| |
| |
|
Parenting Information |
|
|
|
Surviving As A Single Parent: Seven Simple Suggestions To Make Your Life Easier
1 - Forgive even if you will never be able to Forget - Let go of grudges you may hold against your child's other parent, who is absent from BOTH of your lives. Holding onto feelings of anger will not change your situation and will probably consume a great deal of your energy - energy you need to devote to creating a positive environment for your child. If you dwell on your disappointment with and/or dislike of the father or mother of your child - chances are your child will sense your feelings and suffer in some way from your negative attitude. 2 - Make the most of everything you have - Even if you do not have a lot of money, you do have your child and your love and your time to give to him or her. Try to remember that monetary wealth and material possessions are not the most important items in your child's life. Your love, support and time together mean much more to them. You can have fun for free. Activities like - going for a walk or a bike ride, playing at the park, coloring, painting, singing, or dancing - will thrill your child just as much as spending money to go to an amusement park, an arcade or a toy store. 3 - Be the best parent you can possibly be - Give as much as you can without setting goals that are unrealistic for one parent to achieve. Don't beat yourself up for what cannot be. Do recognize what you can do to create a good life for your child to the best of your abilities. 4 - Develop a network of reliable resources - Families are not biological. Surround yourself and your child with friends you know and trust - people who care about both of you. "Aunts" and "Uncles" and even "Grandparents," who are not blood-related can be just as beneficial to your child as actual biological family members. The "family" you create for your child can provide him or her with the same kind of love and support as a traditional family. They can also help you with your responsibilities as a single parent. Let them play an active role in your child's life. Learn to turn to your "family" when you need a break. Nobody should have to go it alone and you will probably be able to be a better parent by relying on your "family" of close friends to support you and your child. 5 - Take responsibility for your life today - Remember whatever lead you to where you are today, you are responsible for another life - the innocent life of a child, who didn't ask to be born. Your child is not responsible for the experiences or events that made you become a single parent. Your child is completely dependent upon you through no choice of their own. Don't let them down or hold them accountable for your actions (or the actions of their absent parent). They are powerless and vulnerable to the possibly less-than-ideal consequences they face as the child of a single parent. Your role and influence in their life is paramount to their chances of becoming a happy, productive, successful adult. They need you more than their words will ever tell. 6 - Set up daily rituals and regular routines - Your child needs stability and security. One way to provide this is by developing a daily routine. Simple things like - going to the park every Sunday afternoon, eating dinner together each night, sharing a treat before nap time or reading a book together before bed every night, will become activities that your child looks forward to and can count on to occur with regularity. 7 - Be consistent and dependable - Create realistic rules and a standard of discipline that you stick to all the time. If you're consistent with your child, he or she will learn what is acceptable behavior and what is not. They will also learn what you expect from them and what they can expect from you. If you're dependable, they will know that they can always count on you to help them with their homework, be there for dinner or tuck them in bed at night. They have to be able to depend on you. You're the most important person in their life. Try to remember that no matter how tired you are at the end of the day or how frustrated you may become when they're fussy - They need you to be there for them. You should cherish every moment with your child - they are the best blessings on earth. Resource Box - © Danielle Hollister (2004) Danielle Hollister is the Quotations Editor at BellaOnline and Publisher of BellaOnline Quotations Zine http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art8364.asp
MORE RESOURCES:
Parenting - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Playground Pettiness Recently I took my two children to a popular new park in the area. It's a beautiful new playground, all wood, divided into different areas of play for different age groups. Unilateral Disarmament - The First Step to Improving Communications with Your Teenagers Many times, we are so conditioned in how we speak that we do not realize whether or not we are effectively communicating with our teens. This is especially true when they upset us. The Symtoms Of Meningitis And Septicaemia Meningitis is an inflammation of the membranes around the brain and spinal cord. It is caused by either a virus or bacteria. Top Ten Common Sense Rules for Fathers There are a lot of sophisticated parenting theories and techniques out there. Many of them are widely used and treated as the gospel. Parenting Problem? 5 Simple Things That Will Help What is a parenting problem?Parenting is a tough job, we all know that. Parents face many situations that they are not familiar how to deal with. Challenges for Our Children Researchers have estimated that 25-35% of children in the United States have Learning Disabilities. At least 5% have Attention Deficit Disorders. Summer Camp Care Packages Every summer our daughter goes to summer camp. She looks forward to it every year. Helping Your Children Develop Their Self-Discipline We want our children to do the right thing, especially when they are out with their friends. We want to believe in them, but somehow, we don't feel certain that they would. Learning Responsibility is a Lifelong Process Learning responsibility is an ever widening and lifelong process.As thinking, acting human beings we have the ability to choose our response to events, people and circumstances. Develop Your Childs Genius: One Step Farther When is a person brilliant? When does a person show his genius? When he goes beyond the usual, beyond the obvious. When he goes one step farther in his thinking, understanding and creativity. A Little Love, Please? Article based on a friend's experienceI just wanted to share an experience I just had with my daughters, Yee Ting and Yee Sin.Yee Ting is three years old this month while Yee Sin is only one-month old. To Test or Not To Test - That Is the Question Little Suzy has really been having a hard time getting some of her assignments done. When she reads in class, she struggles with many words, and her mother reported at conference time that Suzy spends hours each night on homework. Tips for Parents of Teenagers: Dont Just Survive - Thrive! What makes parenting so challenging at times? One widespread research study reports that feeling "unprepared" tops the list for many parents' causes of dissatisfaction. And parents of teenagers, in particular, may feel this acutely as so many changes converge at once: adolescents are changing in every conceivable way while they often push parents away in their search for individuality. Picky Eaters - Successful Strategies Part 1 What is in a name?The answer is everything!Jo J. of Victoria, Texas said that her son was a very picky eater between the ages of four and six and refused to eat many of the dishes she made, until she discovered the art of renaming recipes. Avoid Weight Problems In Children Although, not a well publicized statistic, childhood obesity has more than tripled in the past two decades-15% of American children are obese according to the U.S. Personal Responsibility: What It Means and Whose Job is It? "How many times do I have to tell you to clean your room?" Why should a child keep his room neat? Many children say they don't care whether it is neat or dirty, so why should it matter to anyone else? Unless it is a health or safety hazard, or things are getting lost and broken? Then comes the age old question, "What is neat?" The answer certainly differs with a ten year old child and a thirty five year old Mom. Who is setting the standard of how clean a room must be to be acceptable. "Gimme" Proof Your Kids: How To Keep Your Child's Materialism In Check It's the first day of the summer holiday. Five year-old Stephanie is shopping with you at Wal-Mart and picks out three stuffed animals that she saw in the movie Madagascar. Teaching Problem Solving Skills to Children with ADHD Even though the "Stop and Think" movement in ADHD treatment has lost some momentum lately, the basic strategies and techniques are still worth teaching your children. My favorite version of the technique it the "Five Step Problem Solving Strategy," and it goes something like this. Valuable Parenting Tip Very often, new parents rely on a parenting tip or two which is passed to them by their own folks, who are now grandparents and usually have plenty of reliable advice to share. If this sort of parenting tip and advice is not available however, new parents could run into all sorts of problems while trying to raise a healthy baby. Why Scrapbooking Moms are the Secret Weapon in the War on Terror There is a front line and a back end to every successful war effort. Rosie the Riveter was an icon during World War II and she was symbolic of the strong American woman who took command of the US economy and war manufacturing; without her there would have been no Allied victory.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |
