Parenting

 Hey Everyone!

It has been an interesting week and I am almost done with another semester. I enjoy learning and getting different perspectives while we discuss in class the different family dynamics. As always I would like to share with you what we discussed this week. Just as a friendly reminder to keep your comments respectful, but at the same time let's be open to learning from others' perspectives. As I have said before we can agree to disagree.

This week in my Family Relations class we discussed the relationship that exists between a child and a parent. Specifically talking about Parenting. Before we started our class we were asked to take a quiz to see what type of parenting style we were at and I was actually very impressed to learn different names for styles I knew and what each of them means. Just to be clear again we are all different and something I strongly believe is that parenting styles are somewhat reflected on your own experiences with your parents. I am not saying you cannot change your own impact as a parent with your own children but what I am trying to say is that the way they raise you can be reflected sometimes in the decisions you make with your own children. For example, I see it in my own life how the way my parents raise there are some things I would like to continue and there are some others that I would rather change. Some of the things I would like to change have to be with me observing how other parents raise their children. There are different ways that we can improve the relationship and the way we decide to raise our own children.

In the assessment that I took there were mentioned 3 types of parenting styles that you could fit into. One of them was autocratic which I relate a lot to what I mostly know as an authoritative parent. The one that is not very warm with her/his child but sets higher limits for them at the same time. There was this one class that I took a few semesters ago that compared the authoritative parenting style to a jawbreaker because it's rigid from the outside and inside. It is very difficult to chew a jawbreaker as the name itself explains it. Then, it is explained the permissive parenting style which is the one that allows everything to their children they do not set limits for their children but they are warm with them. You often say yes to all the petitions or request your child does to you in order to keep him content. In the class, this is compared to a marshmallow because they are as soft on the outside as on the inside. Finally, we come up with the third one that is the active parenting style which I would consider is similar to authoritative. This parenting style is the ideal one or the one we all want to be in because it is referred to when parents are warm but at the same time set limitations to the children. If we could compare this to something it would be a tennis ball and you may wonder why is that? Well, it is easy tennis balls are a little bit rigid but at the same time, they are able to bounce. Meaning, parents can set limitations but at the same time show affection and love to their children without allowing them or saying yes to everything. Finding the right balance allows you and your children to have a healthy and happier relationship. 

Another important thing that I learned is how communication plays a big part as well in parenting. Being able to communicate not only concerns or what your son or daughter could improve but also communicate what they are doing well and helping them to understand the consequences of their actions. Remember that most of the time you as a parent are their heroes it does not matter what age you are you probably always be their number one heroe. I hope you guys enjoyed this week's blog. 

Have a great week!

Nahomy S.