It was dusk and I was in my pajamas, my arms wrapped around a rose bush in the front yard. I heard my son’s truck pull into the driveway.

“No big deal!” I yelled out, “Just hugging a rose bush in my nightgown!”

I think he was tired from work, because he didn’t even blink as he passed me on the porch. Plus, he knows I'm a little eccentric anyway.

(And why they won’t quite do the trick)

The following are some of the basic stress-coping strategies you’ve probably heard over the last few weeks.

1. Be too busy
2. Never ask for help
3. Don’t reveal your true self (wear a mask)

Humans are the only creatures who tell stories about our lives. We are made in God’s image, and a significant component of God’s character is acting, and then judging those actions.  

Shame is best described as “an internal state of inadequacy, unworthiness, dishonor, regret, or disconnection” (read more about shame at Psychology.com). Shame is global self-judgement- or as a child might state it- “I am bad.” 

Everybody has a blind spot. In psychology, this is called a section of the Johari window (named after its inventors Joseph and Harrington). It's the stuff others know about you that you don't know about yourself.

So here's the thing about parenting: nobody says it, but deep down I think we get it. WE DON’T KNOW WHAT WE ARE DOING.  I mean, think about it. Virtually every step of parenting comes with absolutely no previous experience.