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Are You A Good Parent? 5 Tips to Feeling Less Guilty and Enjoying the Rollercoaster Ride of Parenthood.
By Svetlina Jeanneret, Therapist
All parents at some point ask themselves "Am I a good parent?" Confidence in our parenting is intimately linked with our self-esteem because basically if we feel we're not doing things right, we feel pretty rubbish about ourselves.
The thing is... being a good Mum or Dad is completely subjective. Of course there are some common ground rules, but as long as our children are loved, protected and nurtured we're most likely doing a pretty good job. So why do we class ourselves as either a good or a bad parent? Only this morning one of my clients called herself a bad Mum because her child had fallen off a scooter while not wearing a helmet.
The burning question is... what IS a good Mum or Dad? Is it about never letting anything bad happen to our children? Is it always keeping on top of school stuff? Or perhaps it’s always doing our utmost to get it right?
I don’t think it’s any of these things.
All these pressures, these ideas around perfect parenting and super-parents, feed guilt and make people feel inadequate and therefore unhappy. Here are my five tips to feel less guilty and enjoy this amazing roller-coaster ride of parenthood!
Svetlina Jeanneret specialises in working with parents to help them create the life they want for themselves and their families. She runs The Oxfordshire Family Project, regularly appears on BBC Radio Oxford and is on The Toddle About Panel of Experts. Follow at facebook.com/oxfordshirefamilyproject.

- Family life is not a glossy magazine cover
- Make sure you give your children the basics
- Find out what your values are
- Teach them about reality
- Accept yourself as you are
