I was hesitant to make a section on parenting because I never want to tell anyone how to parent their child. I have a huge respect for family and whole heartedly believe no one knows their child better than that child’s parents.
I swear raising a child in today’s environment is one hell of an undertaking. Constant access to all parts of the world, both good and bad, via the internet.
When I was growing up, I only had the kids in my immediate environment to compare myself to, or learn from. I can’t imagine having access like the internet.
That being said, you found me here so it’s also a wealth of information and can build a strong sense of community, so there’s that side too.
Let me start up by saying, Rain is an incredible kid. She has been since day one and I consider myself blessed to be her mom.
For now, I do my best with my daughter to try and limit her time on electronics without creating a situation where there’s such little time she will always want it.
I know if she had her way, she’d be on her iPad all day long. And I have certainly observed her personality change when she’s on electronics all day. I also ask her to observe for herself, what her mood is like, her temperament, her outlook on life, when she spends a lot of time just starting at a screen. After all, I’m raising a kid who is eventually going to be on her own, so I want her to be able to pay attention to how she controls her environment, how she takes care of herself.
I also strive to be a safe person she can come to with questions, any questions about what she runs into, because I’d rather she come to me with these things then learning things from friends or the internet. I try and create a safe environment for her to talk to me about whatever is on her mind.
I have a rule, “Just don’t lie to me.” And I’ve had this rule with her since she was very little. I told her she would never get in trouble if she tells me the truth about something, no matter how bad, as long as I don’t find out about it later and she hadn’t told the truth.
It’s hard but I do stick to it. I just remember growing up myself and I did not have any sense of communication with my parents. At all. So I wanted to make sure my daughter and I could always talk, especially as the teenage years approach.
Another thing I do with her is apologize when I’m wrong. I want her to know everyone makes mistakes, everyone. And it’s okay. I also wanted to teach her that owning up to your mistakes is part of being responsible, part of growing up, and saying “I was wrong.” or “I messed up.” or simply. “I’m sorry.” really isn’t that big of a deal. And not only that, but I have found people like it when you own up to things. So there’s that.
Okay that’s all for now. Stay tuned for more fun parenting stuff.