Each parent wants the best for their child.
So we browse and browse the internet for tips to help us gain those awe-inspiring good parenting skills parents need to be the best at our game.
Stop right there. I’ve done the hard work, and I can confirm the ultimate list of the 11 best parenting skills out there has been combined just for you to make you the better parent you want to be.
Take a look!
Why Are Parenting Skills Important?
Am I a good parent? How many times do you ask yourself?
How we raise our kids will affect them for the rest of their lives. No pressure, huh?
Shaping the future this way can seem daunting, but knowing that you are using the internet to find ways to improve your parent’s way will improve your relationship with both yourself and your child. That is imperative.
Good parenting begins with the realization that you want to learn how to be a better parent. If you are having trouble connecting with your child, you may assume it’s just ‘life’ – but if you make time and get to know yourself, you could discover those good relationships stem from the ability to reconnect with what matters.
It may take time, but it will be worth it.
11 Vital Skills That Parents Need To Have
Love
Love is the single most important of the skills to offer your child. Parents need to show what love is and offer lots of ways their children can feel it themselves. This extends much further past people. It involves loving what you do, what you eat, how you splash in the bath, what books you read, and the friends you choose and make.
Now more than ever, we need to raise children with huge hearts. To move one step further, this also includes the art of compassion towards their lives and how they choose to live them. When we feel pain or sadness, what makes it better is the feeling of love. That may be a cuddle from your mom or preoccupying yourself with your favorite toy or song.
Love is one of life’s wonders.
More on this can be found in a great article, ‘The Importance of Teaching Your Child To Love,’ here.
Stress Management
Managing stress is incredibly complex.
There isn’t an on/off switch in existence, but there are effective ways to make important decisions that contribute to our children’s life skills.
To reinforce good reactions every time, we may feel stressed. We will ensure our children remain happy and loved. If you are stressed, your child will pick up on that and learn it from you. They will get from you whatever it is you offer them.
That would be great – except stress is not great.
As a parent, it is time to prioritize what is important. Cut out the unnecessary stress-causing factors in your life, and start to feel good about your management.
It’s easy to get caught up in the challenges we face, but your child will learn nothing from how you respond. You are far more likely to hand over your ineffective techniques to them for future use. Learn to take things one step at a time, simplify your life, and say no when you want to.
Make sure you get enough sleep and maybe take up a form of exercise. If you make enough small changes, you will certainly begin to feel more at one with yourself.
Self Love
While loving others is a great skill, we cannot skip the one thing that tops loving another – loving yourself! Every time we show our children that we are worth it as a parent, we show them how to care for ourselves in the purest form.
I don’t mean take selfies and post them on Instagram. Self-love runs deeper than showing your child how to pose and pout for strangers.
Parents who reward and praise themselves when they achieve something give themselves and their children a strong chance of modeling their achievements on how they handled yours.
‘The Book You Wished Your Parents Had Read’ is available now and is a global bestseller. This excellent book can teach you how to improve your parenting skills. It is more than just a good read. It is a vital tool to hold and one I feel all parents need.
Self-love is more than washing your hair or eating well (although those things are essential!) It is how you talk to yourself, keep going, and encourage yourself, particularly when times get tough or you feel challenged. Giving your energy to a ‘glass half full’ outlook will promote a growth mindset.
Education
Not every parent has the privilege to offer the best schools, colleges, or universities, especially those that cost the earth (money you do not have). Education doesn’t have to be about top grades or entering one of the top 5 educational initiations in the country. It is far more.
It is the library card you give your child. It is a book about sharks you buy your ocean lover for his birthday.
The trip to the museum on a rainy Saturday pulls them away from their TV or game consoles. Enriching your child’s mind through the fun behind learning can send them soaring toward success.
Your child doesn’t need you to put too much pressure on them. That would be parenting gone wrong. What they need instead is for you to show them the world.
They don’t have the power, money, safety, or knowledge to explore at a young age. But what you need to remember is that even a trip to the beach provides many opportunities for exploration.
Help them find the fun in feeling the waves between their toes and support them when they come home from school with a project or homework. If learning is treated as fun and manageable, they will develop positive coping strategies.
Fire Up Those Hobbies
Gaga about golf? Fanatical about football? Maybe you are a passionate piano player. Whatever your hobby is, let your child know!
Parenting is about modeling positive behavior and allowing your experiences to provide an opportunity for your child to learn their own identity.
Having hobbies is a vital parenting skill to have. You are teaching your child that it is OK to love and be passionate about something and explore that in their development.
Children will feel pride and accomplishment if they have a hobby. A self-esteem booster, hobbies can encourage us to set personal goals and achieve what we intend and work for, and they are a great form of self-expression.
Hobbies are great for rainy days or when the ‘work’ is done and are great life balancers for the body and mind.
