Parenting Tip: Conscious parenting

May 7, 2009

Be deliberate and intentional about the baggage we bring to our children’s upbringing.

As parents we often find ourselves doing the same things to our children as our parents did to us — including things we didn’t like when we were children.

That’s because we bring things from our own childhoods into our role as parents. Most of the time that’s fine, but sometimes it means we end up treating our children in ways that are negative and destructive.

Conscious parenting means becoming deliberate and intentional about what we want for our children. It means making choices about what we bring from our own childhoods, and what we choose to leave out.

One of the challenges to conscious parenting is the belief that parenting comes naturally—that it’s automatic and you should just know what to do. This belief doesn’t always allow us to learn from our own experiences, or from the experience of others.

Becoming conscious about parenting practice involves learning from what we do, and changing our behaviour as a result.  When you find something that works, add it to your parenting strategies—then start thinking about another area of parenting you could change.

Remember, parenting is a journey, not a destination, and for every journey you need to be prepared.

Thanks to Plunket for today’s tip!

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