Parenting then and now

A little aside from the last few days of talking about Children Learn What They Live.

Allison and I were taping a TV Show last evening and the host was looking for our take on parenting now with what it was like when we grew up. It is interesting to look at the differences. Certainly one of the key points is that parenting was not seen or talked about as much as it is today. Dorothy Nolte (author of the poem and now book “Children Learn What They Live”) was probably one of the few parent educators.

We had more freedom in our childhood to come and go as we pleased at earlier ages. This can be seen as a positive in that our play may have been more creative and possibly more physically active.

But parents did use spanking as a punishment (disciplinary method), which we would deem as wrong. Some other points are that we as a generation of parents may be more lenient - less strict. As Allison said it is preferable to the physical punishment of spanking which is out of anger in most cases.

Another point we touched upon is the overprotectiveness of parents today. Controlling their children's behaviours rather than teaching responsibility as they grow and mature. From an early age, we should be looking at our role not only as role models, but as teachers. Helping our children learn and take on responsibility in their daily life. From teaching them how to dress themselves to walking to school on their own. Taking on some household chores and taking on the responsibility of their schoolwork are other things that belong with our children not us as parents.

Think back to when you were growing up and what is inspiring about your parents and what, perhaps, were the flaws of their parenting. There are some legacies that they have given us. Take the good ones and incorporate them into your parenting style.