Before I had kids, I can remember thinking, as I watched a mom struggling with her toddler in the grocery store: I won’t ever find myself in such a predicament. I’ve read a ton about effective parenting strategies. I will know what to do. It’s simple.
Eight years into motherhood, I recognize the absurdity of such a thought.
Your high ideals fade away, and the “simple tricks” heralded by all the “parenting experts” go out the window very quickly. Because, reality.
Governing is the same way: There are challenges you don’t truly appreciate until you’re in the thick of it.
And, of course, you never imagined that your proposed solutions, so seemingly simple and straightforward, might actually fail — sometimes spectacularly.