When it comes to parenting, there are so many opinions about so many different subjects.
One of the hottest topics of parenting conversations right now is the topic of gentle parenting and all that goes with it.
Many people out there feel that, for generations, parents have been too hard on their children and discipline has been too tough. Many people believe that this has affected how they have grown up and developed through to adult life.
Many conversations now exist around mental and emotional health, too, and this has gone hand-in-hand with the conversation about having more gentle parenting going forward.
The main aspects of gentle parenting would be things such as:
- Not engaging in any physical discipline
- Not shouting or raising your voice with your child
- Avoid punishments and opting instead for teaching and negotiations
- Saying “no” less, or not at all
- Emphasising kindness, compassion, patience, and softness
- Promoting physical affection and conversations about feelings and thoughts
- Honesty and communication between parent and child
These factors will inevitably vary from parent to parent, and there will be lots of things that we haven’t included in this list that would be relevant here, but hopefully, this list gives you an idea of what we mean by gentle parenting.
The aim of gentle parenting is to produce a child who trusts their parents, feels close to them, is able to be affectionate, and is able to grow into a kind and patient adult.
It aims to cut down on the issues faced by generations before stress, childhood trauma, issues with authority, mistrust in adults, anxiety.
But there are lots of varied opinions on this matter.
For many people, they think this idea of gentle parenting is something that causes people to grow up too “soft” to survive in the world. For many, they believe that this parenting approach does not teach resilience and results in spoilt children.
Many people believe that not disciplining a child is only setting them up for failure and so is, in fact, not being a good parent.
What do you think of this?
Do you try gentle parenting at home? Do you practice discipline?
In my opinion, it’s all about balance.
Yes, we need to be gentle, but yes, we need discipline to a certain extent too. It would be hard for a child to never have experienced discipline at home and then go into a world of school and work. It could be a complete shock to the system for them and so might not serve them well down the line.
The ideal situation, surely, would be that we promote all of these good qualities we want in a child, kindness, patience, virtue, but that we are able to do so while setting ground rules and allowing room for appropriate discipline.
Can gentleness and discipline co-exist peacefully?
Or is this a pipe dream?
If you have an opinion on this, let us know in the comments below and get involved in the conversation, I’d love to hear what you think.
