Are You a Super Parent?

This week, my son told me he heard a scary noise outside his basement window. Thinking I was teaching him to face his fears directly, I walked outside with him and showed him that nothing was outside his window. What I couldn't see in the dark, was that a baby bunny (so timely for Easter?!) had nestled in the cubby by the window underneath some leaves. When my wife discovered what had happened, I accepted the challenge to scoop the bunny up in a bucket and send him on his way. My wife texted a relative about the encounter, and promptly received a Superman GIF back congratulating me.

If only it was that easy to be a Super Parent! 

Do you know what I mean by Super Parent? The parent that is perfectly balanced, entirely composed, ever-instructive, always pushing (but not too hard), emotionally aware, eyes in the back of the head, arranging mini-adventures, making homemade healthy snacks, reading three books a day, and two books once the kids go down to sleep.

You'll find a lot of these parents on the ‘Gram, but not in real life.

If anything, the COVID-19 crisis has made it clear to parents, even those who are giving it an A+ effort, that perfection is out of reach. Many parents right now are feeling out of order and confused. They are failing to find (or teach) the lessons tucked away in life’s twists and turns. They are catching themselves being insensitive and missing the mark. They are finding themselves Paw-Patrol-please-make-it-better, leftover-pizza-for-dinner parents. 

Here is the good news - you don't have to be a Super Parent to be exactly the parent that your child needs right now. 

In this blog series, A Skilled Parent, we are going to highlight some simple steps you can take toward supporting your child throughout the COVID-19 crisis. Who knows? By the end you might even earn that cape.