Parenting is not easy, and there are a few essential skills that you have to either possess naturally or develop along the way. There are a lot of parents who simply approach child rearing the same way that their own parents did but this doesn’t always produce the greatest results. In this article we’re going to examine some of the bigger skills that are essential for every parent needs to have.
One of the most important things that you can do as a parent is to set a good example for your children. It is far easier for you to simply tell your kids what to and not to do but leading by example is what they need from you more than anything else. It is important to match your actions to your words because kids learn more by observing you than by listening to you.
When you’re a parent you are naturally going to be your child’s first role model so if you set a good example, you have a better chance of having your child actually live up to your standards. Parents who simply tell their kids not to do something, like using profanity, but then are always doing that thing themselves will find that it is the actions and not the words that the kids heed.
It’s normal for parents to feel overwhelmed, to sometimes get mad and to feel frustrated once in a while. It is important to take a break when you start to feel this way. You need to put some provisions in place so that you have options for childcare when you need a little breather. This can be a friend, a relative, your partner or even a babysitter you trust. It is a good idea to have more than one person on this list because not everybody is always going to be available. Even if you haven’t yet reached your breaking point, you need to have some free time to spend by yourself. You might not need a lot of time for this, even a short walk around the block can help you calm down and relax. You’ll make a lot better parent if you take some time for yourself and do not try to be a perfect parent 100% of the time.
Some parents think that as soon as the kids are dropped off at school that they become the responsibility of the school. While this is somewhat true it doesn’t absolve you from needing to know or be involved in your child’s education and school environment. The same is also true for extra curricular activities your child takes part in like clubs or sports or summer camps. Whenever you are able, volunteer some time at your child’s school, take part in meetings and attend parent-teacher conferences. You are obviously very busy and won’t be able to attend every single little thing but it is important to be aware of what goes on in your child’s world even when he or she is not at home. Your child experiences many important things at school and other places, and as a parent you should be involved or at least aware of these.
Some parts of parenting are going to be totally natural to you and others are going to prove to be areas in which you need to work hard on developing new skills. Don’t try to be perfect but don’t shut out any learning experiences either. Try to remember that just because your parents had a certain style of parenting or because you’ve behaved a certain way before now that doesn’t mean that you can’t make adjustments and changes as you need to. In addition to being other things, parenting is a constant learning process.