use the good days to help make more good days ahead.

Live in the moment with your kids when you can - hug them and love them even when you feel like you can’t. Sometimes a simple hug for a child will melt away a lot of your parenting stress. If you’ve made a mistake with how you’ve raised your kids, then let them know. Tell them you are sorry and that you are working to become better. Don’t act like you know everything - show them that correcting your mistakes is the best way forward.

Live your life the best you can today. Correct your past mistakes to make today and future days excellent. Make it through the tough times to get to the better times by focusing on one day at a time.