When you’re juggling work and parenting, it’s inevitable that you’ll drop a ball periodically. You’ll chase someone down for information they already gave you. You’ll lose your child’s sun hat at the playground (or forget to bring it at all). Your child will ask you to make banana cupcakes for three months before you finally get around to it. Or you’ll read an email you need to reply to but promptly forget — and only remember when you’re awake at 3 am.
How Working Parents Can Let Go of Perfectionism
Start with a bit of self-compassion.
April 06, 2020
Ian Nolan/Getty Images
Summary.
It’s inevitable that working parents will drop a ball periodically. Slip-ups happen for everyone, but for perfectionists, these instances feel like an emotional bee sting. They can shake their sense of identity and trigger harsh self-criticism, intrusive overthinking, and rumination. The author offers suggestions for how working parents can overcome their perfectionist tendencies, learn more self-compassion, and snap themselves out of rumination.