A friend of mine had this blog posted on her Facebook wall the other day. All I could think as I read it was, "Word, brother, word!" To sum up, it's by pastor who is also a dad, with three boys under five, reassuring other parents that it's okay not to be a perfect parent. Parenting is hard, and it doesn't mean you're a terrible parent if you don't do everything you're "supposed" to do. Plus, it's well written with humour and honesty, which makes it worth the read in my books. I'm so glad to see that this type of attitude is growing. Instead of constantly judging one another (as though it's in any way necessary since we are often our own harshest critics), it's more of a shoulder to cry on. A support group where parents can speak openly and honestly about how hard it can be to be a good parent, and how you sometimes want to throw your toddler out the window, or yourself--one or the other. Because let's face it. No one enjoys EVERY facet of parenting. And if they say they do, they are lying! I'm so lucky to have friends who I can have frank discussions with, who will help me when I'm really struggling. Because I also know other parents who simply refuse to admit that they've ever experienced any such difficulty I may describe and that certainly, the problem must lie with me. I am all too familiar with that judgmental look or the "Oh, your daughter's not potty trained yet" raise of the eyebrows. Even my husband can be totally oblivious about how freakin' frustrating it is when our daughter pees in the bath, not once, but twice!!! It's times like that when I want to scream and pull out my hair. But, I don't. I carry on as best I can, clenching my teeth and trying to remember my daughter is only two, and one day, she will only pee in the toilet. Until that day, it's blogs like www.stevewiens.com that get me through the day. Amen Pastor Steve.