The Outcome and outlook

I am feeling slightly confused today. My whole outlook has changed.

When Isabella was at school I wanted her to be top in everything and work hard and be ahead of the game. Leaving school in my mind was going to make this easier and more possible with the schedule we had. However having been with Isabella now for three months without school. I have become more relaxed and not so uptight about the levels she should be achieveing. This does not mean we will not be working towards targets etc but it means that the self fulfilling need that parents have to make sure their child is at the top of the class due to what other parents say, is no longer there for me, as I am not surrounded by other mothers all day long. Is this a good thing? I am not sure. I know this world is a difficult one and if we want our children to succeed then they need to work very hard. But then the question of success arises. What is success for the individual? For me at the moment I just want Isabella to be happy and safe and enjoy life. I know we will have to fit back into school in a year or so, so I will have to make sure we keep up with standards in schools. I do however feel life would be so much easier if everyone slowed down and didn´t worry so much about what everybody else thinks. I definitely need to listen to my own advice in future.

I wonder if I should have been born on a desert island away from everyone else!