Of all the skills required to reclaim your life and sanity after an estrangement, self-compassion is the most key.

Yet, so many parents, moms in particular, struggle with acquiring it.

Here are some of the most common obstacles:

1) You believe you're supposed to suffer if your child is mad at you or rejecting of you

2) Your own childhood traumas left you with a very self-critical voice

3) Your view of parenting is that you should always keep trying and you believe that self-compassion is a form of not trying

4) You believe that self-compassion means you're not taking enough responsibility

5) You're so used to your self-critical voice that it's hard to even know that it's there.