It hit me the other day. What constitutes good parenting? Is it telling your child no when you can say yes, is it making them feel protected while they still have room to make mistakes? I ask myself these questions everyday since I have been expecting and it does not get any easier. Considering that the first seven years are the formative, character-building years, it’s hard not to feel disadvantaged or poorly prepared for the daunting task of raising good children. Can you praise too much or not enough? Can you negotiate at such an early age? Can you give affection without smothering his/her personality? I guess the answers will reveal themselves slowly and I only hope to take them in stride.
There are many aspects of my own upbringing that I gladly would try on my children; however, the jury is still out on the other aspects that I would not consider my child to be part of. I always said that I knew what things not to try on my children, which our mother tried on us. Now, I’m not so sure.
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