This week I am a bad parent because….

Welcome to the Bad Parent blog post series.

 I am FED up of the way parents, and actually mothers, to be honest, are put under so much pressure, to be perfect and to have this parenting thing under control and be able to do it all, and the constant judgement we are under. This parenting job is HARD, we get no training, we don’t get paid, and we do it because we want to and love our children. Sometimes we don’t get it right, sometimes we get it more than right. We are all mostly just trying to do our best. I am tired of the “how to be a perfect wife, mother, craft provider, cleaning lady, cook…” stuff that gets flung at us every day. We need to take the guilt and throw it away and enjoy parenting, but also be able to admit when it’s not going so well, or might be a bit tough…

I don’t like talent shows for children and I may have, ahem, slightly discouraged my children from wanting to participate in one, happening at school, soon.

I can’t fully explain why. Perhaps because I feel like we have enough on our plates with all the other things we do, ballet, violin, gymnastics, swimming, netball, Brownies, birthday parties, family events, and life,  and that adding practicing and getting ready for a talent contest just makes me grimace with a mixture of fear and anxiety. Do we really need to be adding that to our already hectic schedule?

Perhaps it’s my own fear of performing in public, and the stress and anxiety it causes me, that I don’t want to make or push my children to perform on stage in front of people.

Maybe it’s because I think amateur talent contents are naff and a waste of time…? I intensely dislike them, I don’t even like the ones millions of people watch on TV every week, and rave about on social media.

Probably a mix of all three. Anyway, neither of my children will be taking part, and I am not sad or sorry. I think my children are amazing, talented, wonderful, and unique, but I don’t want to watch them sing Katie Perry songs on stage in front of an audience. Mean, maybe? Boring, probably. Bad parent? I guess it depends on who you ask?

If my children were desperate and determined to perform, I probably would of course, support them, but as neither of them seemed that upset when I explained why we weren’t keen, and don’t seem to be bothered, I think I have got away with it, for now….

So, that’s my bad parent confession this week. Got one of your own to share? Feel free to comment and get it off your chest, and of course, if you feel strongly that I should be ravingly enthusiastic about talent shows for children, you can try and persuade me to change my mind, too… 😉