Health
Our cars are great, aren’t they? The way we put the gas in, make sure everything is working as it should, and off we go. If a problem arises, we get it seen in the garage and fix any issues, happily paying the price. What about us? What food do we put into our bodies for them to run efficiently?
How do we move?
What can we do when our system flags a warning sign?
Parents can offer fantastic skills to develop a healthy, rounded individual by showing them how health is a huge priority in the day-to-day running of our lives.
Offering your kids a healthy, colorful diet with a few treats here and there will give their body and mind a rich variation of vitamins and nutrients vital for growth and development.
It becomes more than that when you experiment with fun recipes and allow these fantastic foods to form good relationships with your little ones.
Putting on those walking or running shoes and getting outdoors will also be a big step in promoting good health and learning the art of opening up to problems or challenges we face that can affect our mental health.
Confidence
Confident parents raise confident kids. A parent offers the best start when they step back and allow their child to develop their thoughts and feelings. A good way of producing confident kids is not to do everything for them.
At the first sign of struggle, don’t intervene; instead, let them work it out for themselves if they can safely.
Let them explore their worlds in their own time, and don’t push them before they are ready.
To raise a confident child, you must remember to lead by example. There is no point in being scared of everything (including failure) and expecting your child to go out and seize the world with both hands.
Please talk about your feelings when you were both anxious or excited about trying new things and, in turn, encourage them to associate their feelings with what they are doing.
Offer The World (Not Its Contents)
A parent can make mistakes by giving their child everything they want. Being a ‘yes’ parent seems all good in the short term but offers little long-term satisfaction to you or your child.
As a parent, you will get to a crucial point where it dawns on you that you may have made a huge error, especially when your child becomes demanding and ungrateful.
They not only want that new toy or a new game, but they need it. And they will stomp until you get it for them. After all, it worked last week. You took them to the shop and treated them just for being a non-specifically ‘good’ son or daughter.
Raising entitled children leads to disaster. The fact of the matter is nothing goes our way all the time. As adults, we may have to wait until payday for that treat or item we need. We save for vacations. We shop and surf for the best deals. We feel good when we earn a happy ending, whether a good meal or a new car.
It’s time to give up on giving in and shut down the bank of Mom and Dad. Instead, start introducing the meaning of earning money for things we want, and hold your ground when the bottom lip pokes out.
Empathy
We are not born with empathic skills. We are born into environments that show us through situational experiences that teach us how to respond emphatically.
To develop a successful pattern or process, kids need their parents. There are processes shaped by learning that result in children understanding how another feels, sees, or feels from other perspectives and the fundamental desire to help.
If your child can spot when somebody is distressed or frustrated and show concern, their empathic skills are strong.
Teaching children to feel empathy comes from much more than books. It is about time and support so they can learn to self-regulate.
Other good ways to encourage empathy are to have productive conversations about topics such as race or sexuality. Understanding injustices towards people rather than spotting differences between us can make room for understanding and sympathy.
A great book to start with You, Me, and Empathy:
Jobs In The House
A good parenting skill is to ‘train’ your child to see the pride in their environment. If only we could wake up each morning and find the house-cleaning fairy had been!
Sadly for us, we need to make time to get the house in order, and one way to teach your child a great skill is to do one small thing every day to make a positive difference in their home environment. It could be anything from making their bed to helping to sweep the floor.
You may even want to create a schedule to maintain and build on your skills.
Hard work comes from us, and how tidy our house is depends on what effort we put into keeping it that way. As your child ages, they will better understand the discipline behind ensuring they are strong, independent, and responsible for their actions.
And yes, that healthy perception really does start with making your bed at a young age!
Strong Bond With Your Spouse
Children do not miss a beat. Mommy is mommy, and daddy is daddy. As they grow older, that connection they have with their two parents will deepen with further knowledge that you not only love and care for your child but that you love and care for each other, too.
A strong family bond is what every parent should model for their children to feel love and support.
Your child notices as you brush each other in the kitchen or kiss one another goodbye in the mornings. When you are happy, they beam from ear to ear. Mom loves Dad, Mom, and Dad loves me. That is quite literally all they want. The rest can sort itself out.
You are inadvertently modeling how your son or daughter will treat their future spouse, and yes, that is even important when they are young!
I know not all relationships can be easy, and we all go through struggles, but generally, on the whole, if you practice the art of conversation away from your kids and love and respect each other, these acts of love will go far.
A great book I always love to have on my shelf that I have read more than once, The 5 Love Languages:
Conclusion – Don’t Delay, Start Today!
While it’s never too early to use your good parenting skills, it’s also never too late. I hope you have found these tips useful!
Remind yourself regularly to be gentle on yourself.
Parents make mistakes; we are people, too! Good parenting is born from the idea that parenting needs to be good. It’s that simple.
Good luck!
