There are so many blogs out there dictating what we need to do as parents to raise happy and healthy children. What there isn’t enough of, is blogs that dictate how to be a happy and healthy parent. I’m going to let you in on a little secret: parenting is HARD. There are no rules to follow, no instructions to explain whether what you are doing is right. There’s just you, your partner, and a world of conflicting information to confuse you. All it takes is one person to question the way that you parent, and bam, you’re in a row on Facebook about the correct age for weaning.

Sometimes, to be the best parent that you can be, you need to look at what you’re doing to make yourself happy. Parents always often put themselves to the backburner in life from the moment that they have a baby to look after. The guilt that comes from wanting to put yourself first for a change is usually enough to make you put the kids first in everything, even if your own clothes are threadbare and falling off you. You need to take a moment, though, to realize that you are as important as your children. You were a person before you had kids; you had goals and dreams and a waist that you could see in the mirror. When you spend all your time looking after children, you forget that you can look after yourself, too. So, how about putting yourself first for a change?

There is nothing stopping you from sitting down and rewriting your goals to suit your new life. You have children, but there are ways and means to ensure that you manage to get the things that you want most in life. For example, logging onto http://americansafetycouncil.com/content/texas-adult-drivers-education can help you in your quest to FINALLY get on the road and stop using the bus. Gaining that type of independence when you have children relying on you can mean that if you want to take a moment to yourself, that’s exactly what you can do. You could choose to go back to school and do the degree that you didn’t get to do the first time around. There is just so much out there for you to rediscover. The best bit? All of those things you DIDN’T do before can be seen in a whole new light, because you’ve finally got the guts to take the time for yourself to do them.

Raising children is rewarding, fun and challenging, but it’s not everything in life. You raise them to be independent adults, and if you don’t take the time that you can to do more things for yourself, what will you have afterwards? You need a purpose in life outside your children before you lose who you are and head straight for a midlife crisis. So, take something for you. Take a moment to decide what you can do that is just yours. Then grab it with both hands.

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