Asking for help

For the whole month of May I ran a promotion where I offered 45 minutes of coaching for $20 for all mothers.  It was in honor of Mother’s Day.  It was very well received and I got to meet a lot of parents for the first time.  Without exception, every one of them were great mothers who just wanted a few tips and some help in getting things moving in a more positive direction.  It’s very difficult to see our own situation objectively and that includes those of us in the helping professions.  By no means is it a sign of weakness if you reach out for help.  In fact once you do, you feel empowered with your new knowledge. 

Last week I followed up with a few people to see how things were going.  One mom wrote back and said: “Another big realization that I’ve come to is that it’s OK to ask for help!  Calling you was the best thing I could have done at the time.  I’m sure we’ll be calling again in the future”. 

Parenting is something we all feel we should just know despite the fact that we’re given no training for the most important job we’ll ever have.  All we have to go on is what we learned from our own parents.  It’s the only job where we only get one chance to do it right.  Most other things we can start all over and try again if we mess up.  We can’t start again when we’re raising children.  This is it.