Edwina Bartholomew: ‘I’m far from the perfect parent’

Sunrise star Edwina Bartholomew reveals more of her parenting fails after admitting to lying to her children regularly.

Edwina Bartholomew admits she’s not the perfect parent. Picture: Justin Lloyd.

Well, well, well, the truth comes out. Last week’s topic about lying to your kids really set a fox among the pigeons.

If you missed it, I told my daughter a fox ate her lollies. Yes, I know a simple no would have been a better parenting decision. Thanks to all the faultless folks who got in touch to make that point. For the record, I am leaning towards the other folks who commended me for “encouraging an active imagination”.

The topic prompted some very creative parenting solutions: The mother who glued the pages of the Women’s Weekly cookbook together so she only had to make eight easy-to-construct cakes; the Dad who dressed up as Santa on Christmas morning, only to be chased through the paddocks by his 7-year-old son; the rural father who shot the family’s feral cat and told his daughters it had gone to “another farm”.

The lies were literally from one extreme to the other.

The overwhelming response was, surprisingly, thanks. Thanks for admitting to making mistakes and for not always choosing the perfect parenting path.

A mother told Edwina Bartholomew she glued pages of the Women’s Weekly cookbook together so she only have to make eight east-to-construct cakes.

There is a great podcast from Hamish Blake called How Other Dads Dad.

My husband loves it and I find it fascinating. It contains tips and tricks for dads and provides the answer to my most common parenting question: “Is it just me?!”

What other parenting fails are we not admitting to ourselves and each other?

Do other families revert to cereal when it gets too much? Do other parents skip bath-time and opt for a run through the sprinkler? (Summer only, don’t come at me).

How many times is too many to serve spag bowl in one week? Do you let your kids run around naked just to save on washing? Just me?

Confession from me. I am writing this column in our spare room while my daughter watches Fireman Sam. It happens more often than I would care to admit because life is busy.

I am far from the perfect parent but if I’ve learnt anything over the past three years, it’s that we can be too hard on our ourselves.

Tell the white lie, watch the TV, serve the spag bowl – again, run around naked if it’s easier. As long as everyone goes to bed at night happy and healthy, it doesn’t matter.

Next time you find yourself wondering if it’s just me, rest assured, it’s me too.

Originally published as Edwina Bartholomew: ‘I’m far from the perfect parent’