Accountability

It takes courage to be a parent.  It is not for the faint of heart.   Parenting is filled with mistakes, lessons in humility, difficult terrifying decisions, hurt, tears, anxiety and a lot more messy stuff.  There is NO book that can give you the answers on how to parent.  There are many that try but none of them are written specifically for you and your family in that moment.

Being charged with the care and concern of a new being from conception to adulthood is an astounding responsibility.   You will be called to account.  You will be judged. You will certainly make errors and you will be accountable for them.  It may not be you alone in the case of shared parenting but parents whether there is one, two, three or four will be held to task on the choices made for their children.

Too often we believe that when we take our children to a doctor that they are making the best decision for them.   We trust their knowledge and fear our lack of knowledge.  There is a sense of passing on the accountability to the health care provider when they suggest a surgery or a vaccine or a medication or line of treatment. If we say no to a vaccine then we are judged if the child contracts the disease.  If we give the vaccine and the child still contracts the disease then the accountability will feel falsely less.

Too often we send our children into schooling institutions for their daily care and education and trust that they are making the best decisions for them.   We trust their expertise and our distrust our own ability.   We place blame on the education system or the teacher when our children fail to meet the grade or face social traumas in the school environment.

It is easier to make the choice to remain blissfully ignorant of our choices in health care, education and the general care of our children.  We are not less accountable because we pass on the charge of the care to another.

In my next post I will share my lessons in accountability and trusting myself to be responsible for my children's care.