How to be a successful parent (or not) - the sequel

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After I felt terrible all day on Friday for being a failure, my Kindy child came out of his classroom and said, "Look Mum - my table won the week's points and we all got an award".  Did he even mention missing the dress-ups?  NO!  After all that ...

That's the fun of parenting - it's totally unpredictable.  For good and bad!

Have you seen that old movie 'Parenthood' starring Steve Martin?  There's a great scene at the end of the movie where the couple have just found out they're pregnant with No 4.  They're at a preschool concert for their daughter and their number 3 toddler is creating havoc on the stage.  Dad is freaking out at the thought of another child in all this chaos but Mum's happy.  They both imagine they're on a roller-coaster ride - up and down, up and down.  Exciting, yet totally terrifying and risk-taking at the same time.  Such a mixed bag of emotions.  I love that scene.  I often think of it as I ride my own roller-coaster day-to-day.

Parenting:  the extreme sport!

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