Being a parent is a life-long journey of growth and development. You never stop learning because you never stop needing to learn.
Your children change at every stage of their life and every child will be different from each other. This means that there isn’t just one set of skills that you can apply to raise each of your children in the same way.
The world continues to change too, and so there is the element of keeping up the times added into the mix.
In short, being a parent is tough and it requires constant growth, learning and development.
If this is something that you find challenging or if it is something you worry about, check out our top tips and advice below on how to grow as a parent and how to continue growing the whole time.
It might be tough but knowing where to make a start always helps.
Read as much as you can
There is a world of information out there for parents and expectant parents, don’t be afraid to make the most of it.
There are tonnes of books, blogs, websites, journals, and magazines that can help in your journey as a parent. You can pick whatever angle you want, whatever niche you want, and whatever style of parenting you want, and read around that.
Keeping up to date with the information out there is a great way to keep up with the times and it can help you stop feeling outdated or behind.
We can’t be expected to magically know exactly what to do with parenting, especially when our child moves from one stage of life to another, and so there is no shame in reading and studying about parenting.
In fact, reading about parenting makes you a great parent already because it shows that you are willing and open to learning in order to be the best parent you possibly can be. That’s all your child really needs.
Talk to other parents
This tip comes with a word of caution: don’t believe everything that other parents say, they aren’t always right.
The best thing to do is talk to experienced parents who are older than you or who have gone through the current stage you have before.
The best advice comes from a balanced point of view, rather than someone who is trying to show off or gloat about how great they are. When someone is gloating, what they’re saying is unlikely to be true or helpful.
Talk to other parents and listen to them for tips, advice, and empathy, but don’t just trust anybody and take everything with a pinch of salt.
Reflect on your journey so far
In order to grow, you need to look at how far you’ve come already and reflect on that.
Take some time alone to journal about your journey in parenthood and think about how things have gone.
Is there anything you would change? Anything you could improve on?
Use this as a prompt for knowing where to go next. You always still have time to change things and develop yourself in certain areas. Reflecting honestly on yourself and your parenting will help you know how to do this and where to start.
Think about what you needed as a child
The most important thing as a parent is to think of things from your child’s point of view, and the easiest way to do this is to think back on what it was like to be a child yourself.
Think about what you needed from adults growing up, and try and give your child now what you didn’t get or needed more of.
We can’t be perfect parents and that’s ok, but we can always try to be the best we can be, and this involves continual reflection and growth.
Keep growing with your child and you are setting both of you up for the best chance of success.
