What makes a great parent?
A great parent is someone who strives to make decisions in the most effective interest of the kid.
What makes a great parent isn't only identified by the parent 's actions, but additionally their intention.
A great parent doesn't have to be ideal. Nobody is perfect. No kid is perfect either … keeping this in mind is essential when we set the expectations of ours.
Successful parenting isn't about achieving perfection. But it doesn't imply that we shouldn't work to that goal. Set high standards for ourselves then and first the children of ours next. We function as important role models for them.
Top 10 Parenting Tips
You will be an even better parent, if you stick to these 10 tricks for parenting tips, and you will avoid bad parenting.
Not all of them are that simple.
And probably nobody is capable of doing them constantly.
Although you might not always do all of these things, though the suggestions in this parenting guide can help you move in the right direction.
#1 BE A good Role MODEL
Walk the walk. Don't just tell your child what you wish them to do.
The most effective way to teach is to show them.
Human is a special species in part since we are able to learn by imitation. We're programmed to imitate others' actions, comprehend them, and integrate them into our own. Children, in particular, watch everything their parents do very thoroughly.
Thus, function as the individual you would like the child of yours to be - respect your kid, show them positive behavior and attitude, have empathy towards your child's emotion - and your kid will follow suit.
#2: Love THEM And Show Through ACTION
Demonstrate your love.
There is simply no such thing as loving the child of yours a lot of. Loving them cannot spoil them.
Just what you decide to do (or give) in the name of love can - things as material indulgence, low expectation, leniency, and over-protection. When these things are provided in place of love that is real, that's when you'll have a spoiled kid.
To love your child may be as simple as offering them hugs, spending quality time with them, having family meals together, and also hearing your kid's problems seriously.
Showing these actions of love is able to cause the release of feel-good hormones like oxytocin. These neurochemicals are able to bring us a deep sense of contentment, emotional warmth, and calm; from these, the kid, will develop resilience and not to mention a closer connection with you.
#3: Practice Kind And Firm POSITIVE PARENTING
Infants are born with around 100 billion brain cells (neurons) with comparatively few connections. These connections create the thoughts of ours, drive the actions of ours, shape the personalities of ours, and essentially determine who we're. They're created, strengthened, and "sculpted" through life experiences.
Give the child of yours positive family interaction, especially in the beginning years. They will then be able to experience positive experiences themselves and also provide them to others.
But if you give your child negative experiences, they will not have the development type needed for them to thrive.
Sing that silly song. Use a tickle marathon. Go on the park. Laugh with your child. Give them positive attention. Ride with an emotional tantrum with them. Solve an issue together with a positive mind-set.
These positive experiences create good neural connections in your child's brain and form the memories of you your child carries for life.
With regards to discipline, it seems difficult to remain positive, especially when dealing with behavior problems. But it's possible by using positive discipline and avoiding strong discipline.
Being a great parent means you need to teach the child of yours the morals of what is right and what is wrong.
Setting limits and being constant is the golden rule to good discipline. Be firm and kind when you set rules and implement them. Focus on the reason behind the child's misbehavior. And allow it to be a chance for them to learn for the future in a positive manner, rather than to get punished for the past.
#4: Be a Safe HAVEN FOR The CHILD of yours
Let your child realize that you will always be there for them by being responsive to your child's signals and vulnerable to the needs of theirs. Support and accept your child as an individual. Be a safe and warm place for the child of yours to explore from and return to.
Kids raised by parents that are constantly responsive tend to have better psychological regulation development, interpersonal skills development, and mental health outcomes.
#5: Talk with YOUR CHILD And Help THEIR BRAINS INTEGRATE
Many of us know already the importance of communication. Talk to your child and also listen to them thoroughly. By maintaining an open line of communication, you will have a better relationship with your child as well as your kid may come for you when there's a problem.
But there's another reason behind communication. You help your kid integrate various parts of their brain, a critical process in a child's development.
Integration is similar to the body of ours, in which various organs should coordinate and work in concert to have a trully healthy body. When various parts of the brain are integrated, they can function harmoniously as a whole, which means fewer tantrums, more Parenting How To good behavior, more empathy, and better mental well-being.
To accomplish that, talk through troubling experiences. Ask your child to explain what happened and the way they felt developing attuned communication.
You do not need to offer solutions. You don't need to have all the answers to be a good parent. Just paying attention to them talk. Ask clarifying questions using words that are simple are going to help them make sense of the experiences of theirs and integrate the memories of theirs.
#6: Reflect on Your own personal CHILDHOOD
A lot of us wish to parent differently from the parents of ours. Even people who had a good upbringing and a happy childhood may want to alter several elements of how they were brought up.
