Being A Great Single Parent: A Short Guide

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There is no right or wrong way to parent your child. Parenting has many aspects and many of them, you start to learn as your child grows. The key to properly parenting your child is researching and connecting with other like-minded adults who have children. Read the tips below to help you shed some insight on different approaches to parenting.

If you are cutting your child’s bangs and can’t seem to make them look right, do not trim them from ear to ear. Try starting at the end of one eyebrow and cutting in until you get to the end of the other eyebrow. This will make your child’s bangs look like they were professionally cut.

A great parenting tip is to look at the efforts of your own parents as a base to work from and not the only way to raise your child. There’s nothing worse than repeating the same mistakes with your child that your parents made on you. Always strive to come to your own solutions.

A great parenting tip is to make your child earn the money you give them. A simple way of doing this is to offer them an allowance if they do some work around the house. This will teach them some work ethic and also the value of working for their money.

Be sure to discipline with love. If you take the time to correct your child’s actions they are sure to develop into the person that you desire them to be. Set rules and stick to them and be sure to discipline your child immediately when they break the rules that you have set for them.

When you reach the boiling point with your children, take the time to try some self-calming techniques to make sure that you don’t do anything hurtful. There are many tools you can use, including breathing deeply, removing yourself from the situation for a few minutes, and redirecting your thoughts in a positive direction.

Always treat your children and the other people in your life with respect. Many parents demand respect without realizing how crucial it is to give it as well. If you do not want your children to hit, you should not hit either. Your child is more likely to follow your rules if you show them that you feel they are a priority.

Your marriage is just as important as your children, so take good care of it. You need time together as a couple to ensure that you keep the passion alive, so make sure to have a date night once a week where it’s just you and your spouse. The kids will be there when you get home!

Don’t do your childrens’ homework for them! It’s so tempting to take over a project and complete it, both so your child will get a good grade and so YOU can get it over with! It’s not worth it, you are only teaching your child to rely on others to do their work for them.

Always praise your children for the things they do correctly. Punishment won’t work if you don’t also reward your kids. They have to have the balance of both to remember that doing good is worth it. Even if it’s just a kind word, reward your children for their good behavior.

Positive parenting is a great practice to follow because it allows for structure and discipline for the child. Parents that practice positive parenting methods focus on the good things that their child is doing rather than the negative. By doing this, parents build up the self esteem of their child, as well as promote a positive environment for everyone.

Do not resort to yelling if your child has done something wrong or made you mad. Yelling does nothing but make your child fear you. Instead, lower yourself to their eye level and in a firm voice, explain to them what they did wrong and why they cannot do it again.

Make sure that your child gets at least one hour of active play time outdoors. Outdoor play is needed to exercise his body and to develop his gross motor skills. His muscles and coordination will develop as he climbs, runs and jumps. A good hour of playing outdoors also helps him sleep better at night.

Make time to play with your child every single day. Even if you are busy, carve out half an hour to make a play date. This consistent play time has many benefits. It helps your child exercise, it builds the child’s imagination and it helps to increase the child’s self-esteem!

When spending quality time with your kids, make sure that some of that time is all about having fun. Not every minute spent with your children nees to be a teaching session. While the goal of parents is to have your children be responsible adults some day, they also need be able to relate to you in a playful way. So, don’t be afraid to just have some fun!

For a fun rainy-day activity, keep an art box. Use any box or plastic bin to keep random art supplies at the ready. Get creative; anything can be used as art supplies. Throw in old magazines, tissue paper, toilet paper tubes, packing peanuts or just about anything. It makes for a great creative activity on a day when you hear “I’m bored” one time too many.

Many parents instinctively punish their children for bad behavior, and have the mistaken belief that punishment acts as an adequate deterrent for bad behavior and will encourage good behavior. While punishment does deter bad behavior, it does not necessarily mean that the child will understand why that behavior was bad, nor does it teach the child what the alternative good behavior is. It is significantly more important to communicate with the child to help them understand the differences between right and wrong than to simply punish them. They will then be able to apply the concepts to other situations and become overall better people.

As the beginning of this article mentioned, there is no right or wrong way to be a parent to your child. Many parenting skills are learned as your child matures into adulthood. Being open to learning new things is a wonderful way to learn new ways to approach your child. Apply the tips from this article, in order to have a successful go at parenting.