Advice for Parents
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Posted by Lisa C. DeLuca Oct 13, 2008 |
Parenting can have more ups and downs than the biggest roller coaster ride you've ever taken.
One of the reasons parenting can be so challenging is that it sparks so many emotions, many of them completely contradictory, and you feel them all at exactly the same time. It is not easy to love a child so much that you would throw yourself in front of a bus to save her, and to be so annoyed at that child that it's hard to be in the same room with her.
People have difficulty feeling contradictory emotions simultaneously. It is unsettling. They feel like they need to resolve it, one way or the other. Once parents realize that this is the nature of parenting, they can let it go, learn to be ok with it without trying to solve it. In the end, the love is more important.
Another reason parenting is so difficult is that it puts you in the role of teacher. As teacher, you are challenged to grow as a person, to make sure that you are practicing what you preach. For putting parents in this position, children are a precious gift, IMHO. In helping them evolve as people, if we open up enough, they in turn help us evolve at the level of our very souls.
All of this personal evolution can be exhausting. Here are a few resources to help. Hint: if you want your children to be confident, you be confident, if you want your children to be joyful, you be joyful, etc.
The last article listed here is a review of a book written by Janine Caffrey. This book is essential reading for parents of this generation. Happy reading!
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