What is more important when working towards a goal, perfection or commitment? We want doctors and airline pilots to be perfect, but they are not. Because they are not, checks and double-checks are continually being put in place. Over time and through the experience of a multitude of errors, the seeming near perfection of doctors and pilots has increased phenomenally. It was their commitment to perfection that got both doctors and airline pilots to a level of trust that people will take the chances necessary to use their services.
What about parents? Does anyone expect a parent to be perfect? I think not, yet when parents make mistakes raising their kids, the responsible parents beat themselves up about it. But the great thing about committed parents is that they will recognize their mistakes - if they are mistakes - and improve how a particular situation may be handled in the future.
The really good news is - your kids don’t need you to be perfect! Even if that were possible, being perfect would bring on issues of its own. People who appear perfect can be annoying! Maybe it’s jealousy, but perfection is tough to live up to. We like to see people fail at times. Not seriously fail, but enough to where we can identify with them. When kids see their parents stumble, they know they can stumble too, assuming the kids also observe their parents attempt to correct whatever was the cause. That corrective action is the commitment we are seeking.
Parents that aren’t committed to raising their children the best way they know how will continue making the same mistakes over and over again. Children can sense this lack of responsibility towards them, and it can have an impact on their view of their parents and of themselves. It’s an important lesson for parents to absorb.
Summary
Perfection in parenting does not exist. We all know this, and therefore, when errors in judgment occur, we either feel bad or assume we can’t do better. What works best is your commitment to parenting, having a desire to learn and correct, doing that over and over again until, like the doctor or airline pilot, your children have a level of trust where they will take the chances necessary to learn from you! Your perceived intentions are often more important than the consequences.
#powerofdadhood
What about parents? Does anyone expect a parent to be perfect? I think not, yet when parents make mistakes raising their kids, the responsible parents beat themselves up about it. But the great thing about committed parents is that they will recognize their mistakes - if they are mistakes - and improve how a particular situation may be handled in the future.
The really good news is - your kids don’t need you to be perfect! Even if that were possible, being perfect would bring on issues of its own. People who appear perfect can be annoying! Maybe it’s jealousy, but perfection is tough to live up to. We like to see people fail at times. Not seriously fail, but enough to where we can identify with them. When kids see their parents stumble, they know they can stumble too, assuming the kids also observe their parents attempt to correct whatever was the cause. That corrective action is the commitment we are seeking.
Parents that aren’t committed to raising their children the best way they know how will continue making the same mistakes over and over again. Children can sense this lack of responsibility towards them, and it can have an impact on their view of their parents and of themselves. It’s an important lesson for parents to absorb.
Summary
Perfection in parenting does not exist. We all know this, and therefore, when errors in judgment occur, we either feel bad or assume we can’t do better. What works best is your commitment to parenting, having a desire to learn and correct, doing that over and over again until, like the doctor or airline pilot, your children have a level of trust where they will take the chances necessary to learn from you! Your perceived intentions are often more important than the consequences.
#powerofdadhood
