Our culture is one that promises quick fixes, from 6-minute abs (or is it 8 minutes? I don't know. I wait for cold season and hope I get a cough strong and persistent enough to get mine back on track) to "Thirty Days to a Happy Kid." It's become hard to see the benefit of putting in hard work for the long term. But as Jess Lahey points out in this essay for Motherlode, parenting is "a long-haul job," and:
Children don't take a direct path to adulthood; they wander. They are less concerned with our elaborate timelines and checklists than the fairy houses and climbing trees they spot along the side of the road.
Stop fretting about the progress of one week, or even one school year. Occasionally look back to see how far they've come and move forward with the knowledge it's all coming. (Especially if you've got a potty-training toddler...)
Read the entire piece on the Motherlode: Parenting, Not for the Moment, But for the Long Haul
ParentCo.
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