Part 1

I routinely tell parents who criticize themselves for not being a good enough parent, this: the biggest impediment to good parenting is fatigue. And you are exhausted. We berate ourselves for: not cooking good meals, not making sure our kids don’t watch too much tv, not limiting their time on social media, fill in the blank. But the real battle is that we fail to take care of ourselves. We just don’t sleep enough. And when we are tired, we can turn into monsters (I do).

When we aren’t well rested, our mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual states suffer. For example, if you have been constantly frustrated from work or other situations and responsibilities, you are probably parenting from a place of frustration. If you are constantly thinking about financial problems, then fear, stress and worry spill into your parenting. And your kids not only see it, they feel it. One of the most important gifts we give our kids and ourselves is rest. Pure old-sit-down-and-read-a-good-book rest. Sit alone, take a nap, and let someone else take over for a bit.

Mothers receive encouragement from friends, books, and family to rest. But fathers are rarely told to rest….