Parenting might be one of the most responsible tasks in our lives, if not the most responsible. Having children may sound easy, but is it actually that simple? Parenting in general doesn’t require considerable effort, but good parenting is extremely sophisticated.
Children need have not only formal parents, they need mother and father who will take care of them, support them and will be their closest friend. Still, “taking care” and “good parenting” are rather general, so we’ll try specify some aspects of those.
1. Do not expect your children to become someone you wish them to be. Instead, help them become the person they would like to be. Do not make decisions for them, but help them understand how to make decisions on their own, teach them what decision making is based on.
2. Do not demand indemnity from your children for you giving them life and opportunities. Can they even “repay” you for something like that? The best thing for our children to do is to make sure that our effort is worth something in the end. They need to understand what great value parenting has so they become good parents themselves.
3. Do not underestimate children’s problems. Their life might and will probably be tough for them because they lack experience. Aid them to understand their problems, show them ways of resolving them.
4. Never humiliate your children for their mistakes. We need to be their supporters, not the ones they might be afraid of. You are the very base of their relationship with the world. Parents are the initial factor that influences children’s way of seeing their surrounding world, so if they see aggression in you, they will be aggressive. Pay more attention to your children.
5. A vision of children as some tyrants who only took away free time cannot be considered right or appropriate. Children are a precious entity of our life, and one of the purposes of having children is to make sure that our legacy doesn’t cease to exist and continues on. If someone doesn’t want to dedicate his time and effort for his children, he simply should not make children at that given moment of his life.
6. Do not torment yourself if you are unable to do something for your child. But remember, if you haven’t done everything you can for your child, then you haven’t done enough.
7. Be with your child, be they untalented or unlucky. If a child is somewhat incapable that doesn’t mean that it’s over. Maybe the only thing he actually needs is support and belief in himself, and with those he will be able to do such things that most people can’t even motivate themselves to.
In conclusion, possibly the most valuable thing parents can give their children is realization. If a child understands what is happening around him and with him and can tell what’s wrong with one thing or another, he will be able to become independent when his parents are no longer there. If a person is able analyze and make conclusions, then he will know what he is doing and, most importantly, why. So be a mentor for your children and teach them how to understand and realize.
