All parents dream of becoming the perfect mother and father to their children and it would have been easy if parenthood comes with a manual and an easy-to-follow guide. However, the moment your little one pops out, everything becomes spontaneous and you find yourself challenged more than ever. And most parents, especially first-time ones, often question themselves what effective parenting skills should they master to make child-raising manageable.
Effective and Must-have Parenting Skills
Parenting plays a huge part in how a child grows. This is why effective parenting skills are important to have to help your child make the most of their potential.
Here are some important parenting skills to know and master!
Setting limits
In every household, discipline must be upheld. What discipline does to children is to help them choose acceptable behaviors and learn self-control. This could vary in different households and parents also have different ways in discipline their children. Common examples are no TV or cellphones until homework or house chores are done or no fighting, hitting, or unkind teasing between siblings.
It is also best to establish consequences if any house rules are not followed such as time out or loss of privileges. But the most important thing in setting limits is sticking to them. Be consistent and show your child that there are no free passes.
Focus on positive behavior
Children are learning beings and no matter how much we try to discipline them to the best of our abilities, bad or undesirable behaviors will come every once in a while. But, instead of dwelling on their negative aspects, parents should instead focus on the positive ones.
The more parents scold their children, the more these bad behaviors manifest and get repeated. When they are often reprimanded, children start to inhibit the thought that they are indeed bad kids who will always get scolded.
Due to this, they don’t feel the need or the motivation to correct their behavior. This is why it is important for parents to acknowledge a child’s good behavior when they see it.
Self-esteem booster
Parents’ tone of voice, body language, expression, and words are all observed and absorbed by children and this greatly affects their developing self-esteem.
Your children will feel proud of themselves and capable when you acknowledge accomplishments, small or big, and allow them to make independent decisions. On the other hand, belittling them or comparing them to other kids will make them feel worthless and incapable.
To be an effective parent, always be careful with your words and show compassion to your kids. Words go a long way so let them know it’s okay to make mistakes and that you’ll love them regardless.
Time management
Working parents can vouch how difficult it is to spend quality time with the kids but this is what children want more. Younger children who are not getting enough attention from their parents often misbehave because they want to be noticed.
There are different ways parents manage their time so that they can always spend a portion of the day with the kids, such as waking up a bit earlier to eat breakfast with them or saving house chores for later and taking a walk in the park instead.
It’s a bit different for teenagers since they don’t need parents hounding on them all the time and they appreciate some alone time. But when they do need you, be sure to be with them. Adolescents often keep their problems to themselves so when they need to talk to someone, listen to them and give them solicited advice.
It’s not easy to be a working parent so don’t feel guilty if you can’t give 100% undivided attention to the kids. Sometimes, it’s the little things, like notes on their lunchbox, a walk in the park, having meals together, that kids remember and cherish the most.
Always communicate
You can’t expect kids to just instantly follow everything you tell them to just because you are the parent. Children deserve explanations and if parents don’t elaborate, the kids will wonder what are its basis, values, and motives. This is allowing them to understand and learn why certain things happen the way they happened.
If there is something you want them to do, make your motives and expectations clear. If there are problems, tell your children, express your feelings, and ask them for their opinions, and if they want to work with you to solve them. Also, include consequences so they know what to expect as well.
