Parenting tips…day three!

Raising kids with LOVE ♦ August 30, 2022 ♦ 2 Comments

Final tips….add your own to the list!

31.  Respect your child’s likes and dislikes

• Allow your child to develop their own passions, likes, and dislikes.
• Provide opportunity for your child to experience many things to discover passions, likes, and dislikes.
• Your child may not like the same things that you do, and that is OK!

32.  Be a team with dad and other people who parent your child

• Don’t be a gatekeeper, allow Dad or other important people in your child’s life to participate in parenting.
• Realize that there is benefit in doing things differently, different is not always wrong.
• Have a united front with Dad; this gives your child a clear message of expectations.  Never disagree about parenting issues in front of your child.
• Parents, who are not on the same page, will be manipulated.

 33.  Always set expectations

• Defining your expectations helps your child determine expected behavior.
• Setting expectations beforehand gives better results.
• Frequent discussions about what you expect from your child helps him or her develop a good moral compass.

 34.  Teach basic manners by example

• Manners and respectful behavior will help your child be successful.
• Your behavior that your child observes is more important than the words you speak.
• Make sure that your actions show respect of your child.
• Provide the example of gratitude.

 35.  Talk quieter—not louder when you are very upset

• This will defuse a frustrating or angry situation.
• Everyone will remain calmer if voices are quieter.
• Your child will have to calm down in order to hear you.
• Yelling usually accomplishes nothing.

 36.  Use discipline in public, and if your child has a meltdown, leave

• Following through on discipline in public will allow you to leave your home!!
• Children learn very quickly when and where you will not follow through with consequences…and they will behave accordingly.

 37.  Sometimes look the other way

• Your child will hear “no” many times, save it for the important things.
• Pick your battles, some are not important enough to pick!

  38.  Don’t reward everything. Let your child learn the valuable lesson of being proud of himself .

• Let your child develop an inner drive to success.
• Constant rewards and praise result in a child that is externally motivated, driven by the outside things.
• Internal motivation results in a child who does the right thing because it feels good, not because he will “get something” in the end.

39.  Know your child’s friends, open up your home to them

• Knowing who your child’s friends are gives you a glimpse of their life away from you.
• Know the parents of your child’s friends; parenting together gives you a sounding board and more parenting power.

 40.  Forgive yourself for not being the perfect parent

• Your child does not expect or need perfection.
• Being too hard on yourself, makes you not trust your parenting.
• Expecting perfection from yourself sets the example for your child that only perfection is acceptable.
• We only need to be “good enough”…not perfect.  Lighten up, there is always room for silliness.
• Unconditional love trumps parenting imperfections!

41.  Some things are not worth the worry

• Being a parent should not doom your life to worry.
• Don’t sweat the small stuff.
• No child will starve themselves, temper tantrums are part of childhood, embarrassing behavior happens, you can’t protect your child from every illness and injury, and your child can be happy without the latest and best video game or pair of jeans….and many, many more worries that are not worth the energy!

42.  Teach good sleep habits and early bedtimes

• Adequate sleep makes everything look better.
• Children are wired early to bed early to rise.
• Early bedtimes provide evenings for you to refill, recharge, and reconnect.

 43.   Don’t view your child’s life through a camera lens

• Documenting your child’s life in pictures is important, but don’t miss the moment by trying to always have the perfect picture.
• Step away from the camera and really enjoy the moment.
• Sometimes the memory is better when you are actually playing in the pool with your child and not photographing it!

44.  Don’t wish time away

• Don’t keep thinking life will be better when…..my baby sleeps through the night, my child is potty trained, my child is in school all day—with every stage is a new challenge and a new joy.
• Enjoy each moment and each stage…they are all special.

45.  Keep it simple…working at parenting too hard or making it too complicated robs the simple joy!

Let’s make this an even 50!  What are your tips to share with others?  Share your wisdom…and help us all to enjoy every challenge and every joy of being a parent.  Like  Raising Kids with Love on Facebook and join in the conversation!

Take a breath, enjoy the joyful moments of each day, and remember you don’t have to be perfect to be the perfect parent.

Cindy