“Always kiss your children goodnight, even if they’re already asleep.” H. Jackson Brown, Jr

Good parenting  in 2020 is important. It was always important, but our kids need us more than ever right now.  Good Parenting involves leading, nurturing, caring, being affectionate, instilling positivity and so many other things. Being a good parent takes a lot of effort and continuous assessment of a situation. So, if you are a new mom or dad, you should always look for ways in a situation to teach your kids, boost their confidence and morale.  But above all, never miss a chance to show your children love.

Your kid may be disappointed or even disappoint you in some situations but, you should never give up on them. Also remember never to be too hard on your kids. Try to be creative with your child and learn new things from books, experts and parenting blogs as well. Now let’s look at some of the ways we are working on being the best parents. It’s a struggle sometimes, but the best struggle ever.

1. Play With Your Kids

When I was a kid, children used to play outdoors in the neighborhood until dark.  Times have changed, maybe due to some change in work demographics, urbanization or parenting books, this isn’t the case anymore. Many children go to childcare, summer camps, and in the fall, school all day.  Some kids who are at home feel alone and bored. Due to this, they can end up playing video games or maybe watching too much television. 

To avoid this, you can start playing with your kids for a little time every day. Encourage your kid to play some physical games which can help in improving their health as well. Here is a piece of parenting advice, play Board Games and give them puzzle-oriented games, this will improve their puzzle-solving capabilities and indirectly boost their critical thinking abilities as well.  

2. Read Stories

By now you know that reading to your child every day is amazing for their little brains, but it’s also such a great moment for bonding and affection. Stories are also the best way to teach your kid moral lessons. As a parent, you can start reading your kid a story everyday before his/her bedtime. My kids love bedtime stories and snuggling. It also helps in the future because they would love to read books and it reminds them of their childhood as well. Happy memories reading help make lifelong learnings. The habit of reading books helps the kid to develop a growth mindset as well. 

“There really are places in the heart you don’t even know exist until you love a child.”

Anne Lamott

3. Communicate with your Kids

Good Parenting always involves a good amount of time communicating with your kids. Talking with your kid always helps you to have a better understanding of your kid’s problems or the activities in which he/she excels.  Pro Tip:  Listen more than talk.  You will learn so much.

This enables you to help your kid overcome the problems he/she is facing. Here is a parenting tip, try not to solve the whole problem but instead, give him/her an idea of what he/she can do to resolve the problem. This will make you a good parent as in this way, you are helping your kid in modelling the steps to solve a problem as opposed to a normal parent.

4. Be a Role Model

This one is the most important for you as a parent because most of the children learn by watching things around them. As a parent, you should be kind, caring, and genuine to your kids, family, strangers, and everyone you meet. You should also admit your mistakes and flaws. You should be caring and loving to your other half because most of the children see your relationship with your partner and learn from it as well.  Being a good parent involves working on yourself as well. It’s good work.

5. Encourage Kids

As a good parent, you should encourage your kid to excel in everything they do. Not just the activities that they are good at, but also their struggles and failures. Be your child’s cheerleader.  Gently help them overcome struggles, but let them do the bulk of the work.  If your kid does something helpful for you, don’t forget to appreciate the gesture and thank him. It gives your kid a motivation to help and do something nice. 

“Your kids require you most of all to love them for who they are, not to spend your whole time trying to correct them.”

Bill Ayers

6. Teach Social Skills

As a good parent, one of the most important things you should teach your kid is social skilsl. These social skills help in communication and interaction with other kids. They help your kid to make friends. These friendships can help to overcome a lot of problems in the future. Let’s talk about some of the social skills here:

• Sharing-

As a good parent, you should teach your kid to share things from a very young age. You can start teaching your kids sharing with toys. Sharing can help kids to feel good about themselves and can also boost their morale.

• Cooperation–

Cooperation can help your kid to have good friends. In games, cooperation can help them in achieving success. Some kids tend to be good in games while others tend to be good at education. By proper cooperation, your kid can excel in both. Play more games at home and model good sportsmanship.

• Giving–

As kids grow up, they outgrow toys and clothing. You should help take the initiative of donating these to those in need. On special occasions, like on his/her birthday, you can donate some new books, clothes, and toys too. I love the recent trend of donation birthdays, where instead of toys kids are donating pet foods for the local animal shelters. This will teach them the Art of Giving and motivate them to be good human beings.