But very frequently, when we open our mouths, we speak the same as the own parents of ours did.
Reflecting on the own childhood of ours is a step towards understanding why we parent how we do. Make note of things you would like to change and think of how you would get it done differently in a genuine scenario. Attempt to be mindful and change your behavior next time those issues come up.
Don't give up in case you don't succeed at first. It will take practice, a lot of practice to consciously change one 's child-rearing strategies.
#7: Focus on Your own WELL-BEING
Parents require relief also.
Give consideration to your own well-being to prevent parental burnout.
Oftentimes, things including the own needs of yours or maybe the health of your marriage are kept on the back burner when a child is born. If you don't take note of them, they are going to become bigger problems down the road. Take time to strengthen the relationship of yours with the spouse of yours.
Stressed-out parents tend to be more prone to fighting. Don't hesitate to request parenting help. To have some "me time" for self care and stress management is crucial to rejuvenate the brain.
How parents take proper care of the child of theirs mentally and physically can make a big difference in the parenting of theirs and family life. In case these two areas fail, your child is going to suffer, also.
#8: Don't SPANK, NO MATTER WHAT
No doubt, for some parents, spanking is able to result in short term compliance which occasionally is a much-needed relief for the parents.
Nevertheless, this method doesn't teach the child right from wrong. It simply teaches the child to fear external consequences. The kid will be motivated to stay away from getting caught with behavior that is inappropriate.
Spanking the child of yours is modeling to the child that he/she is able to resolve issues by violence. A child who is spanked, smacked, or maybe hit is more prone to fighting along with other children. They're more likely to become bullies and also to use verbal/physical aggression to solve disputes.
Later on in life, they are additionally far more likely to result in delinquency and oppositional behavior, even worse parent-child human relationships, mental health issues, and domestic violence victims or abusers.
There are a variety of better alternatives to discipline that have been shown to be more effective, such as good discipline (Tip #3 above positive reinforcement and).
#9: Keep Things In Perspective And remember YOUR PARENTING GOAL
What is your goal in raising a kid?
When you're like most parents, you want the child of yours to excel in college, be productive, be independent and responsible, be respectful, enjoy positive relationships with you and some, be caring and compassionate, plus have a happy, healthy and satisfying life.
Though how much time do you spend working towards those goals?
If you're like the majority of parents, you most likely spend most of the time just attempting to get through the day. As authors, Siegel and Bryson, point out in their book, The Whole Brain kid, instead of helping your child thrive, spent most of time simply trying to survive!
To not allow the survival mode dominate the life of yours, next time you feel angry or frustrated, step back. Think about what frustration and anger can do for you or the child of yours.
Rather, find ways to turn every negative experience into a learning opportunity for them. Even epic tantrums can be transformed into priceless brain-sculpting moments in case you focus on teaching your child, not trying to control them.
#10: Take a SHORTCUT By utilizing Findings In Latest PSYCHOLOGY And NEUROSCIENCE RESEARCH
By shortcuts, I do not mean shortchanging your child with tricks. What I mean is taking advantage of what's already known by scientists.
To parent is one of the most researched fields in psychology. Lots of parenting techniques, practices, or traditions were scientifically researched, verified, refined, or refuted.
For optimum parenting advice for raising a kid and info that are supported by science, here is among my favorite science based parenting books, The Science of Parenting.
Making use of scientific knowledge is of course not really a one-size-fits-all strategy. Every kid is different. Quite possibly within the best parenting style, there are able to be a variety of effective parenting methods you can choose based on your child's temperament.
A good example is using spanking to discipline. There are many better alternatives, e.g. redirection, reasoning, time-in, etc. You can choose a non-punitive discipline method that actually works ideal for the child of yours.
Naturally, you can additionally choose to utilize "traditional" or "old school" parenting styles (e.g. punishing or maybe spanking) and may nonetheless get a "similar" outcome.
Differential susceptibility has shown us that children with different temperaments respond to the quality of parenting differently.
Those people who are more vulnerable to parenting quality is going to have better outcomes under good parenting but worse outcomes under poor parenting.
Those people who are less susceptible may "turn out fine" no matter how strong their parents treat them. But it doesn't imply those practices are good. These children are merely lucky. They can thrive despite bad parenting, not because of it.
Why take a chance with sub-par parenting practices if you can use well-researched, better ones?
The importance of parenting can't be underestimated. Taking science based parental advice may not be the simplest way to parent. It may require much more work on your part in the temporary but can save you lots of time and agony in the long term.
Final Thoughts On Parenting
The great thing is, that although parenting is hard, it is also very rewarding. The bad part is the rewards usually come later than the hard work. But if we try our best now, we will eventually reap the rewards and have nothing to regret.
To Happy Parenting!