2 of 75

Write now Article Tools

Being a parent is like riding a huge emotional roller coaster 24 hours a day. There are peaks and valleys of emotions larger than any roller coaster I've ever ridden on. Being a parent of course takes love but it's not until you are a parent that you realize it sometimes takes tough love. And while loving your child is easy tough love is anything but easy. Disciplining your children with tough love starts when they are very young and is relatively simple but many parents find out that tough love gets harder as children get older. It can be hard emotionally for parents when they need to use tough love on an older child or even an adult child but it can be emotionally devastating to not use tough love and find that your child has suffered the consequences.

Being a parent also requires a sense of humor, a calm demeanor and lots of patience. What parent hasn't found himself short of patience or having lost his cool at one time or another? While our children are often our biggest source of amusement, sometimes we have to learn to laugh a little more and shrug off the minor annoyances that our children seem to evoke in us everyday. Patience is key for any good parent and it is something that I struggle with everyday. If we as parents learn to calm down, devote more time to our children and have patience, we might laugh a little more at our children's silly behavior.

As parents we must be willing to be teachers. Children don't learn by themselves, but they learn from how they live. The world around them is their teaching tool. We are their biggest examples. Not only do we need to sit with them and teach them their ABC's and 123's but we need to teach them morals and values by setting examples. Once we have children our lifestyles often change. A lot of parents fail to realize exactly how much their lifestyles will change until after they become parents. Did you ever notice how your children mimic you when they are young? Just as they physical mimic us, they mentally mimic us as well. Children learn their entire set of values and morals by copying their parents and we have to change our lifestyles accordingly.

Last of all being a parent takes dedication to handle all the physical and emotional necessities of being a parent. Being a parent isn't always fun. There are sad times, and times when we want to pull our hair out because we are so frustrated. Sometimes we even question, "Why? Why did I make this commitment?" We've got to be dedicated to enough to hang in there and raise our children to be the best people that they can be. And on the days when our children make us proud, and we know that we've done a good job, all of our bad days seem worth that one good day. And that's when we learn what it takes to be a parent.

Learn more about this author, Denise Calaman.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

Add your voice

Know something about What it takes to be a parent?
We want to hear your view. Write now!