How to be a Good Parent?

 Raising a healthy, happy child is one of the most challenging jobs in the world. Sometimes we rely on our gut instincts and at other times we resort to the same parenting techniques our parents used while we were growing up.

Good parenting helps foster qualities like honesty, empathy, kindness, cheerfulness, cooperation, self-reliance and self-control in children. It promotes intellectual curiosity while instilling a desire to achieve. It also protects children from developing depression, anxiety, eating disorders, antisocial behavior or substance abuse. So if you’re wondering how to be a good parent, here are some parenting tips that can help you.

 

1. Set an example

Whether it’s the way you treat yourself or those around you, your children are constantly learning from you. Try not to react in the spur of a moment and always reflect on what it is that you want to achieve with your behavior.

 

2. Spoil your kids with love

This is one of the most important parenting tips you’ll come across: spoil your kids with love, not material pleasures. There’s no such thing as too much love but you could be encouraging bad behavior in your child by being too lenient or setting a low bar.

 

3. Be involved in your child’s life

You may have to rearrange your priorities for this but it’s a non-negotiable if you want to learn how to be a good parent. You need to involve yourself mentally as well as physically in your child’s life. Read a book together or play some sports; your child will be forever grateful for this quality time spent together.

 

4. Establish rules

The rules your children learn from you are going to shape the rules they apply to themselves in the future. If you fail to manage your child’s behavior when he is young, he will find it difficult to learn how to manage himself and how to be happy always when he’s older and you are no longer around. But at the same time, beware of micromanaging. Your child needs to grow up to be his own person.

 

5. Encourage independence

Fostering independence in your child helps her develop a sense of self-direction. Children usually push for autonomy and that is a necessary quality for them to succeed in life. Many parents think their child is being rebellious or disobedient when in actuality all she is trying to do is be in control of her own life. 

 

6. Be consistent

If your rules change every day or if you enforce them intermittently, your child’s misconduct is your doing, not his. The most important parenting advice is consistency. Identify what's non-negotiable for you and be wise in establishing your authority. The more mature you are, the less immature your child will be.

 

7. Avoid harsh discipline

Parents should never raise their hands to a child, under any circumstance. Children who are hit, spanked or slapped are more likely to fight with other children, bully juniors, develop psychological issues in their grown years and use aggression to solve disputes with others. Time out on the other hand is a great tool to deal with children who need discipline.

 

8. Treat your child with respect

The best way to get respect from a child is to treat her with respect. You should extend the same courtesies to your child that you would extend to anyone else. Speak to her politely, respect her opinion, pay attention when she’s speaking to you, treat her with kindness. This is yet another important parenting tip because children treat others the way their parents treat them.