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Parenting is not easy and most people are ill-prepared for the task. Most of us learned the subject from observing our parents, relatives and any friends that have children. Parents take on additional roles they didn’t have before their children arrived or when they were still single.
New Responsibilities
Parenting means taking on certain new responsibilities, whether you want them or not, but in the long run they are for the benefit of your children.
One of the most important new responsibilities is setting a positive role model for your children. Unfortunately, this as well as your other new parenting duties, are a full time job, especially when your children are present. You can bet that while your children are near they will be watching your every move. If you have any bad habits like smoking, cheating, getting high or drunk, getting angry, yelling, arguing, cursing, lying, or being lazy, it’s time to quit.
Keep Your Cool
Another important part of parenting is keeping your cool. In other words don’t get so visibly upset that the kids get frightened and run away and hide from you. An important tool rational thinking. Patience can also be a big help in communicating pleasantly with the kids for as long as possible.
You as Teacher
Being a parent also means being a teacher to your young children. Of course they will be going to school and they will have many teachers over the years, but the moment they arrive in their new home your children will learn everything you do and say. They will learn by watching you and from what you do and how you say things. They will learn all of your habits, both good and bad. The way you speak is very important. The tone of your voice, the way you respond, the different ways you laugh, or how you make suggestions are all learned by your children.
Your teaching duties will continue even long after they complete their formal education. Helping them with their homework is very important. It shows them how much you care. Don’t expect their classroom teachers will be enough to guide their education. The kids will also learn how to bake cookies in the kitchen, how to operate the vacuum cleaner, the proper way to use a screw driver and countless tasks all while at home with you.
Be a Good Listener
No less important is your role as the good-listener, advice-giver and best friend. During the next five or six decades, the children will expect good answers to their endless list of questions and problems. This will require your expert advice. But there is a lot more to parenting than giving advice and answering questions. Always being available even when you don’t really want to be bothered is also part of your new job. The greatest part of being a parent is being their best friend, to sooth their hurt feelings, to pay attention to their activities, interests and friends, to console them after their many failures and collapsed romances, to be there to nurse them back to good health. But best of all, for accepting them for who they are.
This report is not a diagnosis. We hope this information can guide you toward improving your life.
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