LifeHabits 8 - Authentic Parenting
May 11th, 2008 by lifehabits
This episode deals with the important topic of Authentic Parenting. Whether you’re a parent now, planning to be one in the future, or simply want to understand the world of parenting better, this is for you. Based on the first-hand experience of being a parent of four kids, observing the parenting of others, and the academic literature, Karel provides his list of 10 most important habits for being an authentic parent. These ideas will help you to be a better parent, make parenting less stressful, and lead to more enjoyment of your role as parent as well as give your kids the optimal family environment within which to flourish in life.
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Congratulations on a fine podcast, Karel. Your 10 points certainly certainly hit home.
I particularly resonated with the discussion about limits … the point about “I’ll be the parent and you be the kid” (to quote a book title) is key, I think. I see an awful lot of “best friend”parenting styles where kids — including toddlers — run the whole show. Those situations seem to lead to lots of stress and anxiety all around. I agree that kids appreciate and thrive with age-appropriate limits.
On the topic of parenting … one very helpful audiobook I listened to recently that I think has helped with my parenting style is “Screamfree Parenting” by Hal Runkel. The book advocates “cool parenting” — keeping your cool rather than constantly resorting to yelling and knee-jerk reactions — through the insight that you, the parent, are not responsible for making your children consistently behave in a certain way and that you’re better off learning to focus on your reactions to your children instead. I think the cool parenting approach is a good enabler for many of the habits you outlined.
Thanks for this podcast … I look forward to putting a couple of ideas into practice.