Karson Craig

“Parenting is, by definition, chaotic. It’s loud and messy and inconsistent and stressful as shit. And maybe it wouldn’t be such a problem, except for one thing: We naturally assume that chaos is what happens when things go wrong. Except it’s not. Because if you look up chaos in the dictionary, you’ll see it isn’t just about disorder and confusion. It also refers to the inherent unpredictability in the behavior of a natural system. Our families are those natural systems, and the chaos is inherent, as in a permanent quality or feature. Chaos isn’t things going wrong; it’s just life doing its thing. This description of raising children makes so much sense; the more people you add to a family, the more chaos you’re going to introduce, especially when some of those people tend to pee in the potted plants and fling their fish sticks across the kitchen. The point here is that chaos is normal. Unpredictability, confusion, disorder, and disorganization are part of the parenting deal. They always have been, and they always will be. Self-compassion is the key to accepting the chaos of parenting with wisdom and humor rather than berating ourselves for our imperfections.”
― Carla Naumburg, You Are Not a Sh*tty Parent: How to Practice Self-Compassion and Give Yourself a Break