Five Steps to Great Parenting

Being a great parent is something many people aspire to. The following are five tips for how you can be a great parent.

Tip one: Learn to listen.

Good parents listen to their children. Whether your child is five or fifteen, you need to listen to what they have to say. Sometimes your child is going to tell you boring, horrible stories, and other times they are going to tell you something insignificant. However, if you listen no matter what, they will know that you are going to listen to them when they have a real problem, and they will come to you.

Tip two: Set rules.

Good parents do not just let their kids do whatever they want, good parents have rules and boundaries that they set for their children to help them have some guidance on how to behave and how to grow up. Rules are important. You need rules for every aspect of your children's lives.

Tip three: Be consistent.

Being a great parent involves being consistent. If the rules say that you are to ground your child if they come home from a date late, then you have to ground them. Consistency is key to good parenting, if you are not consistent, your children will not know what to think. They will not feel secure. They will not know what to expect. Knowing what they can expect is an important part of being a good parent.

Tip four: Play with your kids.

Good parents learn how to have fun with their children. Great parents have relationships with their kids. These relationships are best formed by having fun with your children. You can play while you work. You can play having fun. So, have a good time with your kids by playing games with them, by taking them fun places, by vacationing with them, etc. It is critical that you play with your children and have a fun time with them. The best parents know how to have fun and spend quality time with their kids. Parenting is not just about feeding your children, and clothing them. Parenting is also about helping your kids be happy and lead fulfilling lives.

Tip five: Show your love.

Great parents show their kids that they love them all of the time. This is an unconditional love. Great parents never threaten to take away love as punishment, and they never give their children any reason to doubt that they love them.

Source from http://www.surfnetparents.com/five_steps_to_great_parenting-18119.html