Recent conversations have revolved around parenting and how previous parents have outdated practices that no longer work for modern times. Indeed, most of these parents worked hard to raise you and your siblings right, but other factors affected their parenting into something that might no longer be enough for this new generation of children. For sure, no one should tell anyone how to be a parent to their kids, but knowing a thing or two about being a modern parent for modern children can help make this generation become better adults and parents someday.
Modern Children Require Modern Parents
Raising children to become happy, healthy, independent, and contented individuals is challenging, especially with the constantly changing times. It’s only natural for any parent to want to raise their children the way their parents did, even if some of them are ineffective and outdated parenting styles by today’s standards.
There is no one way of defining what good parenting should look like. Still, it should foster positive traits in children with the end goal of allowing them to grow up to become independent, honest, empathetic, kind, and respectful individuals. This modern parenting style might even be divisive as some people still tend to cling to the kind of parenting they experienced when they were kids. But once you’ve opened your mind to today’s standards, you’ll find that you’re doing what’s best for your children to grow properly in this modern world you live in.
This list of modern parenting tips is far from exhaustive, as there are tons of other parenting tips you can apply to your situation. You can even put the leadership coaching sessions you’ve had before into use, as raising a child is like being a leader in a company. Here are some that you should consider:
1. Veer Away from Stereotypes
As mentioned, there are many parenting skills that today’s parenting standards consider archaic. Part of this is the stereotypes. There are gender and age stereotypes, and more.
These stereotypes are harmful and won’t allow your children to become the person they want to become as you impose stereotypes based on their characteristics. It doesn’t mean that you should also do what other modern parents are doing by raising their kids in a genderless manner, which is a debatable way of raising children. But you can let your kids enjoy hobbies and activities that are typically considered exclusive characteristics of the other gender.
For example, your male children can enjoy learning ballet, and your female children can also play video games. These are activities that anyone from any gender can enjoy and have benefits for anyone, so allowing your kids to enjoy whatever they like will allow them to realize their full potential.
Comparing your kid’s childhood to yours and others of the same age will also harm their self-esteem and make them feel they’re not enough. It will help if you acknowledge that your children are unique, that milestones in life are not set in stone, and that they can be achieved at any age.
2. Be More Present for Your Child
Being more available for your child doesn’t mean you need to quit your job if you’re a working parent. It means that you should strive to be mentally and physically available as much as possible, especially during their younger years when they need your guidance the most.
Of course, you should also allow them to be independent as they also need to learn how to stand on their own. Doing this will prepare your children for the future when they need to live on their own.
3. Teach and Instill in Them the Values They Need
You have to teach your children that it’s essential to be empathetic human beings and that their lives should revolve around becoming more loving. Success is essential to living, but it’s not a requirement to live a more satisfying life.
4. Be Consistent with Them
Whenever you teach them something or set rules and boundaries, tell them the reason behind it. And you have to be consistent as much as you can with everything you teach them so that they will grow up to respect you more.
Parenting might not be the easiest thing to do in the world, as you are making sure you’re doing your best to raise your children and deviate from the archaic parenting you were used to. It takes time, and you will make mistakes along the way, of course, and these will only allow you to become a better parent.
