The Perfect Blogpost

The universe seems to be converging today on the topic on perfectionism.  I went to church today and a mother's spoke on the pressure to be the perfect mom and getting caught up on pinterest and blogs with what we "should" be doing.  We had a lesson on Christ's admonition to "be ye therefore perfect, even as I and your Father in Heaven are perfect".  I came home and on the news was a series about "The Perfect Problem", women in Utah, where I currently live, struggling with depression, deciding to get plastic surgery, falling into drugs, etc. to deal with the overwhelming pressure to be perfect.

Let me just say, I'm not perfect.

Since I started this blog and my journey to spend more meaningful time with my daughter (see my post "Why Blog") I've had women in my life say to me:

"You're such a good mom!"  

"I should be doing that stuff with my kids."  

"You're daughter is going to be so advanced, my child isn't learning X yet."  

It's hard for me to know how to respond.  I still struggle.  My husband and I disagree on parenting ideas.  My daughter has a strong personality.  I spend a lot of my time trying to get my daughter together with other children so I don't have to entertain her anymore.

I remembered after I'd been reading blogs for a little way getting that feeling.  I started worrying about decorating for holidays I'd never celebrated before.  I started quizzing Chiquita on vocabulary.  Then I noticed what I was doing, and for the most part I stopped.  I realized that I should do what works for me and my family and let other people do what works for them.  I also started seeing the real blog posts that are out there about when activities don't work out or their parenting ideals didn't end up being realistic.

As a yoga instructor I've always tried to teach my students to be both honest and nice with themselves.  For example, in a forward fold, if you can't reach your toes, don't bend your knees and curve your back to try and touch them.  Accept it, keep good posture and just stretch.

For me that's life.  We have to keep balance, still working and growing but being happy with where we are, because wherever we are it can be a good place to be.


If you're wanting to improve your parenting, stress less, be a happier parent then Mindful Parenting has a really get bundle on some fantastic e-books.    Ahem, don't feel like you have to read them all today, right?  Remember that you don't have to be perfect to be better.