How to be a successful parent: Some tips
Every parent aims at adopting a parenting style that works most suitably for their child’s development. If the parenting style is suitable for the child’s growth, it can work wonders for his/her development. As kids grow, their perception towards the world changes. A teenager might react in a negative way to something which he loved doing as a kid. Parents have to adjust themselve according to the requirement of their kids, it forms the crux of their parenting style.
1. The Challenge
Parenting has always been a tough and challenging task, starting from bed wetting to handling adolescent depression. The biggest challenge, however, is to grow with the child. As the child grows, he/she gradually develops emotionally and physically. The challenge for parents, thus, is to act to modify their parenting style according to the age of the child. The problem faced by almost every parent is to deal with the issues that their kids face at different phases in life and find a suitable way to deal with it.
The initial parenting problems are behavioral problems like misbehaving, disrespecting, speaking loudly, lashing out in anger, and lying. The bigger problems start when the child starts going to school. When most part of the day is spent at school meeting with other children, with varied habits - both good and bad - the child might get influenced and start behaving in the same manner or imitate the habits of some of his/her spoilt seniors, whom they idolize for their style at a tender age. Parents should observe the behavior and activities of the child minutely and any misconduct should be reprimanded. The next major challenge comes when as a teenager the child gets addicted to the habit of smoking, drinking or even worse drugs under peer pressure. It requires a lot of patience and perseverance, on the part of parents, to get rid of these addictions.
2. The Solution
When a child starts lying, don’t get angry, relax and think about the root cause of such behavior. Analyze the situation and work out - why is your child lying? Is the child scared of you or your anger? Or is it peer pressure? If you are able to identify the root cause, you have already accomplished half the task. The following tips will be quite useful in dealing with the remaining problem:
a. Give affection and support
A child feels unsafe and insecure in the absence of proper love and care. In most of the cases it is found that the irresponsible and rude behavior of the child is the result of negligence by parents. So, at any cost parents must ensure to share the feelings of the child.
b. Handling the tantrums
If your child has lost the temper don't start shouting, try to pacify the child and evaluate the situation. Is it the child who is behaving like this or is it somebody’s behavior he/she is imitating? In most cases, the answer would be the latter – the child is imitating somebody at home. In such a case, discuss the foolishness of imitating somebody blindly in a wise manner. Be a true mentor.
c. Be a part of your child's friends circle
It is always a good idea, to be a part of your child's friend circle. This will not only strengthen the bond between you and your child but would also help you to monitor the various activities of child and you can rectify any bad habit or misconduct instantly and in a positive manner. Be open, adjustable, and respectful to the thoughts and ideas of the young and innocent minds!
d. Dealing with peer pressure
To deal with peer pressure, it is important for the parents to offer unconditional emotional support to their child. This would not only boost the child’s confidence and make him/her feel safe but also strengthen them to deal with the challenges of life. Emotional support by parents improves the mental and psychological aspect of the child. As a result they always take intelligent decision and understand the irrelevance of bad activities like smoking, drinking, etc.
e. Be a role model for you child
Family is the first school of the child and parents are the first teachers. It is important for parents to behave in a decent manner at home. They should set an example for the child through their good conduct. Educate the child about life and personality of world famous persons, whose deeds are inspiring.
It is true that parenting is indeed a difficult task, nevertheless, the solution does not lie in rebuking the child. A four step approach - focusing on the problem, determining the change you require to make for the positive development of your child, outlining a framework for suitable solution of the problem, and lastly executing the same with a polite approach - can help to strengthen the bond between parents and children.
