Why Being Slightly Overprepared Can Actually Make Parenting Easier
There’s this weird pressure on parents to act as if everything should just flow naturally. Like everybody’s meant to leave the house with calm energy, one bag, one set of keys, and a cheerful little smile while the children skip out the door like they’re in an advert for yoghurt, or breakfast cereal, whatever you see on TV. Even shows on TV, movies included, are like this, but it’s clearly the furthest thing from real life. Be it during holidays from school, a weekend, literally, even just after school and an errand run, it’s not all that smooth (not usually at least).
And well, when things aren’t smooth, they can feel a little stressful, right? Okay, maybe super stressful. But sometimes, in order to entirely avoid the whole stressful stuff, you just need to think ahead, that’s it. No, not like emergency supplies when you’re out (granted, if you have a baby, that might be a good idea), but being better prepared. Now, believe it or not, here, but the parents who seem the calmest usually aren’t the ones magically breezing through life. Well, not usually at least.
Actually, they’re the ones who’ve already packed wipes, a spare top, a snack, and whatever else stops a small inconvenience from turning into a full-on mood collapse.
Small Problems Feel Big When You’re Not Ready
Well, it’s like that for just about everyone (maybe not MacGyver if you’ve ever seen that show). But anyway, getting to the point here, this is really what it comes down to. Most parenting stress isn’t caused by massive disasters. It’s caused by annoying little things stacking up one after another until everybody’s fed up. But think about it for a second, like your child gets cold, someone’s hungry, the weather changes, shoes get soaked, there’s no tissue, no water, no backup plan, and now what should’ve been a simple outing feels like a terrible personal decision when all you wanted was a nice time.
Do you remember packing almost anything and everything in your diaper bag when your kid was a baby? Well, that’s the energy you should channel here. You want to be just a little overprepared. For example, you should always have a kids waterproof jacket in your car because the weather here in the UK just rains all the time, even unexpectedly on a sunny day.
It never hurts to have snacks with you at all times, a bottle of water, extra socks, you get the picture here. But you know how life is, especially with kids; they deal with little inconveniences here and there, and those run the whole show.
It’s Less About Stuff and More About Friction
Well, this is where some people get the whole thing wrong. But being a bit overprepared isn’t really about carrying loads of extra things around for the fun of it. No one’s doing that because it’s glamorous. It’s about reducing friction. Basically, you don’t want to deal with any meltdowns (especially if they’re a toddler or preschool age), you don’t want any last-minute scrambles.
No, Being Prepared Doesn’t Make You Fussy
And why would it? How could it? Sometimes people act like being prepared means being uptight, but honestly, that’s such a silly take. But really, here, there’s nothing fussy about wanting life to be a bit easier. There’s nothing over-the-top about wanting to avoid pointless stress.
If anything, a little preparation gives everyone more freedom, because it means the family can actually stay out longer, relax more, and roll with things without every change in weather or mood becoming a reason to head home early (which, of course, ruins an entire day).