My name is Diana DeVaul and I am excited to start contributing to the Riverview Counseling Services blog. My goal is to support readers in your parenting and everyday life endeavors which of course fits in beautifully with Riveview’s philosophy. Hopefully as you read, you will find positive support, education and real-life applications to improve whatever parenting challenges you face.
I have a background in psychology, social work and have been a mother for almost a decade. In all the jobs I have held over the course of my lifetime, motherhood, hands-down, has been the most challenging and rewarding ‘job’ I’ve ever had. For me, the 24/7 nature of it was a bit of a shock. I think I would have handled the newborn phases of my boys a lot better if I at least got every other weekend off.
Having listed all these details, you will be thankful to know there will not be a quiz regarding them. Parenting requires that you remember way too many details already. If you wrote a list right now of all the things you have to remember to run a house, to make sure your kids are clean, clothed and fed and still get them to school on time (with homework completed!), the list would be enormous. Why is it then, that we get so mad at ourselves if we drop the ball every now and again? Why is it that when I go to the pantry to retrieve some paper towels only to find empty shelves staring back at me that I beat myself up? We must learn how to incorporate a margin of error into our days. The only expectation we should have of ourselves is that we will not be perfect. Instead of criticizing the ways we fell short, how about we look at the hundreds if not thousands of ways we got it right?
To take this even one step further, we should allow for an even larger learning curve with our kids. It’s easy to focus on the one thing they forgot to bring home from school (even though you reminded them!) instead of all the ways they actually are succeeding in their day. At Riverview Counseling Services, this supportive, caring staff will help you remember the ways you are already getting it right, while helping you tweak the areas that you need some guidance. They will listen to your concerns while honoring your routines, personal values, and goals. I am grateful you used some of your valuable time to stop by our blog. Check in often as I will be adding to this site regularly.
