Enough or Too Much

I used to feel–and sort of unconsciously believe–that to be a successful parent was to be so in tune, so attentive, so on top of the perfect planning and management that my kids would never get too upset, too hungry, too tired, too frustrated, too overwhelmed on any level.  That if I was a good parent I would be able to prevent massive fights, blow ups, or any other kind of meltdown by anticipating each child’s needs managing it for them before any falling apart happened.  So any big emotions that were overwhelming were my fault.  I thought that any difficult dynamics that escalated to the point of bad behaviour were because I had been selfish and not met that child’s needs appropriately in time (maybe I kept reading the end of the chapter of a book instead of getting snacks served up).  It’s not that they weren’t supposed to experience negative emotions but more (as I, then mistakenly held it) that they shouldn’t ever be in a position of TOO much.  Or not enough either.  And it was my job to prevent anything that went too far off either end of the spectrum.

One of the problems with this outlook was that I was constantly failing, and that is exhausting.  More troubling was that I had a sense that my failure was because I was selfishly putting my own needs first, that I was stubbornly unwilling to exert just a little more energy and a little more focus, but that I could fix things if only I could push myself a little harder.  Circularly my failure to prevent the distress for my kids and my feeling that I could have if only I’d given my time and energy more freely (and somehow had no needs of my own) added fuel to the fire of negative self perception. And it allowed us to develop unhelpful boundaries.  In a sense I was enabling their behaviour in that I wasn’t helping them to develop the skills they needed to self assess what was happening within and around them, and allow them to better manage the same situation when it arose another time.  

Slowly, little by little, I have been unlearning these ideas.  I still think that it’s important to be involved and supportive and helpful and not just walk away and leave my kids to figure it all out on their own.  But I also don’t think that blanket rigid punishments and restrictions are a useful means of preventing certain behaviours, or encouraging others.  Instilling fear of a harsh punishment gets results, but it feels too easy for kids to adjust their behavior out of fear rather than understanding the actual reason their behaviour needs adjusting – and too easy for me to accidentally control my kids through punishment rather than work with them to sort through the problems.

But with help recently I was able to see that my job as their mom isn’t to prevent too much or not enough, my job is to help them learn how to cope.  How to cope when they aren’t getting the attention they want.  How to cope when they are overwhelmed because the demands on their time are too much.  What to do when there isn’t enough support to go around and they have unmet needs.  What to do when they want too many things but they can’t do it all. How to cope with the excitement, despair, frustration and resentment that can build as they navigate these choices.  

My scale of success isn’t about keeping them from upset, bad experiences or challenges that push them to the edge of their mental, emotional, or physical abilities.  Rather, success lies in finding ways to develop their skills — some of which I don’t even have! – so that no matter how many times they’re flooded with too many things, and no matter how many times they hit rock bottom as they feel ignored, unseen or undervalued yet another time, they know how to pull themselves back into equilibrium.

One of the things I was pondering with these ideas is the power that comes from having a deep well of meaningful stories.  The stories I know and love from the Bible powerfully connect me to a source of more for my times of not enough – and goodness knows there are many of those while striving to parent 4 young kids.  There are so many amazing stories of temptation, of emptiness, or exhaustion, sickness, and struggle – and time and time again people are met where they are: food is provided, water is found, healing comes suddenly.  And in these stories I am reminded that through prayer, community, and reflection I, too, can come back to deep wells of peace, love and connection.  I am inspired, again, to take on the work of caring, loving, supporting and challenging my small charges as they work to know how to find enough when they are empty, how to find peace when the world is too much.

About Abby Smith

Abby is a person. She works at being an emotionally intelligent person whose main focus currently is being a happy and loving mother to four kids and wife to Malcolm. Born and raised in a General church minister's family, she has been exposed to the Bible and the Writings since childhood but is enjoying reading and understanding these books as an adult more and more. The amazing knowledge about love and wisdom and all of the emotions that follow have truly made her a happier and more self-assured person.

3 thoughts on “Enough or Too Much

  1. Wow! Yes! I was told these things by someone who saw my lawnmower-helicopter-do everything-for-them-so-they-don’t-get stressed-or-overwhelmed- style of parenting as problematic. My answer at the time was “well, perhaps they were given to me to parent because that’s the style of parenting these two little people need given their anxious personalities”. She was right though. Like you I am also slowly unlearning these unhealthy actions but it took quite an existential jolt for me to see it…not a book or someone else telling me. I LOVE your paragraph about finding stories for them and where to get them. I am seeing that my kids need different stories and different sources of stories from me and also from each other and to explore these together is deeply enriching. Thank you for your wonderful article!

  2. Amazing and wonderful how each newer installment of thought on how to parent has its strengths and weaknesses. It seems like older styles didn’t try to protect kids from life as much which was good, I think, but maybe were not as gentle as the more recent trends. In any case, I like that you come back to rest on your love for stories in the Word. Can’t go wrong with that. All the best in this crazy unfolding job called parenting!

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