Umbrella, Please Author: Alyssa Lipson M.Ed

Earlier today I was scrolling through Facebook and saw a post that said:

"Do not let your storm get your children wet."

I immediately "liked" the post, and I totally jumped on the bandwagon. "Yes!" I thought. "Whatever issues you have as a person should not affect your parenting or your children."

So, I "liked" and commented and then I went on my way.

Except- I kept coming back to that quote. I'd be sitting there, trying to focus on my assignment for grad school, and there it would be…

"Do not let your storm get your children wet..."

I would quickly realize that I was not in fact focusing on completing my already overdue task, so I would push the thought out of my mind and keep working.

Or I would be on a Zoom call, focusing on my side gig, and it would creep in again…

"Do not let your storm get your children wet..."

And the more I thought about it, the more I hated it. Because our storms are what make us who we are. And while we don't necessarily want to let our children know EVERYTHING about us quite yet, (we can just skate on past my wild teenage years) it is important that our babies know us. A family is a team. You have to know your teammates to play your best game.

One of my "storms" is Anxiety.

I started thinking about how ashamed I would feel when I would be crying on the bathroom floor, unable to get up because I felt trapped by anxiety. I distinctly remember having anxiety attacks and sobbing, feeling completely helpless. I remember feeling like I was failing my kids because I wasn't able to keep it all together, which would in turn make me cry even harder. I would think things like: