Superman- REM
The rules of the blog are simple: be open and be honest. Tell your story as you see it, not as others wish to. So simple in concept yet far more difficult in practice. Difficult because it means unloading a closetful of chaos upon the screen and I am not sure that I am ready to look at some of these things during the day light.
It is a funny thing, this concern of mine because the person who I am most afraid of already knows these things. The person whose opinion will bother me most won't be fooled by simple parlor tricks or fancy smoke and mirrors.
They'll see through it all in a heartbeat. Because I am him. He is me. I am my own worst critic. You won't anyone who is harder on me than me. The fact is that I can't hide or ignore these things. So I am shrugging my shoulders and admitting to myself that sometimes I can't get it done. Sometimes I fall short. Sometimes I feel like I live on my own island because I put myself there.
And the reason for my frustration is complicated. No matter how badly I wish to beat myself up for my shortcomings there are not the sole reason for finding myself here. You can only fight the tide for so long and then you are stuck.
The father I want to be will be more accepting of these things. He'll take the same advice he provides his children but this time he won't ignore it. The father I want to be will rediscover patience and its twin tolerance.
He'll stop berating himself for that which he can't control and accept that some times there legitimate excuses. And when he does this he'll be a happier man because he won't walk around carrying the weight of the world.
3 comments:
I don't really know what to say. It seems, though, that so many of us parents have felt this at so many times. Let me rephrase that, FEEL it at various times in the day. Our deepest desire is to be the best parent for our kids and yet our frailties seem to overrun our attempts. It almost seems futile. In the end, I think, it matters that we keep on trying. As long as we are getting better, even if it is slow progress, it is worth it.
I am always concerned by parents who say that they never worry about their parenting skills or what they can do for their children.
Let me qualify that by saying that I don't think that you need to do that 24/7. That is overkill by far.
But if you don't have moments of doubt, well that is a different story.
Live your life as you want your children to live theirs.. Then let them make the choice how to live that life.. that is all you can do...
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