7 Tips for Conscious and Creative Parenting
By Christine Gerzon
- Show don’t tell. Recognize that you are your child's first and most important teacher. Children learn through observing you and then imitating what they see. What do you want your children to learn about human relationships and the world? They depend on your guidance.
Your children will become what you are so be what you want them to be.
David Bly
- Create a relationship and a home based on trust and safety. Mistakes and conflicts are opportunities for growth. Teach your child how to master the full range of emotions and to manage interpersonal conflicts.
The art of living is to function in society without doing violence to one's own needs or to the needs of others. The art of mothering is to teach the art of living to children.
Elaine Heffner
- Take care of your own “inner child” first before you act. Use your innate emotional intelligence to realize how you are feeling and why. Become aware of your own behavior rather than concentrating on your child’s behavior.
If there is anything that we wish to change in the child, we should first examine it and see whether it is not something that could better be changed in ourselves.
C.G. Jung
- Accept that your children are separate people with strengths and weaknesses not merely an extension of you. Accept the whole child including the most difficult aspects of his/her personality. When your children act out, are defiant or misbehave understand that these behaviors occur because your children are not always capable of translating feelings and thoughts into appropriate words and behaviors. Children act out because they are still learning basic emotional intelligence. It is our responsibility to accept them for who they are and assume they are doing the best they can.
Children need love, especially when they do not "deserve" it.
Harold Hulbert
- Model positive interactions with your children’s other parent. Show your children that conflicts are a normal part of living with others and that they can be resolved. Teach your children by your own example to understand another person's point of view.
Live so that when your children think of fairness and integrity, they think of you.
H. Jackson Brown
- Use the power you have with your children carefully. How we use our power determines how well our children learn the skills of self-regulation and empathy for others. While we are naturally more powerful than our children, we can encourage their autonomy by giving them the opportunity to make age appropriate choices and decisions. When we support their autonomy, we are teaching them to use their own personal power for problem solving and creativity rather than to manipulate others.
The voice of parents is the voice of gods, for to their children they are heaven's lieutenants.
Shakespeare
- Make the most of each day. Children experience our love through our daily interactions. Spend time with them playing, reading, talking, listening. Share your interests and hobbies with them. Include them when possible in family decisions and chores. Create family routines and rituals.
The world talks to the mind. Parents speak more intimately -- they talk to the heart.
Haim Ginott
Find out more about Robert Gerzon’s highly acclaimed book Finding Serenity in the Age of Anxiety.
Find out more about Robert Gerzon’s Counseling and Coaching Services.
Read more articles by Robert Gerzon online at:
http://www.gerzon.com
Spread the word
If you enjoyed this article, feel free to copy it and email it to a friend.