A path for your child

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood

And sorry I could not travel both

What a pressure to be a parent!

In 2018 the bar is just getting higher, or is it really?

According to Pedro Pina parents today need to make sure your children's academic, emotional, psychological, mental, spiritual, physical, nutritional, and social needs are met while being careful not to over stimulate, under stimulate, improperly medicate, helicopter, or neglect them in a screen -free, processed food-free, GMO-free, negative energy-free, plastic-free, body positive, socially conscious, egalitarian but also authoritative, nurturing but fostering of independence, gentle but not overly permissive, pesticide-free, free two-story, multilingual home, preferably in cul-de-sac, with a backyard and 1.5 siblings spaced at least two years apart for proper development.

This is me. Trying to do it all parent!

Moving to Madison for better academics, multilingual home with a backyard, plastic free, processed food-free... I could go on and on.

I was not told to make all these choices, however looking at the society, I could easily claim that I was pushed to jump into this abyssal plain.

I question my parental choices and decisions every minute, every day. I know I make tons of mistakes. What keeps my sanity?

Listening to my child.

Besides all the demands and pathways that we as parents lay out for our children, stopping for a minute and listening to your child is important. It puts our grown up 'go get it all' world in a different perspective.

I love listening to children at school, they all want to share some stories the minute I walk into the class. That makes me think how much children desire to be heard. Not just a nod when a parent is multitasking, saying yes, when you are not really paying attention, but the look into the child's eyes assuring him or her -"I hear you".

Then by listening, I as a parent, am assured that together my child and I are creating the pathway for his or her future. It takes a tiny bit of pressure of my shoulder. It certainly does not solve all the problems in the world, but gives an assurance that me and my child are in this together. If I look at other families, it just adds more pressure sometimes, since I am constantly comparing - they have this and do not have that.

See if you can sit down with your child and just have a conversation about life in general. It is quite alright for a parent to admit that some decisions are hard to make and ask for an opinion. Even if the response from your one year old would be just "da-da" or "no'. It is bonding. Precious time with any child. A child that wants to please, a child that wants to be heard and a child that feels overwhelmed just hearing "Do this, don't do that".