An article from the Belleville Intelligencer of Ontario Canada describes the concept of balanced parenting. What I love about this article is that any of us can relate to the situations described.
In balanced parenting there are rules, consequences and love. There is not an umpire deciding who did what, which makes sense because you won’t have an umpire following you around in life to rule on fairness. We all know, life isn’t always fair.
The concept of balanced parenting, if done consistently, would help us raise children that accept responsibility and think before he/she acts.
In my book Because Kids Don’t Come With Manuals® I wrote that a parent’s job was to raise happy, healthy, independent children that contribute to society.
Can becoming a balanced parent make that goal easy?
Hi Tina, you bring up a good point. I think of the word “balance” kind of like the settings on your dryer. We all have different thermostats, speeds, levels of heat, etc. I believe that balance means different things to different people and each one of us has to figure out what that means individually. At the end of the day it is often about ‘opportunity cost’ ie what you give up in order to get and reality is we can’t be all things to all people all of the time. That is just how life is. I think being a balanced parent can help, but the truth is there will be some aspects of parenting that will never be easy. That is why it is important that we have the right support systems in place.
Best to you,
-Kakie