If you are tired of parenting from a place of default, one that leaves you feeling guilty or causes you to show up in ways you never intended to, NOW is the time for you to take that next step in your parenting journey. Here are 3 things you can do TODAY to work towards becoming the parent you want to be.

Around the time my toddler turned 2, I began to hear a lot of comments about “the terrible twos.” A phrase I had heard long before, but didn’t fully understand until become a parent myself. I recall my God child going through that age and it being pretty rough, and so it went with my own child. As we started to embark on the journey that is the infamous age of 2, I began to reflect on the WHY behind the phrase.

We’ve all been there. At the store, park, or other public location when our little one has a full blown meltdown or our older one is just refusing to comply with our requests. Your heart is racing, you’re doing the best you can, but you’re frustrated and you’re starting to feel the not-so-subtle glances of strangers who you just know are judging you and your parenting capabilities. Your tone changes as your jaw tightens and all of a sudden, just like your little one, you’ve lost it.

No judgement here—it happens to us all!

I thought when I became a mother I would let it consume me and I would be content with that. Coming from a traditional and religious household, I thought that becoming a mother meant I would find myself in that role and that it was the only thing that would define me.