Parenting: A Great Challenge

It is all about moulding a life into a better human being.

- Varinderjit Kaur

There were the good old days, when we had been sleeping with our grandmothers (daadis or naanis), as they took us on fantasy journeys with their fairy tales. Those were the stories that helped us to grow and learn some important lessons of life and taught us the difference between good and evil.

However, these days, with technology invading our lives like never before, children of this era are not fortunate enough to have that learning opportunity. Therefore, it is our duty to teach such lessons to our children with some new means and methodologies.

In the present era, the most valuable lesson that has become most profound in our life and that we must taught to our children is the importance of moral, ethical and cultural values, which are found to be lacking in the present generation. Such values or lessons are neither a one day practice nor can these be taught through books or magazines. We ourselves have to set an example before our children.

If we are successful as parents, then we are also a successful person in real sense. To be successful parents we need to be responsible, caring and should keep our words. When we do not keep our words, we lose credibility which ultimately leads to a ruined relationship. This should not happen.

Diana Blumberg Baumrind, a clinical and developmental psychologist known for her research on parenting styles, gave three distinct styles of parenting: Authoritarian, Authoritative, and Permissive or Neglectful.

Authoritarian parents are considered as dictators, because they are very strict and make the rules without regard for the child's needs or feelings.