Parenting

As parents do you ever feel unappreciated in your family? If so this usually means you have forgotten a fundamental rule when it comes to being successful in family relationships. If you ever feel under appreciated in your family this blog is exactly for you. Here is a story that Im sure we all can relate too, something I heard from a father recently. 

I’d had about as much as I could handle for one day.
My computer was acting up, I was tired from a weekend with little sleep, and I was working in a yard that would soon need an industrial strength lawn mower  to cut it. Kids activities were crowding an already crowded schedule, and there seemed like no time to relax. When do other people find the time to do all these things?
As I entered my house, I marveled at how sore a human body could get from yard work. I was still annoyed that my kids had left stuff in the backyard after repeated requests to pick them up. I’d been noticing that the rest of my family had done their share of relaxing while I toiled in the yard. I needed about a month to get caught up, and I was not ready for any more to be put on my plate. At that very moment of course is when I am asked to help with dinner or do the dishes just as I would love to relax. In my head I had an angry response about why I couldn't help and didn't feel like helping. But, I decided that wouldn't really make things better and I discussed with the wife how I could help with dinner. I was thinking to myself how unappreciated I am and how nobody notices the hard work I put in doing laundry, dishes, helping the kids with homework, in addition to teaching my son how to throw a fastball, etc etc. The thing that this person is missing is the fact that we are not "owed" love by our family. Our job as parents is to discover love as the fundamental fact of life. It is to bring this expression of our love into the world. Fathers go through periods when they feel “outside” of their family. We feel neglected, or we feel invisible. Or, we may feel like we’re simply a “paycheck.” That is when we have to re double our efforts to show our endless love for our family.
When you begin to feel like you are being taken for granted  you should be proud of that. It is like a badge of honor to know that your family expects the best from you and they get that day in and day out. It's so easy to overlook the fact that you are loved unconditionally by your family when you feel like you are being unappreciated, but the fact is by knowing that people are not meaning to take advantage of you in that way should help you realize that sometimes it's easy to forget how much someone tries to keep you happy.  It's always important to communicate with others especially if you feel unappreciated, tell them how you feel, tell them what they can do to help ease your feelings of being unappreciated, but most of all tell them why you make the sacrifices for them so that they understand why you put the effort in that you do.
When providing for others you should always take some time out for yourself to keep your mind at ease. Go to the gym, play sports, or just take the time to relax on the weekend, when providing for your family you deserve a little R&R!