Societal Pressure & Parenting in 2021
Motherhood is a plethora of jobs all in one and the responsibility to do it as perfectly as you can, or your children deal with the consequences of your mistakes. Does that mean every single mistake is going to cause some sort of catastrophic reaction with your child? No, it means your influence will forever be remembered so it’s important to get is right more often than it is to get it wrong. Which is why parents in general burn out. The weight of the world is on our shoulders 100 percent of the time, and no human is capable of being perfect nor do we actually know what we are doing. No one. Not even the societal pressures who claim to know the best method of raising your child.
Photo by Daniel Cheung on Unsplash
It’s those very pressures that have the most impact on us parents. Waking up knowing you get to spend time with the child you love more than anyone or anything in life is a great feeling. You may not want to spend every waking moment with them but getting to know them as they grow up, is one of the best parts of being a parent. Which includes caring for them as they enter each stage of their life. That care will and does change because as parents we know we have to let go more and more. And it’s hard to watch your kids grow up, knowing the experiences that shaped you but also knowing they have to find their own way. But those pesky societal pressures interrupt every waking moment of that.
Some parents just ignore them, and others allow it to destroy them every single day. Either way, none of us are immune to them, and they are a constant reminder of what we aren’t doing right in our lives.
How good of a mother, Sister, Friend, in law, Daughter, etc. have you been? Are you doing enough, because your children are watching you, so you have to do more! Did you feed them properly? Are you educating them correctly? Are you a good Wife? Are you doing selfcare? Did you stand up for yourself? Are you working from home but also in an office? Did you quit to be a better parent for your kids? But are you making enough money for your family? Are you spending enough time with your family and children? Are you seeing your friends? Have your kids seen all doctors on time? Were your children, bathed, clothed, fed, and feeling emotionally secure? Have you let them play and be a kid but also make sure they have no bumps or bruises?
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Image Credit: charlesdeluvio
The questions seem like an overabundance of insecurities; however, they are reality. Don’t believe me? Watch a Tik Tok or a Parenting YouTube video and read the comments. You will see comments about every single question I wrote. You could even read more parenting blog posts and find some iteration of this as well. With the weight of the world on our shoulders and these kids to raise as best we can, the way society has come after parents is sad.
Sad and predictable with just how much the world assumes it’s ok to continue hate the language of the internet, but it doesn’t have to say that way. It’s up to all of us to change our tune and decide not to judge other parents and instead accept others.
The outside noise will lessen and while we don’t need the world to be the way it was…. we do need parents to support each other once again.
How do you feel about Societal Pressures?
