Parents are often burdened with responsibilities spanning from work, social events and family responsibilities. Often times struggling to manage it all. When we are at work we want to be home with our families. When we are at home we find our mind swirling with to do lists and unfinished projects. If we finally get a chance to carve out time for ourself we often feel guilty about it. Mom guilt. Dad guilt. We worry that we don’t spend enough time with our children. We worry that we gave them fast food. We worry that we let them watch too much TV. I am here to tell you (in a loud and confident voice) that your kids will be fine. They will be happy and they will thrive.

Today, parenting is intense. There is research and advice floating all over the internet and social media. We are left confused as to what the right thing to do is. But there is no “right” way. It is not black and white. Parenting, as in most of life, is a gray territory. I encourage you to do what you think is best and let the rest go. Ensure that you are engaging in activities that you enjoy and lift your mood so that you can be a better person and better parent. Setting aside time for yourself sets a boundary. You are showing your children that you need alone time, which is important because so much of parenting is the behavior that you are modeling. The goal is not to model a perfect person and make all the right choices. The goal is to model that you are doing your best with what you have and if things go wrong then you troubleshoot and make the best of it. It can be a disservice to your children to pretend that you can manage it all without taking breaks or saying “no” every once in awhile.

I encourage you to enjoy the time you have with your children. Time flies by so fast. Soon your children will be leaving the nest and the best thing you can do is arm them with the knowledge that you love them unconditionally. The rest will work itself out. There is absolutely no reason to feel guilty about doing what you think is best.