When I listen to parents talk about their experiences, I hear…

• I’m worried that I’m screwing it up
• We’re barely afloat
• I’m just trying to keep my head above water

The metaphors often have a drowning theme to them!

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Something that’s helped me cope with being overwhelmed is to notice that the parenting experience has been set up so little failures are guaranteed.

In fact, there’s no better life lesson to learn than people can fail us and we are going to be ok.

We might not like the failure.

The failure might hurt.

…but we’re going to be OK.

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So remember that being good-enough is better for our kids than being perfect.

…and remember that our parents, and others, probably did us a favor when they let our younger selves down.

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More along these lines in a book by Mark Epstein called The Trauma of Everyday Life.