"Am I totally failing as a parent?"

You’re Not Failing, You’re Parenting (and That’s Good Enough)

I remember at the beginning of what you might call my “journey to Whole Parent” something that I used to ask myself every time I screwed up, lost my temper, forgot to feed my kids dinner, or had the sudden urge to throw my highly sensitive and anxious 3 year old into a closet and shut the door (if you’re judging me right now for feeling that way, just know I judge myself 10x more harshly).

That question was “Am I totally messing this up?” (sometimes with more colorful vocabulary 🤬).

I had one of those moments again two weeks ago. I could feel my childhood trauma and personal baggage fighting to pull be back into the harmful shame cycles I am trying to break. I was totally overwhelmed and barely surviving. It was literally ALL I could do to just keep my mouth shut, my limbic system in check, and survive until my wife got home from Target....