By KVC West Virginia Staff — 2020
For parents, children can take up every waking thought and every ounce of energy outside of work. This is especially true for foster parents.
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The idea that parents could regret their children is inescapably taboo. In an era of baby worship, it’s cross-culturally ingrained and glorified that all individuals, especially women, should want to have children.
Regret is a common emotion experienced by parents. If you find yourself experiencing regret, it doesn’t make you a bad parent, and rest assured that you are not alone. It is important to acknowledge the regret and take steps to cope.
I love my kids fiercely. But, if I’m being totally honest, there are times when I catch myself dreaming about the life I might have if I weren’t chained to three young kids, a husband and a mortgage.
If we can process our regrets with tenderness and compassion, we can use these hard memories as a part of our wisdom bank.
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Some of us regret what we did, some of us regret what we didn’t do… some of us regret all of the above. And since “motherhood without regrets” is really not a thing, let’s have a conversation about how we can soothe the pain of regret in motherhood.
It's hard enough for women to talk about not wanting to become mothers at all, or to admit it isn't all its cracked up to be, but imagine the experience for women who straight-up discover it is not a good fit, a troubling experience, a series of disappointments, a bum deal? There is no good way to...
Parenthood can be scary, challenging, and stressful — and it’s OK to admit that.
It was a slow realization, taking years to accept and even more time to consider. But I regret that I had children.
Feelings of ambivalence about parenthood aren’t necessarily going to do harm to children. But when regret suffuses the parent-child dynamic, the whole family can suffer.