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A guide to help parents understand the basics of good parenting, such as making a happy home, avoiding pitfalls, providing emotional support, and more. Learn how to bond with your children, guide them, and let them grow without overindulging or micromanaging them. Find out how to resist the urge to control or stress over your kids and instead focus on their needs and happiness.
- How can parents bond with their children?Daily routines, and regular rituals, can be a powerful way to bond with children and help them feel emotionally secure. Time spent each day readi...
- Why is conversation so important for children?Research on the casual chitchat also known as banter has found that it is essential for children’s emotional development, and for their vocabular...
- How can parents get kids to cooperate?There are reasons why younger kids don’t always cooperate with a parent’s requests, even if the parent doesn’t immediately recognize them as good...
- Will getting a pet benefit young children?Research suggests that it will. Many studies have found that dog ownership helps younger kids learn responsibility and empathy, and potentially eve...
- What is free-range parenting?In many cities and states, local laws prohibit children under a certain age from either staying home alone or being outside without an adult presen...
- Can a parent ever be perfect?In a word, no, and no child can be perfect, either. But parents who believe perfection is attainable, in themselves or their kids, often struggle t...
- Is parenting primarily about being in control?It shouldn’t be. Many parents believe they should control children at all times, directing them to fit their own vision of what type of person th...
- How can parents make sure they present a united front to their kids?In many families, one parent emerges as the “fun one,” or the “good cop,” with the other wedged into the role of the serious one, or the “bad cop...
- How can a parent tell if a young child is being naughty or not?It can be tricky for parents of young children to recognize when a child is acting out and when there is a valid reason for what appears to be un...
- Overview
- Creating a Loving Environment
- Being a Good Disciplinarian
- Helping Your Child Build Character
- Parenting Teens and Young Adults
Being a parent can be one of the most rewarding and fulfilling experiences of your life, but that doesn't mean it's easy. No matter what age your children are, your work is never done. To be a good parent, you have to balance making your child feel loved while still helping them learn the difference between right and wrong. Even when it's hard, just keep doing your best to create a nurturing environment where your children can develop into confident, independent, and caring people.
Give your kid plenty of affection. Make it a point to hug them each day, and let them know you love them any time it comes to mind.
Let your child become their own person. Don't make them play sports or do activities they aren't interested in, and encourage them to pursue activities they enjoy.
Praise your child frequently, and point out what they did successfully. If they fail at something, ask or explain to them what they learned from the experience.
Give your child plenty of affection.
Make an effort to create a strong physical and emotional bond with your child throughout their entire childhood.
A warm touch or a kind word can let your child know how much you really care about them. Here are some ways to show love and affection:
Give your child a cuddle, a kiss on the cheek, big hug, or even just a warm touch on their shoulder to show encouragement and appreciation.
Tell them you love them every day, even if you're upset with them.
Don't force them to be who you think they should be in order to earn your love. Let them know that you will always love them no matter what.
Enforce reasonable rules and consequences.
Create a list of household rules that will help your children lead a happy, productive life. Make sure these rules are appropriate for your child's age. Remember, your rules and guidelines should help your child develop and grow, but they shouldn't be so strict that they feel like they can't do anything right.
For example, if you have a younger child, you might have rules like "Don't go outside without a grownup," with the consequence of being grounded indoors if they break that rule. For older children, you might set rules about helping around the house, and you might take away a privilege like screen time if they don't do their chores.
Listen to your child's feedback about the rules they have to follow, but remember—you are the parent. Children need boundaries. A child who has been allowed to behave as they please will struggle in adult life when they have to obey society's rules.
Teach your children to be independent.
Teach your children that it is okay for them to be different, and they do not have to follow the crowd. Teach them right from wrong when they are young, and encourage them to make their own decisions, rather than deciding everything for them.
Give your children the chance to make choices on their own. If you have a young child, for instance, you might offer 2-3 outfits and let them chose the one they want to wear, or you might let them pick between several snacks.
When your children are older, give them choices on things like which extracurricular activities they want to participate in and the friends they want to hang around—as long as you feel like they're safe influences, of course.
Remember that your child is not an extension of yourself. Your child is an individual under your care, not a chance for you to relive your life through them.
Be a good role model.
Emphasize moderation and responsibility when it comes to alcohol consumption.
You can start talking about this even when children are young. Explain that they will have to wait until they are old enough to enjoy a drink with friends, and talk about the importance of designated drivers. In addition, be frank with teens about the effects alcohol can have on their brain and body.
Encourage your teens to wait until they're legally old enough to drink. Tell them that even then, they should never drink and drive, and assure them that if they're ever impaired, they can call you and you'll make sure they get home safely.
Be honest with your children about sex.
- 5 min
- 1.3M
- Kathy Slattengren, M.Ed.
- Barrie Gillies
- Set Smart Limits. Take charge. Children crave limits, which help them understand and manage an often confusing world. Show your love by setting boundaries so your kids can explore and discover their passions safely.
- Create Your Own Quality Time. Play with your children. Let them choose the activity, and don't worry about rules. Just go with the flow and have fun. That's the name of the game.
- Be a Good Role Model. Be the role model your children deserve. Kids learn by watching their parents. Modeling appropriate, respectful, good behavior works much better than telling them what to do.
- Know the Best Ways to Praise. Give appropriate praise. Instead of simply saying, "You're great," try to be specific about what your child did to deserve the positive feedback.
- Be a responsive parent. Substantial research has been conducted on the effects of parenting styles on child development. Studies found that warm and responsive parenting in early childhood can help children develop a secure attachment, laying the foundation for the child’s social competence, emotional well-being, and physical health.
- Help your child develop emotional regulation. Emotional regulation is a crucial skill that supports a child’s well-being in many ways: Boosts self-esteem and confidence: Children who manage emotions feel capable and have higher self-esteem.
- Prioritize parent-child relationship. The parent-child relationship is a critical aspect that often gets overlooked amidst the hustle of daily life. It’s easy to focus on obedience, discipline, and academic achievements and forget that the heart of parenting is building a loving, trusting relationship.
- Use kind and firm inductive discipline. Discipline your child by setting clear boundaries, explaining the reasons behind rules, discovering the reasons behind misbehavior, and allowing safe, natural consequences.
- Guide and Support Your Child. Parents naturally want their kids to succeed and may push, prod, bribe, demand, or even threaten kids with punishment to get them to practice an instrument, excel at a sport, achieve top grades and so on.
- Encourage Independence. Good parents know that it's important for kids to do things for themselves. Whether it's homework or chores or making friends, the best thing we can do as parents is get kids to a place where they can handle things on their own.
- Be Mindful That They Are Watching. Got a piece of juicy gossip you're dying to share? Want to tell off a neighbor who did something rude or yell at a driver who cut you off?
- Avoid Being Mean, Spiteful, or Unkind. Can a parent occasionally lose their temper or yell? Absolutely—we are human, after all. But insulting or humiliating or belittling a child are never, ever a good way to teach anything.
Nov 22, 2023 · 1. Communication. Being a parent involves constant communication. In the toddler days, that communication might look like, “Don’t touch that!” or “Don’t eat that!” And when your kids get older, those common phrases might become, “Be home by 9!” and “Make good choices!”
Jul 1, 2021 · 1. Enforce the Rules. House rules and boundaries do more than keep you sane; they also help a developing child feel stable and secure. An effective parent is clear about what a child is and is not allowed to do, the chores that they’re expected to complete and how they should treat other people (and pets) in the home.
