Raising children in today's society is not easy. The effects of TV and mass media have eroded our primal parenting instincts. It's time to get back to some parenting basics for raising kids that are emotionally and intelluctally well-adjusted and stable in an ever-changing world.
Unfortunately children don’t arrive with a user’s manual in hand and finding a balance between effective parenting versus the effects of the modern world can be tricky. The experts agree that most children need structure and a firm set of guidelines and rules to help them grow and adapt emotionally and intellectually.
In today’s society, it’s easy for parents to get off track with the daily demands of work and family. The influence of TV and the mass media can play havoc on a parent’s instinctive parenting skills. Parenting is a partially instinctive and partially learned skill. As parents, we based our parenting abilities on how we were raised but sometimes these methods are lost in the complexity of the modern world.
The key to effective parenting, whatever methods are utilized, is consistency. If you are not consistent in your values and expectations, your efforts will have little lasting effect on your offspring. If you hold tight to your convictions, but leave a little flexibility to adapt your values to new situations as they arise, your child will reap the benefits of your parenting know-how.
There are few simple but effective techniques you can initiate which will enhance your parenting skills and aid in your quest to raise healthy, adjusted and stable offspring.
Set a regular bedtime.
Children need plenty of sleep to help them grow strong and learn. Quite often, working parents will let their children stay up unreasonably late to spend more time with them. Limit these late nights to every other night. Child who get less then the recommended 10 - 12 hours of sleep nightly can experience difficulties in school. In addition, they may be cranky and uncooperative
Sit down to dinner as a family as often as possible.
In this hurried world, it’s easy to throw something in the microwave and eat while watching TV. Remember it’s not the microwave dinner that’s the problem, it’s the TV. Make TV off limits during dinnertime and use this time to talk with your child.