Effective Parenting

As rewarding as parenting is, you can sometimes hit a wall and wonder if you are doing anything right. There will also be time periods where your kids seem to be extra needy, excessively complain, or even criticize your parenting abilities to your face. Now, of course, this won’t be the majority of the time, but when you end up questioning how you are performing as a parent overall, it can be hard to shake these periods of self-doubt. When you’re feeling fed up and you’ve reached your limit, you need to partake in stress relieving activities until these tough times blow over. Every once in a while, parents can feel like they are going bonkers.  That’s when a Parent Guide can come in handy. Follow these tips to help preserve your sanity.

Always Make Personal Time For Yourself

Single moms, stay-at-home dads, the parents of multiples – if you are the primary caregiver of a child or children, the majority of your time probably goes into childcare. There’s laundry, homework, playdates, doctor’s visits, school events, birthday parties, clothes shopping, and the list goes on. If you wake up in the morning and the first thing you do is to tend to your kid’s needs and the last thing you do before you go to sleep is think about what you have to do for your children the next day, you have to give yourself a break.

Regroup and Recharge Amongst Peers

Your group of friends may consist primarily of singles as well as childless couples, and that is perfectly okay. After all, it is important to spend some of your time in a child-free environment, so you can truly let your hair down. On the other hand, your child-less friends probably won’t ‘get’ you all the time. They won’t be able to relate to dealing with angsty teens, and to be perfectly honest, they probably don’t want to hear you complain too often about you having to ground your child for the tenth time this year. If you want to get validation, feedback, and understanding the issues you face as a parent, you need to have these types of conversations with other parents.

Find Your Discipline Style

So, it isn’t uncommon for parents to feel overwhelmed when they realize that their laid-back or totally non-existent parenting style is leading their family to a massive failure. Kids are independent, and they need to express themselves, but they also need structure and yes, discipline, too. Children have to face consequences for bad behavior, or else they’ll think that they can do whatever they want, and slowly they will become disrespectful. It might be ‘cute’ when your five-year-old cries for candy and you always give in, but it won’t be as pleasant to deal with a 10-year-old kid who freaks out when everything isn’t to his liking. You don’t have to be super strict, but you do have to mean what you say to your kids if you want to run a happy household.

Kids can literally be a handful, so when you know that you are reaching your limit just step away for a moment. Some parents will put themselves in ‘time-out’ where they can blast music on their headphones for five minutes to drown out their thoughts, or they might even disappear into the bathroom for an extended break. When parenting starts to get the best of you, take a deep breath and think about what you enjoy about being a parent.