As parents, we are charged with navigating our children through this tricky world, responsible for helping them develop the resilience to rise to life’s many challenges, and also to provide a safe harbor for them so they know we always have their backs. This is the journey of parenthood — the good, the bad and the ugly, and all our instincts and methods will be tested as never before as we prepare our children for the unprecedented world in which they will come of age. I was therefore heartened to read about parents who are lifting the veil on their parenting experiences. This week I was very moved by one mom’s courage to share her story as she parents her son with autism, and another mom’s heartbreaking account of the shame she felt as a child, and for brief periods as a parent, relying on government assistance to eat.
And in keeping with the honesty theme, it’s a good opportunity to look inward and ask ourselves what we could be doing differently to help mold our children into the self-confident, self-reliant human beings they will need to be. One expert suggests if we want our kids to have self worth, we have to show them first that we love ourselves. And, even though we know being overprotective of our kids is not a good thing, are we all doing it anyway? One author’s assessment that “Helicopter Parenting” can be as harmful to our kids as abandonment was a real eye opener.
And finally, two great parenting articles on how to motivate your kids to complete their tasks (Hint: Teach them to imagine a good outcome), and what to do when your child says something offensive.
Don’t forget to check out the funniest parenting tweets of the week for a good laugh!
Here are my picks for the top Parenting for the Future stories this week:
Mom’s post on parenting son with autism goes viral for honesty
This mom of a son with autism opens up about her daily challenges and the fear that parents like her may be misled by stories of miracles and breakthroughs for kids with autism when some disabilities cannot be overcome.
I’m “Celebrating” July 4th By Teaching My Kid the Hard Truth About America
Read how one mom plans to celebrate July 4 with her son by teaching him all the wonderful things about America — and all the ugly things too.
8 Things All Parents Should Do If They Want Their Kids To Have Self-Worth
Want to teach your kids how to love themselves? Start with yourself.
Parents Beware! You Could be Making Things Worse By Overprotecting Your Children
“Helicopter Parenting” has quickly become known as something that is detrimental to kids — and according to one writer, this form of overprotective parenting can be as harmful as abandonment.
Motivate Your Kid By Having them Imagine The Future
As adults, we can anticipate the positive feelings we will have once we complete a big task like crossing the finish line of a 10k race or finishing a big work assignment. One expert suggests if we teach our kids this same type of “episodic foresight,” they will be more motivated to complete their tasks.
Read one mom’s heartbreaking story of growing up in poverty — and for brief periods parenting in poverty — and the shame she and others have experienced relying on government assistance.
Raising Boys for a Hopeful Future
Here’s why keeping calm and educating our kids, not praying for the ground to swallow us, is the best way to handle the offensive things they say.
These are the funniest parenting tweets of the week
Parenting is so often about teaching powerful lessons, and dealing with challenging situations that it’s important to take a step back once in a while and laugh at the journey.
