I’ve heard it
before, “I don’t need a parenting class. My child and I have a great
relationship.” Great! But children grow and change. Will you be able to meet your
child with the respect, dignity and understanding he deserves through his
changes? Parenting classes are not just for parents that are having trouble
with their kids, it’s for all parents.
Okay, so we take
golf lessons when we want to learn to play golf, we’ll sign up for art classes,
or photography classes, or scuba diving. We’ll get a personal trainer to help
us with our career, our health. We’ll join the running club. Any thing worth
doing is worth the time to gain more knowledge and do better. Why not
parenting?
“Parenting is the most challenging job we will ever have and the one
for which we are the least prepared.” writes Mimi Hudson, M.A., R.C.C. (http://www.familyservices.bc.ca/index.php/resource-library/parents-a-families/374-why-take-a-parenting-course). And did
you know that “there has never before been a generation so stressed and so
starved of nurturing adult relationship”? Writes Dr. Daniel Seigel (in Parenting
from The Inside Out) about our children. “Having been a kid and
having parents is not enough training. We tend to parent the way we were
parented or as a reaction against it. Parenting is a process with no quick
fixes”. (Mimi Hudson, M.A., R.C.C.)
Even if you try to keep up on child rearing in books, magazines,
television and online, the information is confusing and contradictory. If
you’re still using time-out, gold stickers, behaviour charts, and
“consequences”, have you considered the “real consequences” of these quick
parent fixes?
Today’s children know their rights and are entitled to be treated as
equals; at least in terms of human worth and dignity. Treating our children as equals means we
will treat them with dignity, respect and cooperation not rewards and punishment. This doesn’t mean we must be permissive! Adults need to be the leaders, they have
the experience, skills and maturity and it’s our responsibility to guide our
children.
My workshop will
teach you how to lead your children.
It’s not about
making a child do what we want him to do. It’s about raising capable,
compassionate, hard-working individuals who feel good about who they are, enjoy
meaningful relationships, and live a life full of meaning and purpose. It’s
about the long haul.
Sign up for my workshop here at sensationalchildren.ca!