7. Teach Good Values

As a good parent, you should not only think about the present but think about the future as well. You should always teach your kid to become a Responsible Citizen. You can teach this to him/her by asking them to volunteer in their community, follow rules and respect the environment. While talking to him, explain why values are important. Here is a tip, explain to your kid that being a good citizen, following good values not only helps him/her feel good about themselves but also makes people around them feel good. 

“You can learn many things from children. How much patience you have, for instance.”

Franklin P. Adams

8. Give your kids a break

As a good parent, give your kid enough free time. Too many restrictions can have a bad impact on the kid. Your child can feel burdened and overwhelmed. As a good parent, plan those extracurricular activities with your kid that he/she likes. You can also understand what he/she loves only by spending time with him. Here is a parenting tip, try to avoid telling your kid he/she can play only if he/she does the homework. This in most cases, promotes a resentment to homework.

9. Gratitude

Here is a simple step that can help you in becoming a good parent. Teach your kids to use words such as Sorry and Thank You. As a Mother, you should ask your kid to practice saying thank you for even the smallest works that you or anyone else does for them, like serving food, helping with their homework etc. 

Here is a piece of parenting advice, as a new mom or dad, you should also use words like sorry, thank you more often in front of your kids. This will help them greatly because most of the kids learn by watching and listening to the words you speak. 

“We never know the love of the parent till we become parents ourselves.”

Henry Ward Beecher

10. Make Memories

As a good parent, try to make good memories with your kids. These memories, later on, help your kid to remember the good times they had as a kid. In the future, if your kid does lose hope in certain situations, these memories may help him/her feel good and hopeful again. This will ultimately help them to overcome their issues. Most kids with happy memories tend to grow up better and go on to lead happy and better lives.

11. Overcome Failures

No matter how hard you try to do something, sometimes things just don’t go the way you planned. This is an important life lesson that every kid must learn early on in their lives. As a good parent, you should teach your kid to overcome failures. Make sure you teach him to learn from failures and consider it as a challenge instead. Failure should be considered as an opportunity for future development. This helps your kid to overcome problems in a better and more positive way.

“The thing about parenting rules is there aren’t any. That’s what makes it so difficult.”

Ewan McGregor

12. Chores In House

Ask your kid to do some small chores around the house. This will help your kid to become more independent in the future. Make sure your child understands that these small chores are an essential part of everyone’s lives and they have to learn to do their work themselves. Here is a parenting tip, don’t forget to say a “thank you” to your kid after they have done small chores for you. This can help your kid to be better at teamwork as well. 

13. Do not Instill Fear

We practice gentle parenting.  Gentle parenting doesn’t involve fear or shame. The main aim of being a good parent is not to control your child’s behavior through fear but rather explaining to them what upsets you or what shouldn’t be done. As a good parent, make sure you tell your child that you love them no matter what happens in the future or has happened in the past. Remember your goal is to make him/her a responsible citizen and not to make them fear you.

“Why don’t kids understand their nap is not for them, but for us?”

Alyson Hannigan

14. Apologize For Your Mistakes

I should do this more, everyone should do this more. As parents and humans, obviously you will make mistakes sometimes. You may, at times, scold your kids for something they have not done or something that wasn’t significant enough. Yes, of course, this is a mistake. So, when this happens, make sure to apologize to your kid and explain it to him/her how you made an error of judgement. This teaches your kid to admit their mistakes and be sorry for them as well.

15. Love is the MOST IMPORTANT

Being affectionate towards your kid can help him/her to lead a less stressful life. This can in turn help them to be more resilient to psychological and behavioural problems. It also helps you to develop a special bond with your child. Here is a piece of parenting advice, teach your child to build positive relationships with friends and people around him/her. This will ensure that your kid cares about the people around him/her.

Final Bits of Parenting Advice

Being a good parent can be challenging and tiring but amazing. It can give you a level of satisfaction too as there’s nothing in the world better than raising a cool kid. But, don’t try to push yourself too hard because it may cause frustration and may instead, damage the relationship you have with your child. Oh and please don’t compare your child to others. I know it’s hard, but love your child for who he or she is.  

“There is no such thing as a perfect parent. So just be a real one.”  Sue Atkins

Related:  Very Well Family has an excellent piece on the traits of good parents. 

Parents Magazine has gathered 50 ways to be a fantastic parent! 

The Whole-Brain Child: 12 Revolutionary Strategies to Nurture Your Child’s Developing Mind  by Daniel J. Seigel has 12 strategies to nurture and help develop your child’s brain. I highly recommend this book!

Popsugar has an article on how to be a happier parent in 2020. You need to be happier too mama & papa!