We, mothers, put a lot of expectations on ourselves throughout the year but especially during this time of year when we are setting goals and resolutions. Chances are for many of you that you have already failed at whatever parenting resolution you made.

When you set the bar at perfection, you will always miss it.

For instance, maybe your goal was to stop yelling at your kids, but a few days ago your child frustrated you and you yelled at him. Or maybe your goal was the make lunch for your children every day so they wouldn’t eat cafeteria food, but then you had a busy morning and rushed everyone out the door, without their lunches.

We want the best for our kids, so we set high goals, but this only sets us up for failure. When you set the bar at perfection, you will always miss it. The truth is, your kids don’t want perfection from you; they just want you.

I would like to encourage you to not set any strict parenting resolutions this year and instead focus on three questions.

I’ve been a pediatrician for over 30 years. In this time I’ve realized that all children, no matter…