Lesson 2: Effective Parenting
Being an effective parent takes consistency, love and patience. This lesson will guide you through the various ways we can become more loving and positive parents.
A Parent's Job
In the last 30 years, our definition of a parent's job or role has become weak and ill-defined. As our sense of community lessened and nuclear families became increasingly rare, parents began to lose their sense of place. And our children have suffered for it.
Permissive parenting caused parents to question everything they did with or for their children. Somehow, by trying to establish firm, loving limits, they were made to feel that they were stifling their child's creativity and self-expression. Unfortunately, this has brought us to our present dilemma. We've all witnessed screaming, kicking children, purple-faced with rage because they couldn't have what they wanted, when they wanted it. And we've also witnessed their parents standing helplessly by, watching with horrified embarrassment.
What is a parent’s role? Simply put: it is to raise a child to be a productive, loving and ethical adult. We do this by giving our children firm and consistent limits, establishing a safe and secure environment, and making certain that they are loved, fed and clothed.
We are not put on this earth to amuse our children or be their buddies. Children need at least one adult role model to provide them with a sense of safety and trust. They need someone to tell them "no, that is dangerous," or "this is how we behave." By building a framework of love and guidance, our children become happy and secure individuals.
Parents are their child’s first and most influential teachers. All of life’s most important milestones are met within a parent’s role. It is an enormous job we have, and one that has far-reaching impact on your child’s life and the world at large.
How do you see your role as a parent? How confident do you feel in the way you perform this role?
