Guilt-Free Parenting | Advice

No matter how well you’re doing as a parent, there’s always this dread that you’re not doing enough. Parenting guilt exists, and moms are often the ones to experience it, at least to some degree. It’s also challenging to overcome because while there is a host of advice on parenting from every corner of the internet and our inner circle, there are not as many good parenting tips on guilt-free parenting. This guide should help rectify that by being a resource for advice on how to be a mom that doesn’t feel guilty. It’s time to find peace of mind.

5 Good Parenting Tips for Guilt-Free Parenting

Social media has become a breeding ground for comparison parenting. Now, it’s not just a sister-in-law making you feel less-than, but moms with 100 times the resources you have and more helpers than you could count. In such an environment, it’s no wonder that guilt can take hold.

But, you can reclaim your parenting serenity with these good parenting tips.

Understand and Define Your Role as a Parent

Guilt can start creeping in when you lose sight of your role as a parent. You’re not everything to your kids — you’re a caregiver, a provider, and, to an extent, a teacher, counselor, and mentor. But you’re not necessarily a friend, a fairy that can grant every wish, or a punching bag.

Knowing your boundaries will help you identify your limitations, acting as a guide on when to call in reinforcements.

Understanding your role also works at putting things into perspective, enabling you to focus on areas you can improve and preventing you from obsessing about things outside your control.

Prioritize Guilt-Free Me-Time and Self Care

To be a mother who provides for your kids’ emotional and physical needs, you need to be a functioning human first. To give your love, understanding, and assistance, you need to have all these things first.

Because if you’re running on empty, your kids are suffering.

Take time off. Being a mom is a full-time job that requires frequent “vacation time” to carry out productively.

When taking time off, focus on recharging your four elements: mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical health.

Mental Health

Think about joining a support group or unplugging from the things that keep you busy. Have a day to pamper yourself, relax, and be a woman — not a mom — first.

Emotional Health

Build bonds, and find hobbies you enjoy beyond your family and kids to keep yourself satisfied in areas outside the home.

Spiritual Health

Take time to recharge your spiritual life, taking the time to pray, meditate, and read. Feeling spiritually strong will help you deal with life’s unexpected challenges with ease.

Physical Health

Whether this is a gym membership or a walk around the block, keeping active helps you release endorphins, a sure way to remain happy.

Understand Guilt Doesn’t Make You a Better Mom

A sense of guilt is nothing more than a burden. It doesn’t help you provide better, guilt doesn’t give you more free time, or offer the solutions to everyday problems. Instead, it can do the opposite. Guilt often causes mental strain, draining you of the mental fortuity needed to manage kids and be better at parenting.

Guilt can also make you start second-guessing your decisions, leading to parenting anxiety.

Take a deep breath and remember that parenting guilt doesn’t serve you or your kids, but the things you’re feeling guilty about — needing to work or prioritizing self-care — often do help your kids and your family.

Forgive Yourself Frequently

If you think you’re going to be the perfect mom, forgive yourself. Because not only will the idea of perfection change, but whatever you define as perfection is nearly impossible to achieve.

Recognize that you’ll make mistakes. Holding onto those isn’t helping you be a better mom, is it? But if you forgive yourself, it’s easier to learn from your mistakes and move forward.

Because you’re typically the most critical of your actions, if you can take it easy on yourself others will too. Even if others don’t embrace your forgiving attitude, their critiques won’t be as stinging.

Put Your Kids’ Emotions into Perspective

Before you take an insult or sulk to heart, remember that you are special to your kids. They only have one mother, and that’s you. So even when they say hurtful things, these words shouldn’t be internalized. They’re not a reflection of your parenting.

If there’s one takeaway among all the good parenting tips, it’s that you’re a great mother. Period.