by Angella Gailey

Created on: December 08, 2011   Last Updated: December 09, 2011

Every parent wants to be a good parent, and every parent feels like they are not very good parents. You see your children fighting, screaming, crying, and throwing temper tantrums in the middle of the store, and you feel like you are as a failure as a parent. Things like this happen to the best of parents and you should not feel like you are horrible because your child decided that they were going to lay down in the middle of the school and throw a tantrum with everybody watching, or because your neighbors called to ask who put the cat through the blender when all you did was brush your child’s hair, we’ve all been there.

Good parents still have children who act up, and good parents will lose their temper. A good parent knows this. You will never be a good parent if you are worried that at any moment, your child is going to erupt into a fight with you or their siblings. A good parent will, instead, be prepared for this. Finding a way to defuse the situation, even if it means leaving your cart in the store and coming back at a better time, or if you have to pull over to the side of the road because the screaming in the back seat has become to loud for you to concentrate, it’s all right. Get the situation under control, and deal out whatever punishment needs to be put into place, and move on, don’t dwell on it and don’t let it make you think you have failed as a parent.

Good parents listen to their children. In order to be a decent parent at all, you need to listen to your kids. If they come up and say that they are being bullied at school, find out by who. If they tell you that your boyfriend/ girlfriend or even their own parent is abusing them in any way, listen to them. Sometimes you might have to listen to what they aren’t telling you, too. A child who suddenly wants to go shopping with you when they hated it before, or one who suddenly doesn’t want to go to their friends house has something going on. If you bring up that you notice something is wrong, it might just get them to open up to you about something they didn’t feel like they couldn’t before, or that they just didn’t know how to mention. On the flipside, you need to make sure that you communicate clearly with your children. Set clear rules and consequences and make sure that you carry through with them. Also, make sure that you let your kids know that they can talk to you about anything. They might get in trouble, but it is better than if

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>