Chimpanzees, Parenting and Fun

Chimpanzees, Parenting and Fun

 

“One thing I had learned from watching chimpanzees with their infants is that having a child should be fun.” –Jane Goodall

Good Morning!

“…having a child should be fun.”  I was so excited when I found this quote.  I sure wish I had seen this quote when I was in my “witch on a broomstick” phase.  I would like to think that I might have paused for a moment and realized that I was missing something.

Because when you really look at it, fun was what missing in my parenting at that time. I looked at parenting as being a “chore”. Something that I had to do, something that was my “duty” as a mother.  Something that was confusing and difficult and exhausting and definitely not fun.

Thank goodness I found someone to help me see the “fun” part of parenting.  There were still times raising my three daughters with ADHD that were confusing and difficult and exhausting but when I added in the fun it made those times so much easier to deal with.

When I let go of what I thought should be the right way to parent I was finally able to see what fun parenting could be.  When I realized that my children were never going to change, that they would always have ADHD and therefore would always be a challenge, the fun could begin.  When I started to reframe some of those negative ADHD traits and see my children as being eager, energized, spontaneous, out of the box thinkers who had moments of brilliance, I could let go of the way they should be and let them take me on a journey that at times was definitely very fun.

So…Yes, parenting is hard and parenting children with ADHD can be even be harder. But don’ t concentrate so much on the difficulties and lose out on the fun!  When life get tough, think of Jane Goodall and her chimpanzees having fun, (which should at least bring a smile to you your face) – then go out and have some fun yourself.

Have some fun today!

peggy

 

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