Do you know your parenting philosophy? Once your baby arrives, you'll have millions of decisions to make, and having a basic philosophy can help.
Another good reason to consider your parenting philosophy is because it allows you and your partner to line up on certain ideas. It's important that you and your partner discuss your parenting approach and goals.
Here's my general parenting philosophy, most of which I came up with before my son was born:
- Treat my son with the same respect I like to be treated with.
- Say I'm sorry when I make a mistake.
- Don't create a violent atmosphere - i.e I don't hit my son and I rarely yell or even raise my voice.
- I want my son to feel positive about himself, feel safe in his own home and world, and feel like he can accomplish his goals.
- I want my son to respect the environment.
Pretty basic. I like to keep it simple. Mine is focused a lot on respect. My household, when I was little, was not very respectful, so I made a point to acknowledge that in my grown-up world, and in my own kids world, it would be different. Have I broken this philosophy ever; yeah. I've lost it before and yelled, but later, I'll say to my son, "I'm sorry, yelling is not a cool way to deal." I try really hard to treat Cedar how I want to be treated, and if someone yelled at me or hit me all the time, I sure wouldn't want to be around them. If someone always told me what to do vs. asked me, I'd get angry. Having a philosophy can help you to be the kind of parent you want to be, because you have this idea in your head, all the time, like a parenting reminder.
What is your parenting philosophy?
