Parenting

So, this week in class we were talking about parenting. With that we pretty much talked about almost everything that pertains to parenting.

So why parent? Well first we are the ones who decided to have kids in the first place. Automatically we are the parents and our children need someone to guide them along in life. Parents are mainly the ones responsible for making sure that their kids are educated in all aspects. Parents need to make sure that parenting is one of their central primary roles.

Mainly parenting involves both the father and the mother. Not all families are like that. Some examples we came up with were, the mom raising the kids or even the dad just raising the kids. In other cases, the children would be sent to live with other family members like grandparents, uncles, and aunts. While other kids were sent to day cares, military schools or even boarding schools. In some extreme cases the children would be sent to foster care or even put up for adoption. Some parents really just don’t like the fact that they are the ones who have to do the raising of the children so that is why they send them away.

There are many benefits that come from parenting. One of those reasons is they parents learn to problem solve.  When parenting kids you can run into a lot of situations that you never expected you would run into. Those types of situations many adults have to problem solve to fix certain types of problems. The next one is you tend to mature a lot more due to the things you have to deal with as a parent. Another thing parents benefit from is that they learn from their kids. Kids can teach the parents lessons as well.

When parenting it is very important not to give your child everything they want. When you give a child everything, they want they tend to become spoiled and expect you to keep doing that the rest of their life. Well people may not realize that doing that actually stops the kid’s growth in life. It’s the same as solving all their problem, they won’t learn how to deal with them. We need to teach our children to deal with the natural consequences of their actions. DON’T GET INVOLVED. When you get involved it ruins the course of the natural consequences. There are only three reasons why you should get involved are if the problem is too dangerous (drugs) if the consequence is too far…. (when the consequence is too far in the future that is won't be a great teaching tool), and if someone else is affected by the natural consequences. When children aren’t doing what they are supposed to do parents need to make a polite request (explain why you don't want them to do that), send an I-message (tell them how you are feeling and why you are feeling that way), say a firmer statement (do this if they aren’t listening), and set up logical consequences for their actions. The logical consequences need to pertain to the punishment. They can’t be random, or else they will not learn from their mistake.

Another thing that is important is that the child’s needs are met. Your child needs to have contact and a sense of belonging. Parent’s need to offer their contact freely. It shouldn’t be forced. We need to teach our children to contribute to what we are doing. It is important to let your kids help out with what you are doing.  Let them know that you are noticing their efforts whether it turned out well or didn’t turn out at all. Let them know that they are appreciated.