How To Be a Pretty OK Parent in five steps (or so)

Most (though not all) people who decide to embark on the awesome journey called “parenthood” have good intentions to be the most perfect parent possible. I almost hate to burst the bubble for some of you, but I am going to anyway: good luck with perfect parenting. It just ain’t going to happen.

There are tons of books and magazines out there to inform, inspire and educate parents on the “best child-raising techniques.” There are college classes on child psychology, child development, etc., that one can take to help further one’s education on how to raise children in the “most perfect” way possible. I highly recommend checking them out, for suggestions, though maybe not necessarily with an eye towards achieving the unattainable “perfection” as a parent. Of course, though persistent pursuit of becoming better is always a good thing, striving for “perfectionism” (and who defines what is “perfect” anyway?) can lead to frustration, anxiety/depression and feelings of failure.

As some (many?) of you have, I’ve read some of the books, articles and taken college classes on child development. I believe one of the best teachers is, indeed, experience (as my parents/people of their generation were always saying). I survived having been raised by “old school” parents (non touchy-feely, no emphasis on self esteem and instead on stern discipline, and so on) and have observed other parents throughout my life. And I can only conclude what I said in the first paragraph: there are no perfect parents/magical parenting techniques. But I think there a a…