Every day as a parent, at some point, I feel like a failure.

Any time my children don’t respond to a situation the way I think they should, I wonder if I have failed them in some way that caused them to be unable to do so.

When I took my son to karate for the first time, he cried and wouldn’t go into the room.  My immediate thought was, what have I done, or not done, to make him incapable of doing this?  He was afraid to be without me, even though I was still within his sight, he wouldn’t walk into the room.

Then nothing short of terror washed over me that starting school this upcoming fall was going to be a disaster and traumatizing for him if we can’t overcome this.  This thing, this worry, this inability that I have caused him.  What did I do?  Have I been too involved?  Does he think I have to be a part of everything he does?  Have I not been involved enough?    What did I do?

After wallowing in self-pity and despair, I realized that little people have big feelings, and that’s okay.  New things can be scary and sometimes the reaction to that is not optimal.

The second class, he went in about half-way through and did great.

The third class, he went in immediately and enjoyed it immensely.

Now if I can just get my daughter to participate in her ballet class, we’ll be doing great.