Parenthood comes with great responsibilities. Being a parent means being in charge of raising an individual into adulthood to make this person a valuable and God-fearing member of society. This major and life-changing undertaking requires love, understanding, care, and the ability to protect children and to guide them towards the right path.
Parenting Means Challenges and Responsibilities
Being a parent is not that easy. Just when you get a grip with one particular stage and age and starting to feel confident, your child then enters another stage. This brings an entirely new set of responsibilities and challenges.
If you are a parent, expect for never-ending challenges like:
- Experiencing sleep deprivation
- Dealing with kids’ tantrums
- Keeping on top of home chores
- Dealing with sibling rivalry
- Dealing with an ill child
- Tackling bullying
- Trying to keep children from gadgets and televisions
- Sending kids to school
- Coping with kids’ different attitudes and behaviors
- Dealing with clingy children
- Knowing how to react in almost everything and many more challenges
When it comes to responsibilities, parents have a lot. Parents should serve their child’s physical and emotional needs and also protect them from dangers and abuse. Parents should also meet the basic needs of their children, such as clothing, food, medical care, housing, and education.
Other parental responsibilities include:
- Teaching kids’ morals and values
- Ensuring an environment that is healthy and safe for them
- Reinforcing God’s value in their lives
- Practicing appropriate and effective discipline
- Getting to understand and know your children
Parenting Tips on How to Become Fantastic Parents
Raising a child requires dedication and commitment. However, parenting is joyful and rewarding.
To be able to become fantastic parents, you can put the following tips into practice:
- Be a Role Model
Children learn through imitation and are a product of their environment. So, they naturally follow the actions of those with whom they interact. Children, in particular, can see what their parents are doing. Therefore, you need to be the person you want your kids to be. Show them a positive attitude and behavior and always have empathy towards your children’s emotions. In doing so, your child will reflect your behavior.
- Show Your Love through Actions
Loving your child so much doesn’t mean spoiling them. If you use material things to replace love, that is when you spoil them. You don’t really need to give your children everything to prove your love for them. Spending quality time with your children, giving them hugs, supporting them, and being there for them are real acts of love.
- Practice Firm, Kind and Positive Parenting
God created babies with billions of brain cells that are stimulated by their parental environment. Each child’s personality is predestined by God and is further strengthened through their life experiences. Ephesians 6:4 encourages parents to raise their children under the nurture and admonition of God. Proverbs 22:6 advises parents to train up a child in the way they should go and when they are old, they will not depart from it. As parents, we are to encourage our children to embrace positive and Godly experiences and to share those experiences with others.