
25 Things Parents Would Do Differently The Next Time Around.
37 Mistakes Every First Time Parent Makes.
28 Women On Their Biggest Parenting Regrets.
Headlines every parent has clicked on once. Just to check that we're, you know, normal. And that nothing we've done is as bad as whatever these other people did. Or maybe to make sure they weren't worse.
Early parenthood is a swamp of insecurity. It's always best to check in with the Internet to see where you stand on the scale of Sub-Par Parent. Today.
Watch: Things Mums never hear. Post continues below.
Of course, parents don't actually need any of this kind of encouragement to berate themselves for all the things they should have done. I don't know any mother who walks around patting herself on the back for doing a stellar job. That's not how the game is rigged.
You've likely noticed that 21st Century parenting is all about an unattainable ideal. As a mother parent in 2020, you're never giving enough, never sacrificing enough, never being selfless enough, never noticing enough, never fixing enough, never relaxing enough, never being enough. That's the game, from the moment they're born and you're failing them in your very arms.
I'm calling bullsh*t.
Twenty-first Century parents have enough going on. Especially this year. The legacy of the parental overwhelm that accompanied COVID-19's lockdown might just be a trend back to 1970s parenting.
You know, the kind where you loved them, tried not to kill them and shrugged off all their complaints for a therapist of the future to deal with. All care, no responsibility. That kind of thing. Life's pretty overwhelming at the moment, kids, just strap on the helmet and let's try to get through it.